AliExpress Korea and its affiliates have been fined a total of 2.1 billion won (US$1.5 million) for misleading pricing practices, according to South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC said AliExpress affiliates Ocean Sky and MICTW advertised large discounts on products without ever selling them at the listed original prices.

Between May 2023 and October 2024, over 7,000 products were sold on AliExpress Korea using this pricing method.

AliExpress Korea was fined US$1.5 million for failing to properly verify seller identities in its K-venue section, which is aimed at selling Korean products to global buyers.

🔗 Source: The Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Deceptive pricing remains a persistent challenge across major e-commerce platforms

AliExpress Korea’s $1.5 million fine demonstrates how fake reference pricing continues to plague the e-commerce industry despite years of regulatory attention.

The company’s affiliates ran over 7,500 misleading advertisements between May 2023 and October 2024, using inflated “original” prices that were never actually offered to create false discount illusions1.

For example, they advertised a tablet with a fake reference price of 660,000 won and claimed a 58% discount, when the product was never sold at that higher price1.

This issue has also been observed on other platforms. For instance, Amazon Canada was fined $1 million in 2017 for misleading pricing practices where reference prices were inflated compared to actual prior sale prices2.

The persistence of these violations across different platforms and countries suggests that the potential profits from deceptive pricing often outweigh the regulatory risks, creating ongoing enforcement challenges for authorities worldwide.

2️⃣ Regulators increasingly apply equal standards to foreign and domestic e-commerce operators

South Korea’s aggressive action against AliExpress signals a broader shift toward enforcing identical compliance standards for international platforms operating in local markets.

The Korean Fair Trade Commission explicitly stated it would “execute regulations on overseas online platform firms to create equal footing with their local counterparts”1.

This approach extends beyond just pricing violations. AliExpress received an additional 2 million won fine for failing to properly verify seller identities in its K-venue section, demonstrating regulators’ attention to operational compliance across all business functions1.