Hairy crabs welcome a small peak in consumption, and sales routines still need to be guarded against

Autumn is the time for crab tasting, this year hairy crabs ripen late, and the current season has begun to form a round of consumption peak
.

The Beijing News reporter learned from a number of crab farmers and sales merchants that the recent increase in sales of hairy crabs has something to do with "many diners hope to wait for the crabs to
ripen before picking up the goods".
Hairy crabs above medium size are more popular, and male and female crabs are becoming more and more mature, and a new peak
of shipments will be ushered in in mid-to-late October.
Yao Shuisheng, spokesman for the Suzhou Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crab Industry Association, told the Beijing News reporter that the price of hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake this year has risen compared with the same period last year, mainly affected by supply and demand
.

However, there are still routines and tricks in the hairy crab consumer market, lack of pounds, delay in delivery, etc.
, which have become hot spots
for consumer complaints.
Crab card crab coupons are often marked by merchants as "666 type, 1888 type", etc.
, which is easy to make consumers misunderstand their true value, and should also pay attention to screening
.

Hairy crabs welcome a small climax of consumption

"Hairy crabs are getting fatter and more beautiful day by day, the mother crab is full, and the male crab paste has been revealed", Chen Xiaodong, the relevant person in charge of hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake in Chengting, shared the news
in the circle of friends.
According to Chen Xiaodong, there has been a wave of pick-up peaks
recently.

Yu Sannan, a hairy crab farmer in Yangcheng Lake, told the Beijing News reporter that he has nearly 400 acres of aquaculture water on Yangcheng Lake, and about 100 pounds of hairy crabs
were booked on the first day of opening the lake this year.
Hairy crab bookings have been higher
recently.

In October, hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake entered the harvest period
.
Photo courtesy of respondents

Chen Xiaodong said, "Compared with previous years, the overall sales volume of hairy crabs this year has decreased
by about 15%.
This time last year, more than 300 copies were shipped a day at the peak, and less than 300 copies were shipped at the peak this year, but the overall sales were not much
different from previous years.
”

Wang Yanting, spokeswoman for Crab Yuan, also said that "a wave of online pickup has been ushered in", and in terms of total volume, sales are basically the same
as last year.

In this year's hairy crab market, consumer demand for hairy crab specifications is changing
.
Chen Xiaodong told the Beijing News reporter, "In this period of previous years, the consumer demand for small-sized crabs was more, and this year's consumption demand for medium-sized and large-sized crabs was more vigorous, and the sales of 4 taels or 4.
5 taels of male crabs and female crabs above 4 taels increased significantly
.
" He analyzed that this may be related to consumption upgrades, people pay more and more attention to the specifications and quality of crabs, now crab farmers are preferentially choosing large-size varieties when they put crab seedlings, and with the continuous improvement of crab breeding technology, there will be more and more
large-sized crabs in the future.

Wang Yanting said that from the end of October to November, it is expected that large-scale sales will be the mainstay, such as male crabs above 6 taels and female crabs above 5 taels will have centralized pick-up, which is basically consistent
with previous years.
Consumers' consumption awareness of crab continues to mature, "From the perspective of sales and customer service channels, many consumers can accept and master the right time to choose the right specifications and categories
.
" ”

Many consumers delay placing orders and waiting for the crabs to mature

Abnormal weather and late ripening of hairy crabs are actually a major factor
affecting sales this year.

According to data released by the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Jiangsu Province, the estimated output of purse seine culture and high-standard pond culture in the hairy crab lake area of Yangcheng Lake this year is 9400 tons, which is a decrease
compared with previous years.

Yu Sannan said that the decrease in his overall sales compared with the same period of previous years has something to do with the early notice to
consumers that hairy crabs ripen late this year and many diners are waiting for the best quality.
In addition, rumors such as "Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs have long been sold out" on the Internet will also affect consumer enthusiasm, "This rumor is also a harm
to us crab farmers.
" ”

Chen Xiaodong also believes that some online information misleads consumers, and some customers ask him if this year's crab is of bad
quality.
"I will explain to them one by one, this year is only a delay in the growth period, the quality is not affected, and the quality of hairy crabs has entered the mature period, especially after October 15, entering the best quality period
.
"

Hairy crabs have entered the best quality period
.
Photo courtesy of respondents

Changes in prices partially compensated for the decline
in sales.
The Beijing News reporter learned from crab farmers that during the National Day holiday, the price of hairy crab water rose by 10%-20% compared with the same period of previous years
.

Yao Shuisheng, spokesman for the Suzhou Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crab Industry Association, told the Beijing News reporter that during this year's National Day, the price of hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake rose compared with the same period last year, and the overall price fluctuated, which was mainly affected
by supply and demand.
However, after the National Day, as hairy crabs become more and more mature and the supply increases, the price of effluent has dropped slightly, but it is not significantly
different from before.
In addition, Yu Sannan also told the Beijing News reporter that after the National Day, the price of hairy crab water in Yangcheng Lake has been reduced by about 5%, "This is the situation every year, which is normal
.
" ”

On October 15, a reporter from the Beijing News visited the hairy crab sales market and found that the price of hairy crabs sold in some supermarkets had
declined.
At a Hema X member store in Beijing, according to staff, a single female crab (140g-160g) of hairy crab in Yangcheng Lake dropped by about 10% compared with the National Day period, and the price of hairy crabs from other origins also decreased, of which a single male crab (165g-185g) with a current price of 29.
9 yuan was sold for more than
37 yuan before.
The hairy crabs in the Zengguang Road store of Yonghui Supermarket also fell in price, and the price of a single panjin hairy crab of more than 2 taels was 21.
9 yuan
.
The staff said that the previous price was more than 30 yuan, and the single hairy crab priced at 9.
9 yuan without showing the origin was previously priced at 16 yuan
.

Lack of pounds, delay in delivery, sales traps are still there

With the increasing abundance of sales channels, it is more convenient for people to buy crabs, whether they can choose to choose the fresh market by hand, or enjoy a 30-minute home service on the real-time retail platform, and can also pick up the goods
at the booking time of the crab card on the e-commerce platform.
But while convenience increases, some sales routines or traps appear
.
Lack of pounds, wrong goods, delay in delivery, and merchants running away have occurred
frequently in recent years.

Among them, irregular weighing behaviors such as "crabs tied to large ropes" have attracted much attention
.
Just before the National Day holiday, the Market Supervision Bureau of Tong'an District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province, investigated and dealt with two cases of excessive crab binding, and the weight of crab binding ropes operated by a merchant accounted for 22% of the crab's own weight, far exceeding the reasonable range
of 5%.
The 12315 hotline platform of the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Bureau also received consumer complaints related to hairy crabs a few days ago, saying that hairy crabs purchased on an online fresh platform were not bundled with label nameplates, and negotiations with operators were fruitless
.

According to the third quarter consumer complaints and public opinion analysis report released by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission on October 8, the complaints about crab cards and crab coupons are mainly concentrated on the high standard and low sales of crab cards, and the exchange information is unknown; Difficult to exchange, unable to use normally; Poor quality control, poor crab quality, etc
.
For example, Ms.
Hu purchased a Yangcheng Lake hairy crab card coupon in 2021, exchanged 8 online in September this year, and after receiving the goods, only 3 were live, ate 6 of them, and found 5 empty shells and little
meat.
The merchant responded that only the crab is guaranteed to be alive at the time of delivery, and it is best to buy it offline, and other circumstances cannot guarantee after-sales service
.
After Ms.
Hu complained to the relevant departments, the staff mediated and the merchant reissued hairy crabs
.

The situation of pressing the goods when the crab card picks up the goods and even the merchant running away to pick up the goods has also been criticized
.
The Beijing News reporter searched for "crab card" on the complaint platform and found that many users complained that "the goods cannot be delivered, the crab card cannot be redeemed", "the goods are not shipped on the grounds of the epidemic", "the crab card reservation cannot be made, but the second refresh prompts that it is full" and so on
.

Some netizens complained in August this year that they purchased two crab cards on the e-commerce platform in September 2020, which were valid for 3 years, but they did not expect that the merchant could not be
contacted.
Another netizen said, "The crab card sent by a friend showed that it could not be exchanged for epidemic and temperature reasons last year, and the same reason was used this year"
.
The Beijing News reporter tried to contact relevant netizens to understand the situation, but there was no reply
as of press time.

In fact, behind the crab card routine is the drive
of profit.
In order to attract customers, some merchants sell crab cards at very low prices, but due to cost pressure, they cannot ship
them normally.

Some insiders revealed to the Beijing News reporter that due to the low price of crab cards sold at that time, it often involved "the situation of shipping at a loss and having to press the goods"
.
"For example, 100 copies of crabs can be distributed normally a day, but only 50 copies are actually distributed, and even the goods have been pressed and there is a situation that this year cannot be raised until next year, and the loss is reduced by pressing the goods"
.
In addition, the prepaid consumption form of crab card also gives it certain financial attributes
.
Previously, the media exposed the sales routine of "not a single crab is sold, and each crab coupon makes a net profit of 100 yuan"
.

In response to the chaotic sales, the State Administration for Market Regulation launched a two-month intensive rectification of excessive packaging of goods, "sky-high" mooncakes and crab card and crab coupons in August this year, while market supervision departments in many places also intensified supervision and issued reminder letters to standardize the price order
of hairy crab and crab card crab coupons.

Among them, the reminder letter issued by the market supervision department of Yangzhou, Lianyungang and other places in Jiangsu Province to regulate the price order of hairy crab market mentioned that it is strictly forbidden for any operator to carry out illegal acts
such as not clearly marking prices in accordance with regulations and price fraud.
Operators on e-commerce platforms selling hairy crabs, crab card crab coupons, etc.
through online or other means shall clearly indicate the price through text, images, etc.
through online pages; Do not sell products through false discounts, price reductions, price comparisons, etc
.

The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission also reminded that crab card and crab coupons are often marked by merchants as "666 type, 1888 type", etc.
, which is easy to make consumers misunderstand their true value, and consumers should pay attention to screening
.
After purchasing hairy crab card coupons, consumers need to see the expiration date and pick up the goods
early.
When purchasing hairy crab products, check the logistics shipping location, crab buckle logo and other information to prevent being scammed
.
The weight of the product crab marked by the e-commerce platform should be the net weight of a single product, excluding the weight of the product label, binding rope and pre-packaged, and consumers can weigh
it themselves after receiving the goods.
After receiving hairy crabs, it is best for consumers to check and accept them in person to check the freshness of
hairy crabs.
In case of missing two pounds, dead crabs, residual crabs or mismatched goods, you should take photos and keep the evidence, and negotiate with the merchant and the platform in time for refund
.