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KUALA LUMPUR – The trend of “cedok-cedok” (scoop-based) sales, which is a retail trend that involves pricing goods at the price of each scoop. Each scoop will then contain different items or quantities of items.
The trend that is currently popular among traders on the video-sharing platform TikTok might contribute to the increase in online fraud cases, according to Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca).
Through the trend, various goods such as sweets, brooches and beauty products are sold by traders who will scoop them randomly using spoons, baskets or bowls.
The goods will then be sold at prices ranging from RM5 to RM1,000 per scoop via live streaming on the social media platform.
Fomca deputy president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman said although the trend was only part of the content strategies to promote a product, the method had elements of uncertainty and doubtfulness in terms of the price and quantity of the goods sold.
“In sale and purchase transactions, the goods sold and their price should be clearly specified, however through this trend, elements of fraud can occur, just like playing the claw machines.
“(Through this trend) The price and quantity of the goods are not clearly stated. The quantity of goods that the consumers will get depends on how much the items are scooped,” he said when contacted by Bernama.
Yusof said although the sales did not involve a large amount of money, he was of the opinion that consumers would be open to manipulation by irresponsible traders.
As such, he called on the authorities, especially the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry to closely monitor such activities that were carried out on the social media platform to protect consumers.
Meanwhile, Shariah and muamalat (transaction) expert, Ahmad Sufian Che Abdullah said the trading structure of scoop-based sales had an element of gharar or uncertainty which was prohibited in Islam, as it could lead to gambling.
“There is a hadith that mentions the forms of sale and purchase transaction forbidden by the Prophet Muhammad which include ‘gharar’ – a type of transaction in which the buyer is unsure of the number of goods obtained.
“In another hadith, the prophet forbade Mulamasah, a form of trading in the pre-Islamic era, where buyers are only allowed to touch the clothes they want to buy without knowing the colour and size,” said the senior lecturer at the Syariah and Management Department, the Academy of Islamic Studies, Universiti Malaya.
Sufian said although there was an agreement between the buyer and the seller, it was prohibited because of the uncertain sales structure that had existed in the pre-Islamic era which violated the principles of Islamic law.
He said if the sellers still wanted to carry on with the trend, they should at least provide the minimum amount of goods that will be obtained by the buyer at the time of purchase. – Bernama, July 20, 2022