Qoo10 takes action to return some of the money owed, say aggrieved sellers

MERCHANTS ARE WAITING FOR PAYMENT

Group chat messages seen by CNA show sellers saying Qoo10 will likely allow payments for smaller amounts.

But those who deserve more have not received many updates from the embattled online marketplace.

This also applies to business owner Dave KA, who said he owes S$98,000 for his store.

He filed a police report last Thursday, after sending a demand letter to Qoo10 in late August. For now, he’s taking a wait-and-see approach.

“There is no statement. There is nothing from Qoo10 or anyone else. Will they pay? Will they file for bankruptcy? Will they go for liquidity? Nobody knows anything,” said the owner of Spys Trading & Consulting.

“Every time we ask for payment, (Qoo10 says) ‘We are having problems, technical issues, give us a moment, we will contact you’.”

He has been operating the e-commerce platform for more than five years. He said the payment delays started last year when the platform extended its payout period from seven days to 30 days.

The period became longer and the last payment he received around June of this year took more than two months to be credited to his bank account. He has not received another payment since then.

Lawyer Ang Ann Liang, who has advised some of the affected sellers, said the worst-case scenario was legal action.

However, if the claims are small, they may not be worth the legal fees, he added.

“These sellers may want to consider joining up with other sellers with similar claims. If you join forces and share information and resources, it can make the legal costs less prohibitive,” said deputy director of law firm Wong Tan & Molly Lim.