Price Tag 9000 Worth Only 200, Why Does Live-streaming Room "Real Gold" Fear the Fire Test | Beijing News Quick Review

The chaos in the gold and silver live streaming market concerns the interests of the public and deserves attention.

▲ Investigated by Beijing News reporters, revealing the tricks behind the “benefit prices” of gold and silver in live streams. Beijing News Video Channel

Text | Ke Rui

“Pure gold worth over 9,000 yuan,” 100 grams of “full silver,” shiny ingots—all types of “hard currency” come with authentication certificates and support offline testing. They are offered at a fraction of the price, with promises of giving them to “family members”—“grab it and you profit.”

Against the backdrop of rising gold and silver prices, live streaming sales on social platforms are extremely popular. Beijing News reporters investigated and uncovered the tricks behind the “benefit prices” of gold and silver in these streams. In the Jin Feng Jewelry live stream, a product claiming to be worth 9,000 yuan—15 small gold beads—was actually only 0.34 grams, with half turning into black smoke during burn testing, leaving only 0.18 grams worth just 200 yuan.

The so-called “benefit-priced” gold and silver products investigated by reporters are suspected of being fake. This chaos is not a new phenomenon. However, as prices rise and profit margins expand, illegal merchants are more motivated to fake materials, forge certificates, and use appealing marketing language to deceive consumers and profit from it.

In the current upward trend of gold and silver prices, this chaos is especially worth vigilance. Timely media exposure is very necessary.

Looking at this chaos, the main tricks are generally threefold, each interconnected.

First is “offline faking.” By faking materials, they package alloys and crafts as “pure gold” or “full silver.” These products are not actually gold or silver. For example, a randomly purchased so-called “investment silver bar” by Beijing News was actually an alloy craft item, not real silver. Such products lack investment value, proper preservation, and recycling worth.

Second is “verbal tricks.” Merchants move traditional offline counter business online, with hosts using enticing phrases like “less than one-tenth price” or “benefit prices,” exploiting information asymmetry and consumers’ profit-seeking psychology. They are suspected of false advertising, using persuasive language to attract consumers.

Another trick involves “running away and changing accounts,” mainly related to after-sales. Beijing News found that these fake-selling live streams and shops have short lifespans, seemingly without long-term plans. After receiving consumer complaints [download Black Cat Complaint App], related product links are quickly taken down, and shops may even shut down and run away. But this is not a genuine change of heart; it’s likely that after the hype dies down, they will reappear with new accounts and shop names to continue operating.

These tricks are not new, but compared to ordinary products, gold and silver items are usually more expensive, meaning consumers who fall for these scams face greater losses. The harm caused by this chaos warrants increased attention.

Given the hidden tricks behind “benefit prices” of gold and silver in live streams, and the lack of after-sales and rights protection for consumers, market regulators need to hold involved hosts and merchants accountable. Strengthening supervision and increasing penalties for violations are necessary to curb such chaos and ensure healthy development of live e-commerce.

Relevant platforms should fulfill their responsibilities and management obligations. Generally, platforms have a duty to reasonably review and supervise merchants. If platforms knowingly or should have known about obvious fake, false advertising, or forged certificate behaviors—such as selling “benefit-priced” gold and silver—they may bear responsibility if they turn a blind eye and do not intervene.

As a special commodity, gold and silver traditionally have more industrial and financial attributes. However, as their market heat rises and public participation increases, they have gained some relevance to people’s livelihoods. The chaos in the gold and silver live streaming market concerns the interests of the public and must be taken seriously. Responsibilities of merchants, hosts, and platforms are all involved—no one can just shift blame.

Written by / Beijing News Commentator Ke Rui

Edited by / Chi Daohua