The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (Kementerian UMKM) has announced that e-commerce giant Shopee has closed approximately 93,000 vendor accounts involved in the sale of imported used clothing, commonly known as “thrifting,” on its platform. This significant action directly follows official directives issued by the Indonesian government.
Temmy Satya Permana, the Deputy for Small Business at the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, confirmed the platform’s decisive response. Speaking at the ‘Shopee UMKM Campus Online Class 10th Anniversary Special Edition’ on Tuesday, November 18, he stated, “Shopee has responded by taking down roughly 93,000 sellers, impacting over 100,000 products.”
Further elaborating on the extensive efforts, Radynal Nataprawira, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for Shopee Indonesia, revealed on November 7 that the company has been proactively blocking over one million keywords and removing hundreds of thousands of products related to second-hand apparel since 2023. This comprehensive approach underscores Shopee’s commitment to compliance.
These measures are implemented in strict accordance with the provisions outlined in Trade Minister Regulations No. 40 of 2022 and No. 31 of 2023. Radynal further stated during a press conference at the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, quoted by Antara two weeks prior on January 7, that “Tens of thousands of stores were also affected because they were detected violating applicable regulations, leading to the removal of their products.”
Related Reading:
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- Ministry of SMEs Applauds Shopee’s Efforts Against Illegal Thrifting
- Shopee Blocks 1 Million Keywords and Hundreds of Thousands of Thrifting Products
Addressing the complexities of enforcement, Radynal highlighted that a primary challenge for e-commerce platforms in combating the illegal sale of used clothing is the persistent efforts by some sellers to circumvent detection systems. This often involves tactics such as altering keywords or creating new, obscure keyword combinations designed to evade the platform’s automated checks.
Despite these challenges, Shopee is committed to a careful, “humanist approach” in its product removal process. Radynal explained that many illicit traders employ manipulative descriptions, necessitating a painstaking, product-by-product review.
“The process is quite humanist. We take them down one by one, and the judgment is also human judgment, because we don’t want to use machines to directly block by keyword, fearing we might inadvertently impact legitimate small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” Radynal elaborated, emphasizing the platform’s dedication to accuracy and fairness.
Beyond enforcement, the company actively educates sellers and provides direct notifications when products are found to violate terms and conditions. Shopee maintains a specialized team dedicated to manually ensuring that infringing sellers are disciplined, while simultaneously safeguarding legitimate local SMEs from unintended consequences.
“This ongoing process, including manual checks, is crucial for maintaining accuracy. As a User Generated Content (UGC) platform, we also rigorously follow up on reports received from users, conducting thorough product inspections,” Radynal affirmed, highlighting the multi-faceted strategy.
Echoing these industry-wide efforts, the Indonesian E-Commerce Association (idEA) confirmed that numerous e-commerce platforms have actively worked to remove tens of thousands of thrifting products. Budi Primawan, Secretary General of idEA, stated that hundreds of related keywords have been blocked, leading to the removal of tens of thousands of thrifting-related items from e-commerce sites.
“Each platform maintains its own specific list of blocked keywords, but on average, hundreds of keywords have already been blocked across the industry,” Budi informed Katadata.co.id on Thursday, November 13, underscoring the collective and significant action taken by the e-commerce sector.
Summary
The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs has announced that Shopee has suspended approximately 93,000 seller accounts for involvement in selling imported used clothing, also known as “thrifting.” This action is a direct response to the official directive from the Indonesian government prohibiting the sale of imported used clothing.
Shopee has also proactively blocked over one million keywords and removed hundreds of thousands of products related to used clothing since 2023. The company is taking a “humanist” approach to the product removal process and continues to educate sellers and take firm action against violators, while also protecting legitimate local SMEs from unintended consequences.
