This comes amid a wave of controversies about product quality and counterfeit goods.

The latest case involves Sung Bau (Sung Thi Bau, born 2002), a TikToker once estimated to earn around VND1 billion monthly from arrowroot vermicelli products. With hundreds of thousand of orders for each type of products, Sung Bau was a "phenomenon" on TikTok Shop.

Before the products were removed from the cart, there were 500,000 orders for 1kg-packed hand-sliced, thick vermicelli; 250,000 orders for 0.5kg-packed thick noodles; and 180,000 orders for 2kg-packed thin vermicelli.

After accusations of gouging and breaking contracts with producers, Sung Bau deleted related posts and removed all products from the cart, though she had issued clarifications and filed complaints to state management agencies.

Many other prominent TikTokers face similar situations. All products, from cosmetics to functional foods, have vanished from the cart on Doan Di Bang’s TikTok channel with 1.7 million followers. Previously, Doan Di Bang sold tens of Hanayuki products, such as sanitary pads, roll-on skincare, face masks, sunscreen wax sticks, and ionized alkaline water, on social media.

The move followed the discovery that three product batches, distributed by VB Group Co., Ltd. (represented by Doan Di Bang’s husband, Nguyen Quoc Vu) and manufactured by EBC Dong  Nai Medical Factory JSC, were found violating quality standards. 

On May 29, Dong Nai Provincial Police launched a criminal case for “producing and trading counterfeit goods” involving EBC Dong Nai Medical Factory JSC.

Before his arrest, Le Van Hai, owner of the Gia Dinh Hai Sen channel, also raised suspicions by hiding all products from his TikTok cart. 

The channel advertised and sold Hai Sen-brand products such as deodorant sprays for underarms and feet, YLE facial cleanser, Hai Sen hair removal cream, Hai Sen body scrub, and Hai Be appetite-enhancing syrup, all registered by Hai Be Co., Ltd. The company’s sales website was also shut down.

On June 16, Ninh Binh Provincial Police initiated a criminal case for trading counterfeit food products by Hai Be Co, prosecuted and detained Le Van Hai and the company’s director, Tran Dai Phuc.

Recently, other high-profile TikTokers have been embroiled in controversies over cheap bird’s nest products. A ready-to-eat bird’s nest product under the D.T.T. brand, advertised as containing 50 percent fresh bird’s nest for less than VND20,000 per 70ml jar, sparked debates about quality.

Many other high-profile TikTokers have been embroiled in controversies over cheap salangane bird’s nest products. A ready-to-eat bird’s nest product under the D.T.T. brand, advertised as containing 50 percent fresh bird’s nest, was sold below VND20,000 per 70ml jar, sparking debates about its quality. 

Prominent TikTokers like Pham Thoai (6 million followers), Long Chun (7.2 million), and Le Anh Nuoi (1.8 million) once introduced this product. Amid strong public backlash over quality, many TikTokers swiftly removed it from their carts.

Multi-billion livestream sessions gone

The scandals and prosecutions of some TikTokers have caused multi-billion dong livestreams to fade away, signaling shifts in shopping behavior and trust in KOLs and KOCs.

Nguyen Thi Thai Hang (Hang Du Muc), once a “livestream warrior” who, together with Quang Linh Vlogs, sold 2 tons of red apples within a minute and over 20 tons of durian within five minutes, also couldn’t escape the controversy. 

Hang, Quang Linh, and Miss Grand International 2021 Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien were prosecuted for suspected production of counterfeit goods and customer deception related to Kera vegetable candy.

Another TikToker, Pham Thoai, who set a record with 3 million views, 22 million likes, and nearly 50,000 orders in 12 hours, has gone quiet after controversies involving a charity fund for children with leukemia and disappeared from large-scale livestreams.

Meanwhile, Vo Ha Linh faced intense backlash for alleged price dumping. The Domestic Market Management and Development Agency ordered an investigation after the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association received complaints about her livestreams selling products at “abnormally low” prices below manufacturers’ listed prices.

Analysts noted that the mass removal of shopping carts, coupled with ongoing inspections and prosecutions for selling substandard or counterfeit goods online, indicates the end of easy “order-closing” multi-billion dong livestreams.

Duy Anh