On June 13, Chen Miao (pseudonym), an agent engaged in TST, received last month’s salary as scheduled and posted a thank you message on WeChat Moments. The TST brand also held a live broadcast of the company's 8th anniversary on the "Jujuyi.com" WeChat video account on the same day. Tianyancha APP shows that Shanghai Jujuyiwang Industrial Co., Ltd. (Jujuyiwang) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TST's parent company, Shanghai Dalwei Trading Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Dalwei").
Times Finance noticed that during the live broadcast that day, the promotional video for the product "7250 Collagen Combination" was also recorded by Zhang Ting himself. Chen Miao said that Zhang Ting will still appear in the agent group to interact. At the same time, the company is also developing new products. Among them, Orchid Clear Sunscreen Lotion will be officially launched on June 20, priced at 328 yuan for 35ml, which is much higher than well-known sunscreen brands such as Anaisun.
Zhang Ting appeared in the agent group, picture source: Agent Moments
This new product is a product of Oceana, a beauty brand jointly developed by Mingdao and TST. Oceana is owned by Shanghai Tingcan Import and Export Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tingcan"). Mingdao and its agent Li Shixiang hold 10% and 15% of the shares respectively. The largest shareholder is Shanghai Shangyang Tianxi Investment Management Co., Ltd., and the legal person is Lin Ruiyang.
In addition to Mingdao, Tao Hong, who was previously rumored to have received a dividend of 420 million, has not severed ties with TST. Current industrial and commercial information shows that Beijing Most Taoran Clothing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Most Taoran"), which is 100% owned by Tao Hong, is still a shareholder of Dalwei and indirectly holds shares in Tingcan.
Shanghai office buildings have resumed work, and multiple vest accounts have low-key live broadcasts
In 2013, Lin Ruiyang founded Dalwei and officially launched the TST secret brand in the mainland through the company, and entered the micro-business world the following year. With the support of Zhang Ting, Lin Ruiyang and his wife, Tao Hong and Xu Zheng, Lin Chiling, Luo Zhixiang and other celebrities, the TST secret brand has grown rapidly.
In February 2019, TST teamed up with iQiyi and the two parties cooperated to promote the star product-Live Yeast Renewal Facial Mask; in April, it became the special sponsor of the fifth season of Dragon TV's variety show "Extreme Challenge". However, TST, which has been labeled as "micro-business" and "bad face", has been deeply involved in word-of-mouth controversy.
In 2021, Dalwei was put under investigation by the municipal supervisory bureaus of the two places, and TST's sales method was even characterized as a pyramid scheme.
According to The Paper’s report at the time, in June 2021, a staff member of the Yuhua District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province stated that the Yuhua District Municipal Supervision Bureau had opened an investigation into Dalwei, and on June 5, it opened an investigation into Dalwei for suspected pyramid schemes.
A staff member of the Anti-Unfair Competition Section of the Yuhua District Municipal Supervision Bureau said that TST has the three characteristics of a pyramid scheme, namely a pyramid structure of recruiting people, paying entry fees and team remuneration. In July, the Municipal Supervision Bureau seized 96 properties owned by the company, worth 1.7 billion yuan. As of now, the case is still under further investigation.
In the same month, the Market Supervision Bureau of Baokang County, Xiangyang City, Hubei Province took Dalwei and several of its affiliates to court, including Tao Hong’s Zuitaoran and the giant Yiwang. It was ruled that the Dalwei bonus system was a pyramid scheme and constituted an illegal act of organizing and planning pyramid schemes. The illegal income of 19.2799 million yuan was confiscated and a fine of 1.7 million yuan was imposed.
Because Dalwei has the halo of being a star entrepreneur, the incident has been repeated after the qualitative pyramid scheme. Tao Hong, Xu Zheng, and Ming Dao were affected one after another, and the reputation they had built up in the industry over the years was affected.
However, despite this turmoil, TST seems to be still operating normally. In June, as Shanghai's economic activities gradually returned to normal, TST officially resumed work in its Shanghai office building. The company's 8th anniversary event also kicked off on the official APP and video accounts, Douyin and other live broadcast rooms.
So far, the giant Yiwang video account has conducted 8 live broadcasts, and its promotional page shows that there will be 3 more live broadcasts on June 19, 20 and 29. In addition to this account, TST still has other video accounts "horses" that are broadcasting in a low-key manner, and they notify each other of the live broadcast time through the internal agent group.
According to incomplete statistics from Times Finance, the TST-related video account "Activity Online Live Broadcasting Account" has a total of 26 live broadcasts since its opening, with the most recent live broadcast on May 30; other video accounts including "Oshina" have broadcast 20 live broadcasts, the "Activity Live Broadcast Special" has 42 live broadcasts, and the "Training Activity Live Broadcast Account" has 14 live broadcasts. The latest live broadcasts of the above-mentioned accounts were all in May, and the IP location is shown as Shanghai.
The agent broadcasted more than 40 live broadcasts in half a month, with less than 10 viewers.
Times Finance learned that the bonus system formulated by Dalwei divides members into blue card members and red card members. Among them, the bonus system implemented for red card members requires the development personnel to develop other personnel to join, forming an upline and downline relationship.
Under this model, TST's agent team continues to grow. According to its official website, TST currently has 6.36 million agents. Chen Miao is one of them. She came into contact with the TST brand in 2014 and became one of its agents the following year. From 2015 to 2021, she established 3 trading companies and opened a TST offline experience store.
Times Finance contacted her as a buyer and learned that after users register on the APP, they will receive a membership card with a 9.25% discount. If they want to get a higher discount, they need to find an agent to join his team, provide their name and phone number, and only after registration can they become a new agent, a so-called blue card member. The original agent will also receive the service fee for introducing the new agent, and at the same time, he will answer questions about products, after-sales and other issues for the new agent.
Agents usually place orders from the official APP to get goods, and the company will ship them directly. Chen Miao said: "The more orders you place on the company's platform, the higher the rebate will be, and the rebate will be sent back to the agent as salary next month." Under the stimulation of this model, many agents will hoard goods. However, agents who go for discounts and rebates also face the risk of inventory backlog. "The goods hoarded by agents will be digested by themselves. The company will not cover the whole situation and does not support returns." According to Times Finance, as of now, agents are still continuing to purchase goods from TST.
When asked whether the recent public opinion would affect product sales, Chen Miao said: "Definitely, it goes without saying." These effects have also been projected on her recent live broadcast.
At 11 p.m. on June 14, Chen Miao ended his day's live broadcast on Douyin. The live broadcast lasted for two hours. The products featured included TST's live yeast jelly mask, mud mask, moisturizing water, etc. However, the number of people online always hovered below 10. But this did not affect the frequency of her live broadcasts. At 7:30 in the morning on June 15, Chen Miao appeared in the live broadcast room again.
In June 2020, Zhang Ting appeared in the Douyin live broadcast room for the first time. The first five hours of the live broadcast brought sales of 250 million yuan. Since then, Douyin live broadcast has become a sales method that many agents have imitated. Chen Miao first tried live streaming on Douyin in June last year, and had broadcast more than 80 live broadcasts intermittently by the end of the year.
After June this year, she basically maintained the frequency and duration of 3 to 4 shows a day, 2 to 3 hours each. The number of live broadcasts in the last half month alone has exceeded 40.
Although the workload has increased significantly compared with before, and the shipment situation has been affected by public opinion, Chen Miao still maintains a lot of protection for the company. "I have been an agent for 7 years. We are a famous brand, and public opinion is constant. There are always people who criticize us. This is not the first time. I am used to it." She also pointed out that the company never asked them to stock up on goods, and it was up to them to decide how much they could sell.
Times Finance has learned that in addition to Chen Miao, there are still many active agents in Taobao, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu. Agents who are forced to endure the MLM scandal can only actively sell goods to reduce their own losses.
