Platform pricing

The experience of China

China has published draft pricing rules for¹ e-commerce platforms and sellers.

Platforms are prohibited from: raising fees, imposing penalties, canceling price subsidies or discounts for sellers, restricting traffic, blocking sellers, reducing the visibility of their products, or imposing other restrictions for the purpose of:

1) Forcing sellers to participate in sales or discounts.

2) Restrict the seller's ability to offer optimal prices for goods and services on different platforms (restricting the practice of price parity).

3) Connect a system of automatic price matching, automatic price reduction, etc.

4) Otherwise restrict the sellers' right to set prices.

The exception is platforms with uniform pricing methods, such as taxi platforms.

If a platform changes its commission, it must take into account the financial situation of sellers in order to set reasonable rates; unreasonable payments are prohibited. If rates change, public discussions must be held (for at least 7 days), and if sellers are not satisfied with the new rates, the platform must allow them to terminate the contract without consequences.

If different prices are applied to different categories of consumers depending on the terms of the transaction, the pricing rules must be disclosed publicly in advance. It is also necessary to disclose the rules for timedifferentiated pricing (dynamic pricing) with an explanation of the factors affecting price formation.

When conducting promotions and sales, it is necessary to publish the rules of the promotion and its duration in a place visible to consumers, and to indicate the base price from which the discount is calculated. If the platform subsidizes sellers' prices, information about the rules and terms of the subsidy must be disclosed. If goods or services are promoted through paid ranking (e.g., a seller pays to increase visibility), it must be clearly indicated that this is “advertising.”

Anti-competitive practices are prohibited:

1) Selling goods or services at a price below cost in order to drive out competitors or monopolize the market (predatory pricing).

2) Setting different prices for the same goods or services under equal conditions of sale, based on the consumer's willingness to pay or preferences, using data and algorithms without the consumer's knowledge. This limits discrimination in algorithmic pricing.

3) Use expressions that fuel expectations of price increases, such as false information about product shortages, high demand, etc.

4) Attract consumers or sellers with low prices and then charge high prices, promise false discounts, fail to indicate or deliberately understate price conditions, mislead, etc.

Platforms and sellers are required to provide consumers with the option to cancel automatic debits, including contactless (password-free) payments, insurance and other additional services, automatic subscription renewals, etc.

The experience of Russia

In Russia, the Platform Economy Law does not regulate platform pricing, but a platform has the right to offer a discount on a seller's goods only after receiving the seller's written consent specifying the price, quantity of goods discounted, and the duration of the discount. Without the seller's consent, the platform can only offer discounts at its own expense.

From the monitoring issue No. 8 (20), August 2025. Download the full issue (PDF) · issue page at the Gaidar Institute