crying out China's 15 million live streamers 98% struggle for basic needs sounds like you're average American is this although I have accumulated a million followers I don't think I can survive in this market anymore the revenue for my videos is insufficient to cover my basic expenses my expenses are not just about renting a place and dining there are other significant costs when it comes to live Commerce If the product quality is high the profit margins are too slim to make a substantial income Jesus my nights are so busy but the earnings are disappointingly minimal beyond what most can imagine yet having reached a million followers who could give up on this Market at the stage is truly difficult if things continue this way I won't be able to make ends meet if live Commerce isn't profitable what should I do next why am I crying because I'm too tired because I've lost my sense of self because I missed home because I feel lonely I've seen enough of the absurdities of this world I can't continue like this I am planning to host a live streaming fwell event sincerely this narrative unfolds within the broader context of China's flourishing online environment where the live streaming Market has rapidly ascended bro people in the chat are just spamming only fans live streaming is sucking the soul out of you so why don't you just go and make porn and instead oh boying numerous youths with the prospect of lucrative earnings according to a recent study as of now there are 15.08 million professional live streamers in China however the majority find themselves the bottom of an economic pyramid experts note that 2% of these streamers capture 80% of the income well I remember Bernie Sanders talking about that damn it just keeps happening huh leaving the vast majority struggling for basic sustenance the research report on the development of China's online audiovisual industry reveals that as of December 2023 there are over 1.55 billion short video accounts meaning roughly one in every 100 people in China is a professional streamer that's that's what no like how many how many garbage men are there in the US there are 63,000 garbage collectors okay so 63,000 into so they have twice as many live streamers a little bit more actually than like proportionally than we have for garbag men this is insane mainstream short video platforms upload close to 80 million videos daily and there are more than 3.5 million live streaming sessions China has approximately 1.41 million live streaming related businesses registering steady growth over the past wa they're all on their own stream look they're it Jesus particularly in the last 3 years with an increase between 90% to 200% live Commerce a novel business model of the internet age has robustly surged according to the the ministry of Commerce in the first 11 months of 2023 National Online retail sales reached 14 trillion yen with live streaming sales 2.2 trillion yen marking a 58.9% increase from the previous year and constituting 18.1% of the total online retail Revenue the data further shows that among those whose primary income is from live streaming only 0.4% earn more than 100,000 Yen per month while oh my God let me do let me do a quick comparison for that 100,000 is $14,000 a month did she say 100,000 or 10,000 the data further shows that among those whose primary income is from live streaming only 0.4% earn more than 100,000 Yen per month while 95.2% earn less than 5,000 yen and how much is 5,000 okay so like basically that 4% is eaten real good because that's $14,000 a month 700 so most of them are making 95% are making under $700 a month and top streamers who sit at the Pinnacle of the industry benefit from multiple roles and significant Market influence driven by their High viewership in contrast Grassroots streamers struggle daily with empty Studios putting forth tremendous effort to attract viewers often for minimal rewards orange representing the 95.2% told Mainland media about her intent to resign after just 3 months the pay is too low for the amount of work involved even after a day's work what I earn isn't enough to buy medicine to protect my throat initially I signed on with a base salary of 3,000 yen and a 1% commission streaming for six hours a day as a novice I thought of it as a learning experience but I soon realized that the work extends Beyond streaming hours including script writing managing the broadcast organizing goods and reviewing data oh this is definitely true with streaming where like you're like whenever I'm not streaming I would say the amount of things that I do but like and also it's like for my situation it's so much different yeah your stream's always on your mind yeah it is it's like well this is one thing that any sort of like personal Endeavor definitely has and it's that you never really clock out because you're always focusing on it and thinking about it because you always have to be competing with people that's just how it is right it's any business owner yeah it's any business owner you're totally right unfortunately the company being in its initial phase skimps on investing in traffic yeah it's nothing special about being a streamer day earning me just 5 per order before becoming a streamer orange thought the job seemed glamorous as simple as talking in front of a camera yeah but the reality proved far more grueling she explained speaking non-stop for 6 hours leaves your throat smoking some streamers even bring atomizers into the studio to spray their throats during breaks just to keep going oh yeah it's absolutely bad like I know that for a lot of people that I know it like really really [ __ ] them up cuz like talking for that long for that many days nonstop 9 to five yeah it's like think about for me like whenever I stream I'm pretty much always talking and I stream every single day also need a strong psychological tolerance some comments can make you break down on the spot absolutely yet you must keep smiling for the camera and manage your emotions yeah cuz it's just like chickens if one chicken starts bleeding every other chicken pecks the bleeding chicken till the chicken's dead it's a pecking party and people love doing that to streamers too like everybody wants to make a streamer cry you know people want to go in and say the thing that really gets them to reaction because it's a power fantasy you know of course many young people like orange are drawn to the lore of Internet Fame and the live streaming wave seeking success but often facing unstable incomes in high necessary expenditures as they pursue their dreams they encounter setbacks and conf Fusion while some unscrupulous individuals exploit their aspirations by offering costly courses only the top tier live streamers earn substantial amounts among them liia renowned for adeptly using Cosmetics on his face to drive sales has earned the nickname lipstick King and attracts tens of millions of viewers per live session there it is Kim Kardashian once appeared on a live stream with another top Chinese live streamer via to promote her perfume in China selling 15,000 bottles in just minutes these top streamers embody a rags to Rich's myth serving as a powerful motivator for it's not really I wouldn't really say it's a myth it's just probably not going to happen like there's a lot of these like little nuances that a lot of people don't understand with streaming and in order to like be successful streaming you have to understand a lot of these like little nuances it's highly improbable yes it is why are they so gullible well it's the same reason why people play the lottery or they try to get into the NBA it's like it happens some people win the lottery some people get into the NBA it does happen it's pure meritocracy I think that streaming is very much a meritocracy I I I do I feel like if you're entertaining you're going to have people now you might not be successful right off the bat but some people just don't cut it and it's like I I think that a lot of people don't talk about this kind of stuff because uh 100% haha 9% luck no it's not luck well it is but it's not it's not the kind of luck that you're thinking about so like for example if you're born really ugly well you lose that's it you're done so that was it's kind of luck right it is it's kind of luck if you suck luck won't matter if you're good you still need some luck yeah that's true young people mhm however in recent years as China's economy has continued to decline any industry with low entry barriers ultimately becomes extremely competitive due to severe internal because you think about it right if every single other person is trying to be a streamer why would people want to watch you you have to beat out a million [ __ ] people that's a lot that's a lot of people you got that's crazy that's hard and they're trying just as hard as you are how do you do it competition we see that those earning 10 million a month are just a few top players according to Mainland media reports major streamers can earn hundreds of thousands of Yen from a successful live session and sometimes even more on platform hundreds of thousands is by the way $100,000 is $14,000 likewise show emerging figures such as crazy little young brothers and Simba or on do Yen with Oriental selection and make a friend can see millions or tens of million do yen is the uh Tik Tock of of China of yen in Revenue per live stream the most successful streamers are both salespeople and entertainers they sell products ranging from home appliances to Cosmetics Pharmaceuticals and food in a rushed and energetic tone they have the urgency of an Auctioneer while maintaining the warm of a close friend they tell jokes engage in small talk and Keep Their audience engaged they call out certain fans by name winning their trust they promise exclusive deals to boost sales the occasional stories of making a fortune through live streaming have overly encouraged many young Chinese to pursue a career in this field and they also get like a bunch of plastic surgery and [ __ ] too like there was one girl uh that that you know like knew a lot about this cuz she was from China and she told me about it it was nuts crazy according to a wayo survey on what contemporary young people are focusing on in terms of employment 61.6% of nearly 10,000 surveyed recent graduates said they would consider emerging professions like internet celebrity or live streaming what if I become famous I could earn enough money for a lifetime in just a few years with this thought many young people are eager to try their life at night yeah it's like why would you want to get a job if you could just get a million dollars I mean that would save a lot of time a City Bridge or in a corner of a market all are live streamers squatting standing sitting men and women alike singing and dancing Their Eyes Are Fixed on the mobile phone on the tripod in front of them in different to the throngs around them similar videos found with a simple swipe live Commerce has taken off in China because it combines several factors downgrading the ubiquity of social media the influence of streamers support from internet platforms and the impact of the pandemic it meets the needs of consumers and businesses alike becoming a popular and large- scale business model with the booming growth of the live Commerce industry frequent issues with chaotic sales practices on some yeah this is just how it is and people in the US try to do this too like in China I think it's like more um formulaic and it's like more of like a a mill but in general yeah it happens here too streaming platforms have raised significant public concern and social debate some streamers have also exploited public Sympathy by selling counterfeit Goods after making emotional appeals smart on March 19 21-year-old popular internet celebrity leang Shan mang was sentenced to 11 months in prison and fined a ,000 Yen for false advertising damn she had constructed a completely fictitious Persona exploiting the sympathy of NIS by selling non-local agricultural products in her live streams under the guise of helping Farmers from leang Shan you want to know why it was really successful it's because she's hot if she was ugly people wouldn't have bought it it's just the way it is 18 Ling Shan mang fabricated a tragic backstory that quickly garnered online she claimed she was an orphan who had to drop out of school to take care of her younger siblings subsisting on potatoes every day in over 500 videos she portrayed herself living in a dilapidated Mud House her skin darkened and her body frail dressed in tattered clothes either chopping wood in the mountains hey at least she didn't do it in a wheelchair like us right yeah that's so terrible we'd never do that toiling in the fields she claimed that her dire financial situation forced her to earn additional income through short video content touching the hearts of many viewers with her tragic circumstances after gaining popularity leang Shan mang frequently engaged in live Commerce claiming to be busy harvesting local Specialties daily to help the villagers within a few years she amassed 3.86 million followers her team made over 10 million yen from live streaming sales with her rural home million un how much is that again let me see what I just want to look at what the numbers are 10 million uh one two God damn $1.4 million that's a lot of money damn she farmed the [ __ ] out of them huh house backdrop shangyang claimed that the agricultural products she sold were authentic local produce from leang Shan however her viewers discovered that the products she sold such as birds nests and walnuts were not shipped from theang Shan at the same time some nison suspected that her videos were staged to evoke pity and produced by professional team she also visited upskill venues wearing luxury watches and design clothes in response to these allegations she once stated quote I have never exploited my Misfortune for sympathy I am genuine in my live streams and don't have a team How could a young girl like me have so much money further investigations by nison who visited Li shangyang supposed location revealed that not only were her parents alive but the dilapidated house used in her streams she said her parents were dead oh my God so a prop one nison reported Lang shanyang for staging her videos and fabri Persona with the help of a professional team God that's incredible subsequently authorities intervene and discovered that her claims about her parents' deaths school to care of her siblings were all false moreover leang Shan mang's team was found to have hired an internet water Army to flood her live streams with comments and to manipulate sales creating the illusion of popular demand to entice consumers I love how we have the exact same problems we have a we have different words for them but fun fundamentally you get down to it it's just the same over here however this case is just thep iceberg in the chaotic live Commerce industry where the sale of counterfeit branded Goods at low prices is rampant dazzling consumers a so-called Century old deai liquor from guo was found to have originated from a Distillery established just over a year ago in a live streaming session The Host ferv ly promoted diai liquor boasting guo has three great spirits ma Thai gu Thai and Di Thai the host claimed it as the younger brother of maaii he declared that these bottles of 53° maai flavored liquor which would cost 399 Yen on other platforms were offered for just $39.90 Yen for two bottles that's like 10 that's like a 10% of what the actual price is Nation shipping the host asserted that the liquor had been produced since 1919 and had a century long history claiming god8 is about Bing do Thai focuses on quality however consumers discovered based on the packaging information provided during the live stream that the company producing this Century old liquor was only established in 2023 the chaos of has become a frequent topic of concern highlighted by its negative effects and increasingly criticized by many some hosts are willing to do anything for money often well this is the same as it is over here you've always got these viewbotting rats cheaters people that are making up a problem like scammers everybody's doing this why are people doing it because there's money to be made people do anything for money like what are we talking about it's obvious right I mean like what the [ __ ] yeah I mean people it's so crazy to me to see people are like so shocked this how could they ever do something like this it's easy they're doing it for money I'll be right back it's always crazy for me to see people that are in the constant State of Shock that everybody does things for money that are disgusting and weird I mean people suck dick for money of course they're going to talk about fake oranges you think that the girls and two girls one cup did that cuz they liked it they did it cuz they got paid so you get them doing it I mean [ __ ] who couldn't have expected this disregarding product quality entirely such Behavior not only disrupts Market order but also harms consumer interests after a tumultuous period in the industry the live Commerce sector appears to be stabilizing and even quieting down in 2024 although top streamers have been the biggest beneficiaries of the live e-commerce boom consumers are now scrutinized ing their actions closely platforms have long agreed on a strategy of deemphasizing top streamers damn one hand Brands engaged in live Commerce report slim profits several Brands interviewed stated that although top streamers still attract viewers their cost Effectiveness has diminished veteran e-commerce professional the reason why it diminishes is because people realize that their relationship that they think that they have with a content creator is fake because people aren't stupid forever now there's going to be new stupid people every year but like the percentage will go down a bit like for example uh like on Twitch think about how parasocial and cringe everybody was in like 2020 oh my God oh my God kill me now it was crazy now it's gotten better but like I'll tell you this the amount of money that you could get in sponsorships in 2020 was like I would say 40% more than what you can get now that's a lot that's a whole lot J remarked big streamers can drive sales but an 80% loss brands are now focusing on selling directly online as their main sales and the other reason why this happens is because streamers are terrible at advertising products and streamers are salesmen for themselves only and not for the product it's because none of them actually know how to sell or have any sort of like real skill in trying to explain a product in a way that's beneficial to an audience star for oh no I think I do an incredibly great job I think I'm one of the best I do I've seen my numbers unlike conversions I beat everybody out there's a few people that will beat me every once in a while but for the most part I am a very high performer on the other hand such as induced consumption they keeping money based shopping premature consumption impulse buying and herd consumption have increasingly become intertwined with live Commerce interviews with several streamers reveal High return rates in live Commerce with a successful control at under 10% however return rates for some clothing items can reach as high as 70% indicating a strong irrational component in consumers live shopping Behavior yeah people buy things because they get emotionally manipulated by a streamer and so it's not all like logic and value based live streamers also face the challenge of maintaining consumer trust enthusiasm for purchasing from Top streamers is waning as consumers become more rational about these products after all realized that she's actually not going to be your girlfriend if you buy her potato or her orange everyone wants for their money influential streamers prone to blunders also leveraged significant changes in the live Commerce industry numerous top streamers have been caught in scandals involving misleading promotions which have oh man it's always good to see that even on the other side of the world in another language with a completely different people nothing has [ __ ] changed has become a primary issue in life Commerce the same [ __ ] consumer protection related to live Commerce platforms by Leia and crazy little brother young accounts for 70% of all public complaints issues related to false advertising product quality and pricing deception comprise over 80% wow according to incomplete statistics from that's CRA complaints about products sold by top streamers number in the tens of thousands Jesus Miss squ from Shanghai a fan of life streaming used to purchase items during every live stream until she discovered that the products sold did not meet national standards she expressed her disillusionment seeing a product I like being sold by a top streamer with millions of followers I would buy it instantly would have thought that even top streamers could have problematic Goods I well they're the ones that have the most problematic Goods yeah what do you mean who to trust in live Commerce anymore some ntis have commented that these Sal streams are full of traps and scams enriching only a few streamers and companies at the expense of hindering the development of countless businesses that's crazy damn Nationwide and stealing millions of job opportunities recently many top Street streamers have considered quitting on the evening of March 14 Simba announced his upcoming departure from the live Commerce field stating quote nothing is exciting left in the market for me Simba is ranked as the top live Commerce streamer in China accounting for 30% of qu Show's live Commerce sales that's a lot crazy little brother young also indicated in early March that he plans to reduce the frequency of his live sales in 2024 D wrote for me I never felt that way like for a long time I got really stressed out about my stream and I thought about quitting all the time but uh you know for the past like maybe two or three years I I've really been enjoying myself streaming and working and I don't want to ever quit yeah I think it's great a director of The Beijing based technology Research Institute believes that stricter management of Life Commerce has increased operational costs when issu arise with products sold streamers and their companies face significant responsibilities and consequences which is a direct reason for top streamers phasing out of live Commerce yeah Professor chinley ping from the C people take it too personally that's the problem they take everything too personally it's like whenever you sell a product people criticize the product they're not criticizing you like get your ego out of it it's got nothing to do with you the product is bad then figure out why people say it's bad and fix it what the [ __ ] [ __ ] it's like people think that they're special they have like unique right to have people buy products and not criticize them or have opinions star Forge yeah remember that remember what we had to deal with whenever we came up with star Forge remember that remember the I3 processor that whole [ __ ] issue we learn real quick University of economics and business noted that the biggest issue with live Commerce platforms is the mixture of good and bad products with poor quality and counterfeit Goods flooding the market Additionally the high rate of returns also results in significant societal costs M many platforms have ultimately undermined their business through live Commerce tan Le Ming vice president of her my her group can atly stated that public opinion has been overwhelmingly negative towards top streamers in recent years that's crazy wow that's crazy crazy dang wow I just I I I I I am so glad I watched this I love this so much man major platform streamers have been accused of monopolizing traffic across levels manufacturers into unsustainable price Wars moreover frequent appearances in discussion related to Taxation and live stream fails have forced top streamers To Tread carefully recently the Chinese government has begun to regulate online live streaming on January 3rd Doan implemented a health score system penalizing nearly 5,000 streamers of these 303 were banned from receiving gifts and one Big W huge [ __ ] W this is I think this is a big China W because here's the reason why whenever you're selling things that people put in their body like the level of expression that you are allowed to do goes down a lot you can't say it's a health product if it doesn't have health benefits you can't say that it's organic if it's not organic like it it's right that should be like this actually this this is serious like it's it's no [ __ ] around or anything like that you're people people putting things in our body at that point like yeah I I wish we had more of that like we need a lot more of this not just for streaming is like just like a little tiny little fraction like we need a lot more of this in general 190 were permanently stripped of their Liv this is what regulations are for on April 9th the state Council information office held a press briefing to announce that starting July 1st there will be refined regulations for the implementation of the nation's law on the protection of consumer rights and interests particularly regulating the popular live Commerce sector regul ulations demand clear disclosures about who is selling and whose products are being sold kuang Shu director general of The Bu of law enforcement and inspection this dude hates live streams just look at himation for Market regulation stated at the Press briefing that in the past five years the scale of China's live e-commerce Market has grown 10.5 times however the increasing complaints and reports has been 47.1 times higher than in traditional e-commerce a significant imbalance between development and regulation oh my God observers believe that the myth of wealth creation by top live Commerce streamers is now a thing of the past much like a grand Feast it has inevitably settled into a period of calm yep I love this holy [ __ ] I cannot express how much I love this to see that even on the other side of the world in China the exact same [ __ ] is happening as the [ __ ] over here this is amazing I'll give you guys a link to the video make sure to give it a like this is so good oh my God way worse well like in some ways yes and some ways no imagine if you understand them you have double the content yeah what is this We're Not So Different yeah that's the thing you see like that used to be one of the really good things about the internet is you could talk to some dude in China or some guy in Afghanistan and realize that like the same stupid problems you're having they're having somehow they're having the same stupid problems but they call it something else or like oh it's a little bit different right like it's basically the same thing that's one of the best things about the internet
