It has been calculated that an average of 2353 days in a woman’s life is menstrual period, which is equivalent to 7 years. If you use 3-4 sanitary napkins for daily use and 1 sanitary napkin for night use every day, according to the pricing of domestic brands, women spend 10,000 yuan more on sanitary napkins than men.
This figure spread evenly every month is not enough to attract too much attention, but for some women, it is a real "unspeakable".
The cause of the incident was that some netizens posted two screenshots, one was a "bulk sanitary napkin" of an online shop, and the price of 100 pieces was 21.99 yuan, which was far lower than the price of hardcover sanitary napkins on the market, while the other picture was asked by some netizens, "Do you dare to use such a cheap three-no product? Dare to buy it in private parts? " The two buyers replied that "life is difficult" and "I have difficulties".
The topic of "bulk sanitary napkins" quickly rushed to Weibo for hot search. Some netizens found out according to the screenshot of Weibo that the relevant qualification documents of bulk sanitary napkins came from Quanzhou Xianghe Sanitary Products Co., Ltd. Afterwards, the person in charge of the company told Litchi News that the bulk sanitary napkins sold in the online store were not produced by Xianghe, and the relevant documents were stolen. At present, the bulk sanitary napkins in the online store have been removed from the shelves.
However, the incident has not subsided. Some netizens said that although the bulk sanitary napkins were removed from the shelves, where should the poor women who can’t afford sanitary napkins go? Behind the controversy of "bulk sanitary napkins", the long-neglected issue of "menstrual poverty" is exposed in the public eye.
Who is buying and using "bulk sanitary napkins"?
"Bulk sanitary napkins" exist more in online shopping platforms. Searching for the keyword "bulk sanitary napkins" on an online shopping platform can find a large number of bulk sanitary napkins without corresponding labels such as outer packaging and shelf life. These bulk sanitary napkins vary in size, but most of them are sold in a package of 100 pieces, and the price fluctuates between 20 yuan and 25 yuan.
The original product link of the bulk sanitary napkins sold in the above-mentioned online store shows that the monthly sales volume of this bulk sanitary napkin is more than 300 pieces, and the baby evaluation is more than 800 pieces. Even after being exposed as unqualified, customers still buy it.
The monthly sales volume of a 100-piece bulk sanitary towel sold by another online shop is as high as nearly 1,000, with more than 5,700 comments from buyers. Among them, the number of favorable comments is close to 99%. Among these favorable comments, "high cost performance" and "large quantity discount" have become high-frequency keywords.
Ms. Guo, the person in charge of Quanzhou Xianghe Sanitary Products Co., Ltd., said that low-priced sanitary napkins are more popular in third-tier cities and rural remote areas. "Some women in their forties and fifties in rural areas will buy them because they think this is a big bag and cheaper than the brand sanitary napkins with few pieces and expensive prices on the market."
But obviously this can’t fully explain the huge turnover of bulk sanitary napkins on the online shopping platform-most rural middle-aged and elderly women are not the main force of online shopping, so where does a large amount of online turnover come from?
Under the topic of "How to treat bulk sanitary napkins" in Zhihu, a netizen named "Abu Bu" talked about his experience of buying bulk sanitary napkins when he was a student: "I can’t open the pot at home, I dare not ask my parents for money. I bought a sanitary napkin at the grocery store for 20 cents, and my mother bought a pack of 20 tablets for daily use for several months."
Another Zhihu netizen shared his special experience of contacting Sanwu bulk sanitary napkins: "In mid-June this year, my mother was diagnosed with uterine cancer, and her lower body was accompanied by irregular bleeding due to illness. The ureter was oppressed by the tumor and she could not control urination. She needed a lot of sanitary napkins every day. Knowing that her mother didn’t want to waste money on it, she tried to search and bought a lot of bulk sanitary napkins on Taobao." The netizen said that he only found it when he looked through his mobile phone after his mother died.
Some people in charge of online stores also said that behind the bulk sanitary napkins, there are not all tragic stories of women’s distress. September is the peak season for the sale of bulk sanitary napkins every year. Many students will buy bulk sanitary napkins for military training insoles. In addition, elderly people who can’t take care of themselves at home will also use bulk sanitary napkins as adult diapers.
"Bulk sanitary towel" is not completely equal to "three no products"
Many netizens question the safety of bulk sanitary napkins because of their poor packaging and low price. So, are bulk sanitary napkins necessarily equivalent to fake and inferior products?
The safety of sanitary napkins has always been concerned. From 2013 to 2014, domestic sanitary napkins experienced a period of low ebb, and quality problems were frequently exposed. In April 2013, Quanzhou police disclosed a major case of sanitary napkin fraud with a case value of 150 million yuan. In the same year, there was also a fake "Sophie" sanitary napkin with a hidden "grasshopper mummy" in Xiamen. In March, 2014, Consumer Report submitted 10 brands of sanitary napkins, including Hushubao, Sophie, ABC, kotex, Susan, etc. The test results showed that all the products submitted for inspection were detected with migratory fluorescent whitening agents.
The quality scandal once reduced the confidence of Chinese people in domestic sanitary napkins and turned to overseas brands. The data shows that although overseas sanitary napkin brands are more guaranteed in quality, many of their foundries are in China.
Ms. Guo told Litchi News that the quality control of domestic sanitary napkins has been very strict in recent years. "If there is a little mistake, you have to throw it away, but this does not mean that there is a quality problem." But she also admits that the quality of bulk sanitary napkins is not as stable as that of hardcover sanitary napkins.
Although Quanzhou Xianghe Sanitary Products Co., Ltd., where Ms. Guo is located, does not sell bulk sanitary napkins, Ms. Guo still believes that bulk sanitary napkins cannot be equated with "three no products". "The sanitary napkins were all in bulk when they were just produced, and then they were packaged by hand."
In Ms. Guo’s factory, employees sometimes "just take a plastic bag and walk away" from the bulk sanitary napkins that have just been produced on the production line and haven’t been packed in time. Although these sanitary napkins are in bulk, there is no difference in quality and packaged sanitary napkins, and the purchase price is closer to the cost price, which is economical and cost-effective. This special form of purchase is limited to factory employees and is regarded as an employee welfare.
Another situation similar to this situation is that some "tail orders" that cannot be sold in time can also flow into the market through dealers. For example, Ms. Guo said that if a customer places an order for 10,000 bags and matches 10,000 packaging bags, but the calculation in production is not so fine, and there are hundreds or thousands more pieces, such sanitary napkins often have no quality risk, but the packaging is simple and they are collected by some "missing" buyers.
This statement was also confirmed by Yang Peng (a pseudonym), the person in charge of an online shop. Yang Peng told Litchi News that in addition to buying bulk sanitary napkins from regular sanitary napkin manufacturers for sale, he would also take apart some brand sanitary napkins with defective packaging but no quality problems and sell them separately.
Manufacturer: The sanitary towel industry is not a profiteering industry, and its profit rate is less than 10%.
The topic of "bulk sanitary napkins" ignited the discussion of "whether sanitary napkins are expensive or not" among netizens. The online sanitary towel industry is a profiteering industry with a profit rate as high as 50%-70%, which Ms. Guo denied.
Ms. Guo told Litchi News that the bare material cost of sanitary napkins is really not high.A high-quality bare 245mm sanitary towel is about 25-30 cents, plus packaging costs, labor costs, transportation costs, machine depreciation costs, factory rent, etc. As far as manufacturers are concerned, the profit rate is less than 10%, which is not a profiteering industry rumored by the outside world.
So, which link has opened the gap between different grades of sanitary napkins? Ms. Guo said that in terms of production channels, the gap between different grades of sanitary napkins is reflected in the use of materials and processes, but the premium may be quite different when entering the sales and circulation stage.
Another sanitary towel manufacturer revealed to Litchi News that because the raw materials of sanitary napkins are the same as those of masks, this year, due to the epidemic situation, the demand for masks has led to a sharp rise in the price of raw materials, and the cost of sanitary napkins has pushed up, and the factory has almost failed to maintain.
Yang Peng had previously worked as an agent for a famous domestic brand sanitary napkin. He said that although the market price of the famous domestic brand sanitary napkin was higher than that of the small brand, the difference between the ex-factory price and the market price was not big, and the profit of the distributor hovered around 8%-15%.
Tan Feng (pseudonym) is a wholesaler of daily chemical products in a third-tier city in Sichuan. A few years ago, she also purchased a large number of brand-name sanitary napkins for wholesale, and the business was very good. In recent years, she found it difficult to find a market for brand-name sanitary napkins, and she turned to selling well-known domestic brands-although the profit was not high.
According to Tan Feng’s analysis, on the one hand, because people’s living standards have improved, they are more cautious in choosing personal hygiene products. On the other hand, due to the continuous impact of e-commerce, many online stores purchase goods directly from manufacturers, which greatly reduces the cost of circulation, and has more price advantages than traditional purchase channels like hers. Brand sanitary napkins purchased from supermarkets are often higher than those purchased from online stores.
She believes that both the previous brand-name sanitary napkins and the current bulk sanitary napkins have a considerable sales volume, "indicating that low-priced sanitary napkins have always had a good market."
Expert: Sanitary napkins can be used as poverty alleviation products, and improving the treatment of women is the fundamental solution to menstrual poverty.
In fact, whether it is expensive or not is a relatively personal question. The reason why the topic can cause great discussion is that menstrual products are a necessity for women’s life besides commodity attributes. It is a unique burden brought by women’s physiological structure and should not be taken for granted by women.
At present, China collects the same 13% value-added tax on menstrual products as most ordinary goods. Some netizens have combed and found that more and more countries have paid more attention to menstrual poverty and made changes.
For example, Canada, Australia and most States in the United States have taken the lead in realizing tax exemption. Germany only levies a tax rate of 7%, and after Brexit, Britain promised to implement a tax exemption policy for this product at the end of January 2021; Among the less developed countries, India, Kenya and Malaysia have already realized tax exemption for menstrual products.
In addition to tax reduction or even tax exemption, some countries have also given another solution: free provision.
On February 25, 2020, Scotland passed a bill, becoming the first country in the world to provide menstrual physiological products to women all over the country free of charge. In new york, USA, menstrual supplies are provided in public schools, prisons and shelters, and these supplies are placed in places where they can be easily accessed.
Should sanitary napkins be reduced in price? Hong Tao, a professor at Beijing Technology and Business University, believes that sanitary napkins have their particularity, but they are still general commodities in essence, and the pricing of sanitary napkins should be determined by the market, not the government. Government-priced products are mainly aimed at daily necessities or very tight or strategic products.
Since it is market pricing, there will be quality price difference, quality price difference and link price difference, and even time price difference or regional price difference. "The link price difference of sanitary napkin industry should be allowed, otherwise no one will do this industry. The appropriate link price difference should exist, but it should not be too large."
Regarding the concern about "menstrual poverty" in the form of tax reduction proposed by netizens, Hong Tao said that tax reduction may not solve the price problem, and sanitary napkins can be considered as poverty alleviation products."Under the background of tackling poverty and realizing a well-off society in an all-round way this year, it can be included in the product content of consumer poverty alleviation and directly provided to female consumers in poverty-stricken areas for free."
In addition, Hong Tao believes that if we want to emphasize the particularity of sanitary towel products, we can use guiding prices, such as determining the highest price to protect the interests of consumers and determining the lowest price to protect the interests of producers. ??
"Of course, it is best to make full use of the market as the basis for allocating resources. Hong Tao said that under the current background, the market of sanitary napkins should be liberalized, and the quality difference, quality difference, regional difference and time difference of sanitary napkin products should be advocated. The responsibility of government market supervision is to supervise and manage the quality, quality, competitive environment and business environment of sanitary napkin products, and not to interfere too much in the market. "When the conditions are met, we can adopt or learn from the low tax, zero tax or free provision in some other countries. "
"This involves not only economic issues, but also political and social issues. This is not only a question of reducing prices and taxes, but also improving the treatment of women. For example, better ensuring equal pay for equal work and improving women’s status are the fundamental ways to solve women’s menstrual poverty. " Hong Tao said.