Various goods such as sweets, brooches and beauty products are scooped up in random amounts using spoons, baskets or bowls, which are then sold by traders via live streams on TikTok. — Photo by Brunno Tozzo on Unsplash
KUALA LUMPUR: The trend of ‘cedok-cedok’ sales which is currently popular among traders on the video-sharing platform TikTok could contribute to the increase in online fraud cases, according to Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca).
The ‘cedok’ trend refers to various goods – such as sweets, brooches and beauty products – being scooped up in random amounts using spoons, baskets or bowls by traders.
The goods will then be sold at prices ranging from RM5 to RM1,000 per scoop via live streaming on the social media platform.
Fomca deputy president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman said although the trend was only part of the content strategies to promote a product, the method had elements of uncertainty in terms of the price and quantity of the goods sold.
“In sale and purchase transactions, the goods sold and their price should be clearly specified, however through this (‘cedok-cedok’ sales) trend, elements of fraud can occur, just like playing the claw machines.
“(Through this trend) The price and quantity of the goods are not clearly stated. The quantity of goods that the consumers will get depends on how many items are scooped,” he said when contacted by Bernama.
Mohd Yusof said although the sales did not involve a large amount of money, he was of the opinion that consumers would be vulnerable to manipulation by irresponsible traders.
As such, he called on the authorities, especially the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, to closely monitor such activities that were carried out on the social media platform to protect consumers.
Meanwhile, syariah and muamalat (transaction) expert, Dr Ahmad Sufian Che Abdullah said the trading structure of cedok-cedok sales had an element of ‘gharar’ or uncertainty which was prohibited in Islam as it could lead to gambling.
“There is a hadis that mentions about the forms of sale and purchase transaction forbidden by the Prophet Muhammad SAW which include ‘gharar’ which is a sale in which the buyer is unsure of the amount of goods that will be obtained.
“In another hadis, the Prophet forbade Mulamasah, a form of trading in the pre-Islamic era, where buyers are only allowed to touch the clothes they want to buy without knowing the colour and size,” said the senior lecturer at the Department of Syariah and Management, the Academy of Islamic Studies of Universiti Malaya.
Ahmad Sufian said although there was an agreement between the buyer and the seller, it was prohibited because of the uncertain sales structure that had existed in the pre-Islamic era which violated the principles of Islamic law.
He said if the sellers still wanted to carry on with the trend, they should at least provide the minimum amount of goods that will be obtained by the buyer at the time of purchase. – Bernama
