Goods from Internet to become more expensive

The Council of Ministers’ Resolution No 1161, effective from March 8, sets out that only legal entities are allowed to sell through Internet. Moreover, their sites should be registered with the National Security Center, have a national domain and run on the Belarus-based servers.

But, the most important requirement is that every Internet shop must have physical spaces. We have asked Jauhen, a worker with a Minsk-based Internet shop, how these changes are going to affect the business.

“It will definitely affect both in a positive and negative way. Apparently, it will bring some order. On the other hand, controls will become more stringent. Correspondingly, it will lead to court fines. Again, everything depends on how this measure is going to be enforced.

If it means a one-off action within six months, I think the Internet shops will be ready to pay fines, depending on the amount, of course. If the controls are going to be very stringent, many shops will close down,” he said.

As of today, the new restrictions apply to 70 percent of the Belarusian Internet shops. A significant part of them will inevitably go out of business.

“Not all of them have physical trade premises. Many shops will close down. Five years ago, the authorities knew nothing about the Internet. Now they have put their grip on it, too.

There will be less competition in the Internet, and prices will grow. Getting physical spaces require certain expenditures. Currently, the running costs of Internet shops are very low. Therefore, the prices are lower than at the market.

They will keep bringing the goods to home the way it has been up to now. Consumers are experienced now. They know what to do. They are aware of the stamps and signatures, etc. They know it all.

You bring and sell items, which can be replaced within two weeks. Therefore, there is no difference to sell from a store or without it.

Sellers are not going to transport the goods from stores. They will continue bringing the goods from their apartment the way it has been now,” Arkadz who also runs an Internet shop told our radio.

It is clear that with the decrease in the number of shops and increase in the costs to run them, prices will definitely go up. It is not a secret that the costs in the physical stores are higher than in Internet.

We decided to research several stores in Minsk, where they sell mobile phones.

The results were not unexpected. Nokia E70 costs $670 in a store, while you can easily get it through Internet for $490. The difference is striking.

Photo by www.medik.al.ru