Taobao’s ‘ugly’ goods find a growing market among China’s young consumers

Products widely considered “ugly” or “bizarre” have gone viral online in China as millions of young consumers embrace the items’ quirky humour and distinctive character. Cumulative sales of such products on Taobao – an e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group Holding – have surpassed 230 million yuan (US$34.3 million) since 2020, when Taobao launched its so-called Uglies Award to celebrate creatively unusual goods, the platform said recently without specifying exactly what constitutes an “ugly”...