(Yicai Global) Aug. 18 -- China’s market regulator is considering prohibiting the sale of ‘mystery boxes,’ which are the sale of a set of limited-edition items in boxes that have identical packaging, to children aged under the age of eight, to rein in this latest marketing fad.

Mystery or blind boxes should be not sold to children under the age of eight, and vendors must gain the consent of parents and guardians for any sales to minors aged above eight, according to new draft guidelines released by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation on Aug. 16. Prices, sales models and target customers were all addressed in the proposal. Members of the public have until Aug. 30 to respond.

There should not be a huge difference in the pricing of merchandise sold in blind boxes and similar goods sold openly on the shelves, the regulator said.

The cost of the items in mystery boxes can be affected by the licensing of intellectual property rights, availability and other factors, so it is hard to put a cap on the gap in pricing, said Guo Weihong, deputy director of the cyber data security and compliance center at law firm Beijing Yingke. For instance, the IP-licensing fees for different brands can vary by 10 or even 100 times.

The new guidelines are quite specific which will help give companies a clearer direction, an insider at Pop Mart International Group, a leading Chinese blind-box toy retailer, told Yicai Global. The Beijing-based company will be taking active part in giving feedback to the proposal.

The fact that new guidelines have been drafted is indeed a positive move, a veteran in the toy industry said. However, mystery boxes are in vogue and there are particular traits of such a newly-emerging sector that must be considered. There are some clauses in the guidelines which need further discussion and should be tested in practice.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor