It is hard not to find some humor in this situation, but the reality is both frustrating and amusing. A woman named Ms. Zeng was on a business trip to Guangzhou and, for convenience, bought disposable underwear from MINISO (NYSE: MNSO). While walking down the street with a colleague, her coworker asked why there was a piece of white cloth under her foot. When she reached down to check, she discovered the fabric of the underwear had completely detached, leaving only the elastic waistband around her waist.

Back at her hotel, Ms. Zeng tested the last new pair from the same package. Within just half an hour of wear, the underwear had torn into a "spiderweb" pattern, with the elastic band again separating from the fabric. Because of this deeply embarrassing "social death" moment, she posted a video online late at night to share her frustration. Looking at the comments, some praised her colleague for being polite, while others shared similar experiences of buying defective products.

This is not the first time MINISO has faced issues with disposable underwear. Last year, a consumer from Jiangsu bought a pack of "5-piece all-cotton women's travel underwear" at a MINISO store in Guangzhou. Before even opening the package, they discovered yellow stains and hair-like foreign objects inside. They questioned whether the production workshop met basic hygiene standards. MINISO's response at that time was to remove the affected batch from shelves.

Where to begin addressing these issues

Is this quality problem occurring because the products are cheap and profit margins are low? Not really. Looking at the financials, for the full year 2025, MINISO reported revenue of 214.44 billion yuan, a year-over-year increase of 26.19%. Gross profit reached 96.48 billion yuan, up 26.33%, with a gross margin close to 45%. In the first quarter of this year, MINISO generated 56.88 billion yuan in revenue, with gross profit of 24.64 billion yuan and a gross margin of 43.32%. Net profit was 15.21 billion yuan, with a net profit margin as high as 26.74%. For every 100 yuan of business, the company makes 43 yuan in gross profit and nets nearly 27 yuan. This is a very strong business model. With such high earnings, one hopes the company will improve its quality control.

Is it fair to blame MINISO entirely?

Quality problems cannot be entirely blamed on MINISO. Consumers choose MINISO products because they trust the brand, but MINISO does not directly manufacture its products. The items on its shelves are actually produced by third-party contract manufacturers. If management and quality control are not rigorous enough, it is not surprising that occasional issues like this arise. It is important to remember that MINISO is essentially an upgraded version of a "10-yuan store"—it is cheap. So far, MINISO has not issued an official response to this incident. Only a customer service representative from its flagship store has stated that the brand has initiated an internal investigation and will verify the product situation and the cause of the problem as soon as possible. Hopefully, this time, the issue will be handled properly.