Brenda Goh, Sophie Yu

BEIJING: China’s top 2 livestreaming selling stars have said that L’Oreal France has ceased cooperation due to an ongoing price dispute. Alibaba (NYSE:) This month’s Group Singles Day Shopping Promotion.

This spat is a rare instance of public disagreement in China’s retail sector. In China, companies are increasingly dependent on celebrities as sales channels, marketing products via live streams that millions of people follow.

Viya and Li Jiaqi posted on Wednesday that their ties were being suspended after some of their followers complained. They claimed L’Oreal’s facial products, which they promoted as having the largest discounts for the year during Singles Day, could now be purchased less than a week later via L’Oreal’s platform.

Chinese media reports that Viya, Li Jiaqi and Viya had sold 18.9 billion yuan (or $2.96 billion) of goods in pre-Singles Day sales on Oct. 20, according to Chinese media.

Both men stated that they will offer compensation for followers. However, they said several rounds of negotiation with L’Oreal have not resulted in a satisfactory resolution. L’Oreal would have 24 hours to devise a plan, the two said.

L’Oreal apologized to its customers for the complicated promotion system and pointed out Viya and Li’s suggestions. The company did not elaborate on the relationship between them and Viya.

L’Oreal stated that certain consumers could purchase their products for a cheaper price through its platform, thanks to the multiple discounts provided by its store and its e-commerce platform.

With 450 million hits, the spat was one of China’s most popular topics on Weibo (NASDAQ) on Thursday.

($1 = 6.3750 renminbi)