When discovering substandard food online, the first step is not to negotiate returns, but to continue placing orders and buying more and more. Recently, the People's Court of Xiangcheng District, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, tried a consumer dispute case and determined whether punitive damages can be applied to "buying fake goods with false knowledge". On November 5, 2024, Lin purchased 1 kilogram of "Dalian Dried Sea Cucumber" from Bai's store through a certain website for 483.55 yuan. After receiving the goods, Lin soaked the dried sea cucumber and found that the soaking rate did not meet the normal standard. So, Lin entrusted a testing agency to test the dry weight rate, protein and other items of the sea cucumber after rehydration, and the inspection conclusion was unqualified. After learning the results, Lin purchased 3 kilograms of dried sea cucumber from Bai's store again on November 24th and December 17th of the same year, at a cost of 2273.1 yuan, but they were not opened for consumption. Shortly afterwards, Lin sued to the Xiangcheng Court, demanding that Bai refund the payment of 2756.65 yuan and provide ten times the compensation of 27566.5 yuan in accordance with the law. Article 13 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Punitive Compensation Disputes for Food and Drugs clearly stipulates that if a purchaser knowingly purchases food that does not meet food safety standards multiple times in a short period of time and sues the same producer or operator to calculate punitive damages separately based on the amount of each purchase in accordance with Article 148 (2) of the Food Safety Law, the people's court shall, based on the total number of times the purchaser purchases the same food, support their litigation request within the scope of reasonable living consumption needs in accordance with the law. The court believes that the dried sea cucumber purchased by Lin from Bai is a food that does not meet food safety standards, and Bai's behavior constitutes the sale of food that he knows does not meet national safety standards. Therefore, Lin's claim for ten times compensation is legally justified. However, as sea cucumber is a relatively expensive marine food, Lin was fashionable and cautious in his initial purchase. However, when he found that the foaming rate did not meet the normal standards and sent the product for inspection, he purchased 3 pounds of sea cucumber without opening it for consumption. His subsequent purchasing behavior did not conform to normal consumption, so it cannot be considered as a personal or family consumption need. The court concluded that Lin's subsequent purchase behavior was "knowingly purchasing food that did not meet food safety standards", which exceeded reasonable living consumption needs and did not apply the relevant provisions of punitive damages. It only supported Lin's lawsuit request for ten times compensation for the dry sea cucumber corresponding to his first order. Subsequently, the court organized mediation between the two parties and ultimately reached the following agreement: Lin returned the remaining sea cucumber to Bai; Bai should refund Lin's payment of 2756.65 yuan and compensate Lin with 5243.35 yuan. (New Society)