JD.com has announced plans to hold the world’s first humanoid robot auction during China’s annual 618 shopping festival, which runs from late May through June 18. The announcement was made Monday at the launch event for the company’s 2026 618 campaign. JD.com has not disclosed which humanoid robot models will be included in the auction or their starting prices.
The 618 festival is one of China’s largest annual retail events. Its gross merchandise value rose 15.2% year-on-year in 2025 to an estimated 855.6 billion yuan, according to data provider Syntun cited by CNBC.
JD’s Robotics Platform
The auction sits within JD’s broader robotics commerce initiative. Dai Wenjun, head of JD’s JoyInside robotics platform, said the system is expected to connect with more than 10 million terminal devices in 2026. Unitree Robotics and Noetix Robotics have already integrated their robots into the platform, establishing JD.com as a distribution channel for humanoid hardware alongside its traditional consumer electronics and appliance categories.
The move positions JD.com as an early participant in what could become a significant commercial distribution layer for the robotics industry – one that connects manufacturers directly to enterprise buyers, research institutions, and individual collectors through an established e-commerce infrastructure rather than dedicated sales teams or trade show channels.
What the Auction Is Designed to Accomplish
Pan Helin, a member of the Expert Committee for China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told the Global Times that the auction could create a new sales channel for robot makers and help shift public perception of humanoid robots from futuristic novelties to practical commercial products. “Humanoid robots, once largely limited to laboratories and demonstrations, are now being used in retail, logistics, manufacturing, healthcare and public service scenarios,” Pan said.
Industry observers have noted that the event could attract technology companies, research institutions, and early adopters seeking access to next-generation robotic platforms before they reach mass-market availability – a buyer profile similar to early smartphone and electric vehicle enthusiasts who used limited-edition or early-access products to establish positioning ahead of mainstream adoption.
The auction format also implicitly addresses pricing discovery for a category where retail price points remain unclear. Most humanoid robots currently priced for commercial sale range from $16,000 for the Unitree G1 to $150,000 or more for industrial platforms from Agibot and UBTECH. An auction conducted at scale during one of China’s highest-traffic shopping periods could generate meaningful market data on what buyers are willing to pay across different robot categories and specifications.
