When the "refund only" policy comes to an end

Text by | Li Xiaoxia

Edited by | Qiao Qian

"Refund only" is about to become history.

According to The Paper, multiple e - commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo, Taobao, Douyin, Kuaishou, and JD.com will comprehensively cancel the "refund only" policy. After consumers receive the goods, requests for refunds without returning the goods will be handled independently by merchants.

Actually, there were rumors as early as last year. Now that the policy change is finalized, it marks the official end of this after - sales revolution that started in 2021.

In the public's impression, the "refund only" after - sales policy is an original of domestic platforms. However, the real pioneer is Amazon, which launched this policy in 2017. It wasn't until 2021 that Pinduoduo also introduced the "refund only" option.

The emergence of the "refund only" policy was to simplify after - sales processes, optimize the user experience, and punish unscrupulous merchants. When consumers purchase problematic products, they can initiate a "refund only" request. The system will support such requests for products with poor quality or a large number of negative reviews.

As People's Daily commented, the original intention of the "refund only" policy has positive significance. "Firstly, it can effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers; secondly, it can strongly deter some merchants, making them not dare to cut corners. With the 'refund only' policy, consumers have fewer concerns and are more active in shopping on the platform, which will undoubtedly increase the platform's popularity."

In the following two years, there wasn't much discussion about the "refund only" policy. However, by the end of 2023, Taobao, Douyin, JD.com, Kuaishou and other platforms successively joined in. Subsequently, the "refund only" policy evolved into a hurricane, causing a huge stir.

At that time, the number of online shopping users had reached 915 million, accounting for 83.8% of the total netizens. E - commerce had penetrated every aspect of China. The competition among platforms had shifted from seeking incremental users to retaining existing ones. Standing on the side of consumers became the best way to maintain relationships and retain user stickiness.

In this battle for users, "putting consumers at the center" was no longer an empty slogan. Therefore, the "refund only" policy began to become a standard feature of each platform. Similar to the later "low - price war" that all platforms were involved in, they together formed a mirror image of the era of e - commerce involution.

It was this intense competition that was like adding fuel to the fire, accelerating the change in the situation.

With the popularization of the "refund only" rule, a group of "free - riders" who live by maliciously arbitraging emerged. They exploited the loopholes in the rules to initiate a large number of unreasonable refund requests, causing the "refund only" policy to hit every merchant indiscriminately like an out - of - control tide.

There were even some absurd scenarios: A consumer applied for a "refund only" because the underwear they bought was blown away by the wind while drying, arguing that if the quality was good, it wouldn't have been blown away. Another consumer applied for a "refund only" for a cheongsam, claiming an allergic reaction and sending two pictures of swollen arms, but was later found selling the cheongsam on Xianyu.

Previously, "refund only" cases mainly involved small - value items with a unit price usually not exceeding 100 yuan. However, later, a few yuan to dozens of yuan could no longer satisfy the appetite of the "free - riders". They even set their sights on products worth hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of yuan.

This rule innovation, which originally aimed at building platform trust, finally showed its vulnerable side in the collision between human nature conflicts and rule loopholes.

Similar contradictions don't only exist in the "refund only" policy. Even the "return and refund" policy can fall into a prisoner's dilemma. There are not a few "strange" return stories, such as clothes that have been washed several times or returns requested months after purchase.

Merchants who don't want to be involved in this situation have even sued and tracked down the "free - riders".

Later, the platforms that realized the problem have been constantly adjusting. In fact, since the second half of last year, several major e - commerce platforms have been reducing their intervention in the "refund only" policy.

Previously, many merchants said that they don't object to the platform's intervention. If there are really problems with their products, any form of handling is acceptable. However, when facing malicious abuse of the "refund only" or return policies, the platform should also give them the right to argue. With the cancellation of the "refund only" policy, merchants will regain the right to speak.

Looking back at the development of e - commerce, whether in its early days, during its rapid growth, or in the current "stock" competition stage, each stage may inevitably encounter corresponding pains or temporarily be led astray. It is the integration of these different aspects that constitutes the full picture of the industry.

According to The Paper, e - commerce platforms have had multiple rounds of discussions and revisions with the management department regarding the details of comprehensively canceling the "refund only" policy. Once the review is completed, an official announcement will be made to the public.

On April 22nd, platforms such as Taobao, Pinduoduo, JD.com, and Douyin all issued relevant announcements. The general meaning is similar. In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of both merchants and consumers, the after - sales rules will be improved and revised.

With the subsequent release of detailed rules, the chapter of the "refund only" policy will be turned over. Whether it will completely disappear or not, it will become a footnote of the era.