𝐈𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

In China, a return is a legal right. Who pays for it is a platform decision.

In China's e-commerce, returns are a core cost of doing business rather than an after-sales detail: Cao Lei of the 100EC research center puts womenswear return rates at 65% to 80%, up from 30% in 2019. For other. categories, it is lower but still very significant.

The law sets the baseline: since 2014, China's Consumer Rights Protection Law has given online buyers seven days to return goods without giving a reason. Since July 2024, a seller cannot refuse such a return unless the buyer confirmed an exclusion at purchase. The European Union goes further, with 14 days, while in the United States a return remains the retailer's policy rather than a legal right.

What set China apart was the stack built on top of the law: return-shipping insurance, launched in 2010, often made sending goods back free for the buyer. "Refund only," rolled out by Pinduoduo in 2021 and standard across platforms by 2024, let platforms refund without any return at all. And Double 11 coupons that rewarded bigger baskets invited shoppers to pad their orders and send the extras back.

Each layer moved the downside to the merchant: Workers' Daily, which reported that seller in March 2025, also found a merchant whose insurance had risen to 4.3 yuan per order, more than the outbound postage. A 2024 merchant survey by the 100EC research center found 89% strongly opposed to refund only.

In my September post on Temu's synthetic influencers, I framed one question: who carries the downside? For a decade of China's returns, the answer was the merchant.

It took the regulator to reset the balance: the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) summoned the major platforms over refund only, and in 2025 Taobao, Pinduoduo, Douyin, Kuaishou and JD rolled it back. For Double 11 this year, Tmall replaced basket coupons with single-item discounts, and Alibaba now reports growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) net of refunds.

Brands that sell online in China should plan returns like any other cost:

1. Set Double 11 targets on kept sales, not GMV, and track the gap between the two.

2. Put returns on the profit and loss by channel: postage, insurance, inspection and write-offs.

3. Design out the avoidable return with fit data, honest product pages and promotions that reward the right basket rather than the biggest one.

In China, an online sale is not final until day eight. Plan for day eight.

Who carries the downside of a return in your business: the buyer, the platform, or you?

This is part 3 of my Double 11 series, after the nine questions and the Singles Day numbers.

#ChinaRetail #Ecommerce #Returns #Double11 #RetailStrategy

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