What happens when a seller refuses a return

Which refusal is on your screen: three shapes, three clocks

A refusal arrives as one short sentence, and it can describe three unrelated situations. On a 2.1 kg jacket the difference between them is not the wording of your next reply; it is whether the return leg is paid by the seller, by a platform dispute, or by you.

Sorting takes about 4 minutes. Open the QC folder beside the listing and check what the record actually shows before you write anything, because the reason code you file decides the rest of the route.

• Shape 1, a defect on the record: a 3 cm stain, a missing buckle, a seam that opened before packing, all visible in the QC set.
• Shape 2, a gap against the listing: a shirt sold as 100 percent cotton that arrived as a blend, or a listed 42 that measures 38 flat.
• Shape 3, no fault at all: the fit is wrong, the colour reads differently in daylight, or you changed your mind on day 6.

Script A: the fault is already dated in your photo set

The QC photo set is the only neutral record of the item taken before it left the warehouse. A stain photographed on day 5 with a tape measure in frame fixes the condition at a point the seller cannot rewrite later, which is why the [QC stage](/steps/qc-photos/) asks for photos before opinions.

Whoever files first frames the case. If your file on day 6 holds a photo from day 5 and the seller answers with an edited description, the record is already on your side. Chinese consumer rules give buyers of most distance-sold goods a no-reason return right, with statutory exceptions such as made-to-order items, perishables and opened hygiene products; treat the exact figure and the exception list as things to confirm in the official text, which is revised from time to time.

A no-reason return is not the same instrument as a defect claim. The no-reason route leaves the return leg to be arranged and paid, while the defect route argues about who pays it, and a 2.1 kg return leg is exactly the size of argument that is worth having.

1. File inside the domestic platform first, choosing the defect reason code rather than the no-reason code, and attach the QC image that shows the fault.
2. Tell the agent the exact reason code you filed and ask for written confirmation that they will carry it to the seller.
3. Ask who pays the return leg before agreeing to anything, and note that the answer moves with the reason code.
4. If the seller still refuses, ask the agent to escalate to platform mediation instead of writing a longer message.

Weight decides whether any of this is worth the effort. A 2.1 kg jacket can cost more to send back than the item is worth, while a 300 g accessory rarely does, and the agent is the only party who can price that leg before you commit to it.

Script B: the item is sound and the listing was not

When a listing promises 100 percent cotton and the care label reads 60, the failure sits in the listing text, and the domestic platform treats that text as the contract. Photograph the label and screenshot the listing on the same day, because sellers edit descriptions and the screenshot is the version that survives.

Sizing gaps need one check before you file. A listed size 42 that measures 38 cm flat is a listing failure only if the chart described a flat measurement; where the chart described a body measurement, the 4 cm difference is a convention rather than a fault, which is the distinction the [sizing table](/table/sizing/) spends its whole length on.

Some gaps are worth 2 minutes and some are worth nothing at all. A missing accessory is a clean claim; a colour that reads differently on a 6 inch screen in daylight is not, and filing it as a defect spends credibility you will want for the next item in the same parcel.

The same evidence decides a dispute three weeks later. Mediation reads the listing as it stood on the day you paid, not as it stands on the day you complain, so a 20 second screenshot taken at the QC stage outweighs a 200 word argument written afterwards.

• Screenshot the listing, the size chart and the price you actually paid, all on day 0.
• Photograph the care label and a flat measurement of the item as it arrived at the warehouse.
• Write down the reason code you filed, the date, and the reply you received.

Script C: nothing is wrong and you want the money back

A change of mind is the route with the least leverage and the largest bill. Nothing in the domestic rules obliges a seller to take a 2.1 kg jacket back out of preference, and where a statutory no-reason right does apply, the item still has to travel back in resaleable condition.

The outcome is settled by 2 decisions taken before you file. The first is whether the line has been merged, because a merged parcel has to be reopened and reopening is a warehouse operation with its own charge. The second is where the refund lands, which in most agent flows is the balance you paid from rather than a card.

Cost rises with each step the item has already taken. Before the merge you are arguing about a return leg inside China; once international freight is paid you are arguing about an item that may have to cross a border 2 times.

Timing matters more than tone. In an order where the item sits for 20 days before anybody acts, the same request turns from a request into a favour, and a favour on a 2.1 kg item is the most expensive version of this script.

• Cheapest version: catch the item before the merge, ask the agent to hold it, and accept that the domestic return leg and any warehouse step come out of your money.
• Middle version: the line is merged but not shipped, so a return means unpacking a box that is already closed.
• Most expensive version: the parcel is in the air, so the same jacket travels back through export and import.

The three scripts run against the same 2.1 kg jacket

Take one jacket of 2.1 kg sitting at the warehouse on day 6. Which script you are in changes roughly one variable, namely who pays the return leg; the remaining steps keep the same shape in all three cases.

Read the grid by column rather than by row. Script A and Script B share 4 of 5 answers, so the practical choice is usually between arguing and not arguing, while Script C is the only column where both the warehouse step and the return leg land on your side of the ledger.

Two files worth building on day 6, and where they go

A dated photo folder and a screenshot of the listing as it stood on the day you paid. Both cost under 5 minutes at the QC stage, and neither can be rebuilt afterwards, which is why the [checklist export](/rig/checklist-export/) lists them ahead of the message you send.

The merge step is the hinge in every script. Once a line is merged the simple route closes, and each later option runs through unpacking and [merging a parcel](/steps/merge-parcel/) instead, which adds 1 step and 1 charge to a claim that was previously free.

One habit covers most of the ground, and it is writing the date on everything. A photo taken on day 5 and a reply received on day 7 form a 2 step record that answers the first question any dispute asks, which is what was known and when.

If you are still deciding whether the money is worth chasing, the arithmetic is 3 lines long: the item price, what you have already paid for freight, and the cost of the return leg. While the third line is unknown, write the question down and send it to the agent before you file anything.