Aggrieved sellers on Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal are raising their voices against a penalty by these marketplaces and have even formed an eSeller Suraksha Forum for the same.Sellers have complained that the marketplaces are penalising them in case of an opened packaging and returned item.
Around 1,000 sellers have conveyed that
Instead, sellers say the marketplaces put the blame on them, saying the product they shipped was fake or faulty products leading to return.
"In case of a customer return (where the customer has opened the package) we have to (still) pay commission to the platforms. In case of courier return (where packaging is intact), we don't have to pay commission," a seller told ET.
The returns, sellers say, have shot up and are mostly from Uttar Pradesh, where the sellers have stopped shipping in many areas.
Arvind Singhal, chairman of consultant Technopak Advisors, told ET, “There could be multiple reasons for this. First, with high penetration of smartphones, there are non-serious buyers who order for the sake of fun, like window shopping on ecommerce sites.”
Secondly, he said, in categories such as apparel, footwear, etc, touch and feel could be different from what it looks like on the website.
On the contrary, Amazon and Flipkart said the returns had declined.
"Our returns process is designed to create a win-win situation for both our customers as well as sellers," a Flipkart spokesperson said, adding “Majority of our sellers have significantly lower return figures compared to the industry. We have an easy return policy for our sellers which ensures prompt returns as well as exchanges."
Likewise, Snapdeal too said that returns had declined.
"The returns on the Snapdeal platform have steadily gone down over the last one year due to introduction of various technology upgrades and tighter monitoring of quality aspects," a Snapdeal spokesperson told ET.