Is it a good idea for you to send products back to China?
Did you place an order, but your parcel hasn’t arrived? Or do you not like the goods that you received and you wish to return them, but the online shop won’t take them back? The shop instead requests that you send the products back to China.
This is often because you have ordered from a dropshipping business that does not operate their own warehouse and whose job is simply to forward your order to its supplier in the far East.
In the following article we will answer the most common questions that consumers ask us when they have ordered from an online dropshipping shop.
What problems can occur with dropshipping?
- Long delivery times: depending on the country and shipping route from which the goods are sent, long delivery times can be expected. Container shipments by sea in particular can take a long time. Whether individual items are dispatched immediately or only larger quantities of a product depends, for example, on the contractual conditions under which the online shop operator purchases from the wholesaler.
- Delivery bottlenecks: although it is still possible to place an order, the goods may already be sold out at the actual supplier. The money is nevertheless immediately withdrawn from your account. After all, order acceptance and invoicing, and production and dispatch are handled by different businesses.
- Additional costs: for all goods imported into the EU, import sales tax must be paid for every product. If the value of the product is over 151 euros, there are additional costs for customs. The retailer must inform you of these possible additional costs before you place your order.
- High return costs: the return costs, for example in the event of a cancellation, can quickly exceed the value of the goods. Especially if the goods have to be sent to a country outside the EU.
- Poor quality: our experiences show that dropshipping often results in deliveries of goods of inferior quality, a counterfeit, a completely different product, or no delivery at all.
What do you need to know about common dropshipping issues?
Contact the online retailer as quickly as possible if the parcel did not arrive on the agreed delivery date. Ask them to deliver the goods and set a reasonable deadline. Here you can find a sample letter.
If the retailer does not deliver the parcel at all, you can withdraw from the contract and be reimbursed for your purchase.
If the online retailer does not respond within a reasonable period of time and you have paid by credit card, you can begin the chargeback process with your bank.
Direct debit payments can also be reversed. Some payment service providers also offer buying insurance.
Yes, you can return your dropshipping order. The 14-day right of withdrawal applies. This right is enforced in all EU member states if you order anything online. Even if the retailer has the good sent from outside the EU or the business is based outside the EU. There are usually only exceptions for certain products such as hygiene products after the seal has been removed.
It is best to declare the cancellation of your order by e-mail to the address given in the terms and conditions. Under no circumstances should you just put a letter of cancellation in the parcel you are returning. If the return parcel does not arrive, the cancellation has not been effectively declared. Therefore, the cancellation cannot be proven.
Yes, many customers tell us that they had a feeling of regret after their purchase and wished to cancel it. They wrote an email explaining their cancellation. Many companies reply that a cancellation is not possible because the company has already begun shipping the parcel. This statement is incorrect: you can effectively cancel your order even if you have not yet received the goods.
We have received numerous complaints where consumers tell us that they refused to accept the parcel because they had already cancelled their order since the product did not arrive within the period of time stated on the website. In our experience, refusing to accept a parcel unfortunately only leads to problems, both legal and practical.
Legally speaking, in some situations you have the option of not accepting the parcel that you ordered (e.g. if you are unhappy with extra costs on delivery). In other cases, however, this is not the case (e.g. delivery is 3 days late or shortly after cancelling your order).
In practice, refusing the delivery of the parcel from a dropshipper usually results in the parcel being lost. If the return does not reach the company, the purchase price will not be refunded- even if you are entitled to it.
We therefore generally advise against refusing the delivery of the parcel.
Most companies state in their terms and conditions or cancellation policy where returns should be sent. Unfortunately, the law does not explicitly state that the return address must be communicated before the order is placed. This and other legal issues have not yet been clarified. Many dropshippers either provide vague or no information about the return address, which leads to problems.
The seller often requires you to return the goods directly to the supplier outside Europe. The return costs can be passed on to the buyer if the retailer informs them before the purchase. However, returning goods to non-EU countries often results in unexpected costs. This problem was not foreseen when the law was drafted. It is therefore questionable whether it is reasonable for the buyer to bear the high return costs in dropshipping cases. In addition, it is often not recognisable to consumers that their order is dropshipped or it is deliberately concealed.
In our opinion, if a business hides the fact that it operates under the ‘dropshipping’ model, the company should bear the costs of returning products within the EU, provided it is based in the EU. A court, however, could come to a different conclusion in the event of a legal dispute.
We advise against sending the goods back to Asia, even if the specified return address is located there.
This incurs relatively high costs and experience has shown that the goods do not usually arrive at their destination. For example, the company refuses to accept the goods or does not collect them from customs. In addition, in our experience, dropshipping companies rarely refund the purchase price despite returning the goods.
Do not simply return the goods to the sender’s address stated on the parcel, as this is often the address of a transport service provider. You should also not return goods to the address given in the legal notice without prior agreement.
If you have any problems or uncertainties with the return address, keep the goods with you. Do this even if it means that you are unable to return the goods within 14 days of declaring your cancellation as required by law. In practice, this is better than sending the goods to an address not agreed on with the company, or to China. If you decide to send the goods back you will have neither the money nor the goods and will also have to pay for the return shipment.
In our experience, the best chance of getting a refund would be taking legal action against the company, however this is still difficult. Many of the dropshippers we know of do not include an address to return the parcel to, making this process impossible.
Ask the company to provide you with a ‘reasonable’ return address. In many cases, the company will not be willing to provide you with a return address other than an address in Asia, usually China. We are of the opinion that you are not obliged to pay the purchase price if you have declared the cancellation within the deadline and have stated that you are prepared to return the goods to a ‘reasonable’ address. This may of course be assessed differently in the context of legal proceedings.
If a payment service provider (such as PayPal, Klarna, Lydia…) processes the payment, they will often not be prepared to write off the purchase price claim just because you have cancelled. You must expect payment reminders.
Payment service providers will ask you to pay, claim reminder fees if you fail to pay and, if necessary; instruct a debt collection agency. We are not aware that legal proceedings have been initiated in the event of further non-payment. However, we cannot rule this out. You must decide whether you want to take the risk of legal proceedings or whether you would rather not. We advise you to respond to letters from your payment service provider or a debt collection agency in any case and to describe the problems that have arisen.
If you actually receive a letter from a court (e.g. a court order), you must respond without fail.
If you have received defective goods, you are entitled to warranty rights. In this case, you can ask the seller to exchange or repair the goods. The warranty period is two years. If the online retailer claims that a complaint is only possible within 48 hours or 14 days, they are incorrect. Do not let yourself be confused.
If there is a defect, you must give the seller the opportunity to rectify the defect by supplying a replacement item or repairing it. At this point, you are not (yet) entitled to cancel the contract immediately or to a refund of the price. Only if you have informed the retailer of the defect and the defect is not rectified can you reclaim the purchase price and withdraw from the purchase contract. Legally speaking, you do not have to bear the costs of returning the goods in this case.
Whether a defect can be remedied by supplying a replacement item is a question of the individual case.
Attention: ‘Poor quality’ is not necessarily a defect. The situation is different if, for example, EU safety standards are not complied with.
If you have paid in advance, you may be entitled to a refund, but the money can be slow to arrive or not arrive at all. You would then have to take legal action to obtain the refund. There is a litigation and cost risk here.
This can often be avoided by considering the payment method as an important criterion when choosing a retailer. Therefore, you should prefer purchasing by bank account (note: purchasing with an account from an online payment service provider, such as PayPal is different!) or by credit card. Here you only have to pay once the goods have been delivered or, in the worst case, you can get your money back via a chargeback.
Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that consumers are denied their rights or are unable to exercise them, e.g. because the seller ignores the customer.
Organisations such as the European Consumer Centres (ECC) can support and advise consumers. The ECC Germany will act free of charge if there is a problem with a supplier from another European country.
If the company is not interested in reaching an out-of-court settlement, the only option is to take legal action. The chance of this benefitting the consumer depends on the individual case. In many cases, the service of the claim alone is unlikely to work.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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