Home » Advanced Tactics

Getting a Refund After Receiving the Product

First things first

Don’t enter into a refund process without first contacting the Seller! If you describe your problem, most Sellers will be happy to exchange / refund / compensate rather than risk bad feedback. If you receive the product and are dissatisfied, this will guide you through the refund process.

(If your product has not shipped yet, follow the steps outlined in our other guide to Getting a Refund Before the Product is Sent.)

Sending the product back

If you have contacted the Seller and reached a refund agreement you will probably be sending the stuff back by kuaidi. Who will pay the 10rmb for the return shipping is a matter that can be debated between you and the Seller ad nausium, but for the purposes of this guide, the important part is that you keep the shipping receipt when you send it back. You might need it later.

Check Taobao for the order status

Go to your Alipay Transaction Control Panel and look for the product that you want a refund for. Take a look at the order status. In this screenshot, the top two have not yet sent the goods, and the third one has already sent the goods. Find the one you want to refund and click on the link that says 退款.

tui kuan small alipay panel Getting a Refund After Receiving the Product taobao international

Hint: Pay attention here! The Chinese words for pay 付款 and refund 退款 look quite similar. But if your browser displays the URL of a link when you hover, you can get easy quick translations of what each link means. The Payment link will contain “trade_payment” and the refund link will contain “refund_apply”.

Bought Item List

Again, you must find the item you want to get a refund for, and click this link, it also says 退款.
refund step 2 bought item list Getting a Refund After Receiving the Product taobao international

The Refund Panel

Now you will see this page. It shakes down like this:

refund procedure 3 Getting a Refund After Receiving the Product taobao international

Starting from the top

The first option is: 已经收到货 already received goods or 没有收到货 received goods. If you said that you already received the goods, a second option will pop up asking if you need a refund. The popup looks like this: 我需要退款 I need a refund. Or 不需要退款 I don’t need a refund.

if you have received goods Getting a Refund After Receiving the Product taobao international

The reason for your refund
After that is a drop down menu with several possible reasons for the refund. Just choose the closest one. You will have a chance to write an explanation to describe the exact situation.
无退款原因   No reason
七天无理由退换货  Covered under the seven day unconditional return policy
商品质量问题   Quality problem
未收到货  Haven’t received the goods
腿还邮费  Refund the postage fee
发票问题  Receipt problem
折扣,  赠品问题  Discount or free gift problem

Refund amount
Next type in the amount of money that you want back. Taobao will do some math and the amount in orange is what you are willing to give to the Seller. This flexible system allows for you to reach a compromise with the Seller.

A brief explanation
In the next space, you enter between 2 and 200 characters with a brief explanation of the situation. Just give a straightforward explanation of what happened, or have a Chinese friend help you. This will go first to the Seller for feedback, and if need be, to Taobao customer service for mediation. Finally, you are prompted for your password.

Check back later
The next screen will tell you how much time the Seller has to respond to your refund request.  Check back every couple days to see what the status is.
The Seller may agree to the refund right away, or you may have to certify that you have shipped the product back with a scan of the shipping receipt. If your action is required, you will get an email or an SMS, and will have a few days to do it. We advise checking in regularly. Here’s how to check in and determine if your action is required.
Check Your Transaction Control Panel.
check in taobao refund 1a
Click the circled link for the item you want to check on. It is called 查看退款详情.
You will see this screen. Pay attention to the part in the box. If you need to do something, it will use the word ‘you’ 您. Otherwise, it will say ‘The Seller’ 卖家.
check in taobao refund 1aa
Notice here that it does say 您 in the box, so I have to click on the link that is circled and take some action.
The next screen looks similar. Go for that green circle again. It says ‘I sent it back.’check in taobao refund 2

Enter your shipping info
Next we just need to quickly confirm that we did send it back. Choose the kuaidi company you used from the drop down menu, or choose ‘other’ as shown in the screenshot below, and type in the name yourself.
shipping number taobao refund
Then type in the shipping number from the receipt, and finally upload a scan or photo of the receipt. You can skip the large text box. Then you will see the success box below.
success refund sent item

Taobao Customer Service
If the situation is not so easily resolved,  have a Chinese friend help you give Taobao Customer Service a call. Taobao Customer Service can be reached at 0571 – 88157858. They are very helpful.

Notice

Beyond the information outlined in this guide, TaobaoFieldGuide will not provide any assistance in mediating any disputes between you and any Vendors. Nor will we act on your behalf in any disputes that may arise. That includes any Vendors that TaobaoFieldGuide may link to. All transactions made based on information from the Service are solely between you and the Vendor. Your sole rights and remedies shall be against the Vendor. Please read our Terms of Service.

5 Comments »

  • Tree said:

    Hey….how to add my bank account details to alipay.do i require internet banking to do that or just add my card number?i want to do it for a withdrawing some amount.

    # 17 January 2010 at 1:33 pm
  • c said:

    I’ve just asked for a refund. The seller has agreed but on the refund panel it says it’s still waiting for the seller to agree to the refund. should I send the stuff back or wait till the seller has officially agreed on the panel?

    thanks

    # 20 July 2011 at 11:37 pm
  • The Field Guide (author) said:

    Push them to agree for the refund first, and if they don’t do it contact Taobao customer service.

    # 27 July 2011 at 11:28 am
  • tim said:

    three things…

    1. what to do with half receive shipments?
    I order 2 items and i receive 1. Dude ain’t online, sent a message via chat anyway. But i have a bad feeling about this.

    Total order almost 300 RMB, the item he sent is 25 RMB, delivery fee is 45RMB. I think he is after receivn the full after 10 days. Which obviously not gonna happen. Whats ur take on this?

    2. Other dude asked for sending remaining amount directly by alipay (due to some additional items). Which i did, although i thought it was dodgy… He never delivered, i cancelled, he refunded, but of course not the amount that was sent by alipay. Can I still get that back? (it was only 60RMB)

    3. Is there a time limit for writing a review after purchasing an item? I bought an item of dude #2 before the last one, which I haven’t reviewed yet. (He will receive a terrible one:))

    Tip; ya all try Google chrome, its got pretty decent translation on the fly!! which makes it all much more easy

    # 1 September 2011 at 12:56 pm
  • Chrissy said:

    I just a product and had to pay local courier charges that I had agreed with the supplier. They said they would refund me RMB60 into my Alipay account.

    Do I need to do anything to get the RMB60 back into my Alipay acccount?

    Thanks

    # 29 November 2011 at 10:31 am

Comment on this important issue