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Text | Shi Xiang, Author | Wen Changlong, Editor | Ming Fei

The momentum of refunds and corrections is still brewing. Although Pinduoduo and Taobao have corrected their mistakes, small and medium-sized businesses have become the minority left behind by the new regulations due to the gaps in the rules.

"A score of 4.8 requires basically no negative reviews, no malicious reasons for refunds, for example, buyers specifically choose product quality issues because they don't want to pay for shipping costs, goods are shipped within 48 hours (and logistics are generated by collection), and customer service response time is assessed from 8:00 to 23:00. For small businesses, this means working non-stop all year round. I really don't know who can do this." A Taobao merchant recently posted a complaint on social media.

Recently, Taobao's new refund-only policy came into effect. In this new policy, the store's comprehensive experience score becomes the core standard, and only merchants with a score of 4.8 or above can obtain more operating autonomy. This policy has aroused widespread doubts from some small and medium-sized merchants with relatively scarce resources.

"That is to say, only those who can afford to hire professional customer service and professional delivery, in other words, those who are wealthy and powerful, can open Taobao stores. People like us, 'poor old store owners', are among those who will be eliminated by Taobao. The platform was founded on merchants like us, but now it wants to eliminate us."Another Taobao merchant expressed his opinion on the "market situation".

In Taobao's latest rules, in addition to the requirements for merchant experience points, the launched anomaly identification model mainly targets buyer behavior, but it seems to ignore the effective supervision of the platform's customer service. "Small and medium-sized merchants are usually in a weak position when facing customer service (shop assistants). Improper handling by customer service has played a role in fueling the conflict between merchants and platforms," ​​an industry expert in the e-commerce field told "Shi Xiang".

Under the influence of multiple factors, Taobao's newly implemented refund-only policy has caused some small and medium-sized merchants to completely give up."It turns out that closing the store can be so liberating."

Merchants trapped in "experience points"

Experience score is a new merchant rating system launched by Taobao. The new experience score system includes "store experience score" and "product experience score (PXI)", which replaces the previous DSR (seller service evaluation system).

Linked to the new refund-only rule is the "store experience score." In the Alibaba Qianniu merchant workstation, the store experience score is defined as a comprehensive assessment of the past 30 days' data indicators in three dimensions: product experience, logistics speed, and service guarantee. This has become a pain point for some small and medium-sized merchants.

From the perspective of product experience, key indicators include first-time product return rate and product negative review rate. Among them, the first-time product return rate is particularly controversial.

The so-called first product return refers to an order in which the consumer initiates a refund and the first reason is related to the quality of the product or quality.

"The reason page for returns is basically the merchant's reason. Except for a few normal buyers, most returns are made by unscrupulous buyers who don't want to pay for shipping."Zixuan, a clothing merchant on Taobao, told Shixiang that "if you choose to return the product due to quality issues, the merchant's deposit will be deducted to compensate the buyer for the shipping fee, and from time to time, there will be cases of package substitution."

In addition to Zixuan, many Taobao merchants also expressed similar views on "Shi Xiang". They believe that some buyers choose to return products due to quality issues to avoid paying shipping costs, which actually reduces the merchants' first-time product return rate.

The problem that Zixuan is concerned about is that "there is no way to appeal this. That is to say, even if the customer makes a mistake in the application, you ask the customer to change it, but you will only deduct a deposit, and it will not be reduced in your score."

According to the introduction of Taobao's new Lighthouse 3.0, when a refund is initiated for the first time for an order, a quality-related refund reason will be selected. If the first refund is initiated for a quality-related reason, any subsequent changes to the refund reason will still be counted as the first quality refund.

"The first-time product return rate will affect the store experience score. If it is less than 4.8, you can only refund. So I said that if a small store is targeted by a refund-only gang, it is difficult to resist."Zixuan further told "Shi Xiang".

The logistics experience is also a point of criticism by many Taobao merchants.

For example, some merchants complained that the platform was not smart enough in determining the specific logistics issues. "The logistics company promised a 48-hour delivery rate, but you set it to 72 hours. Regardless of whether it was delivered within 48 hours, it was still considered to be more than 48 hours. This indicator forced you to change it to 48 hours."

The collection time has become a key pain point for some specific categories. A Taobao small and medium-sized merchant who sells custom clothing complained to "Shi Xiang":"A handmade custom shop like mine simply can't deliver within 48 hours. Every order is made on the spot. No matter how high the other two scores are, they are dragged down by this time. There is no way."

Zixuan also expressed a similar view: "(Collection within 48 hours) may not have much impact on standard products, but for handmade products or specific clothing products, this policy still has a considerable impact."

Among the merchants contacted by Shi Xiang, there are many merchants who have obtained a store experience score of more than 4.8 points. Some Taobao shop owners also expressed their approval of the comprehensive experience score evaluation system. It is understood that once the store's experience score reaches a high score, all 10 merchant rights can be unlocked.

For example, experience points will directly affect the ranking of product searches. "This is extremely beneficial for new merchants. In the past, free search traffic was mostly occupied by top established merchants, but now, new merchants can use the experience point mechanism to overtake others and gain a wave of free search traffic."

"But it is indeed difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to get a score of 4.8."The Taobao merchant added.

“The platform’s clerks are killing the platform”

In the handling of "refund only" incidents, the waiter played a key role, but the new regulations did not pay special attention to it.

In some refund-only tutorials and courseware, an important tip is often emphasized:"Since the platform customer service (Xiao Er) has relatively greater power, when handling refund matters, it is necessary to ensure that the 'platform customer service' is involved. In this way, the merchant will not be able to interfere with the processing process."

At the end of July, Junhe, a Taobao merchant, encountered a headache. After selling a product worth thousands of yuan, the buyer maliciously applied for a refund, listing the reason for the refund as "the product information does not match the actual situation." Just a dozen minutes later, Taobao's clerk intervened and only refunded the buyer, and changed the reason for the return to "refund by mutual agreement."

"Where did the consensus between the two parties come from? I'm still filling out the reasons for refusing a refund. Taobao did it on purpose and seriously damaged the rights and interests of merchants." In this regard, Junhe believed that the clerk was at fault in the handling process, so it decided to take legal action and directly filed a lawsuit against the Taobao clerk involved.

What surprised Junhe even more was that in this lawsuit, the defense given by the platform's attorney was that according to the relevant provisions of the "Taobao Platform Service Agreement", the platform could, in certain circumstances, only perform refund operations based on these rules and be exempted from liability.

The above mentioned provisions -Taobao's customer service and public reviewers are not professionals and can only judge the credentials submitted by users based on their common sense. Therefore, unless there is intent or gross negligence, the mediation agency is exempt from liability for dispute mediation decisions.

This is not an isolated case. In fact, many Taobao merchants have encountered similar situations when suing their storekeepers.

Recently, a Taobao merchant who sells virtual goods encountered a malicious refund request from a buyer after selling the goods. The buyer claimed that the goods had been bound in advance, and the merchant refuted that the goods were bound after delivery. However, the Taobao clerk who handled the case misjudged the situation, resulting in a refund decision that only favored the buyer, causing the merchant to suffer financial losses.

When the merchant filed a lawsuit, the platform's attorney also cited the provisions of the Taobao Platform Service Agreement to exempt the shop assistant from liability.

Junhe told "Shixiang":"Only those merchants who have experienced refund-only litigation understand the existence of this clause. Ordinary people don't even know there is such a provision."

Some Taobao merchants said: "The special nature of Taobao Xiaoer's job requires them not to judge problems only by ordinary people's standards, they must have corresponding professional skills. If a Taobao Xiaoer's ability is limited to the level of ordinary people and does not reach the technical level required for the job, then they should not be exempted from responsibility."

In addition to Taobao merchants' dissatisfaction with the way the storekeepers handled the matter, some buyers also had similar experiences.

Recently, a Taobao buyer posted that when he contacted the storekeeper for help because the "return courier has not come to pick up the package", the storekeeper's reaction was unexpectedly direct: "I will just refund you directly!" He also hinted that if the merchant contacted him later, he would not need to pay attention.

A user left a comment under the post pointing out a deeper problem: "Creating conflicts. If something really happens, it has nothing to do with the platform's instigation. Let the buyer and seller find each other. The more the merchant loses, the worse the product becomes. The buyer can't buy good products because there is no profit. The vicious cycle is too terrible."

This problem seems to be a common negligence among e-commerce platforms.Recently, according to Caixin, several Pinduoduo merchants said that the new after-sales rules mean that the platform has more authority in refunds. A home appliance merchant added that the platform has increased its "discretionary power" over merchants' processing time limits, and the lack of quantitative standards will amplify the authority of after-sales staff and even AI.

Closing the store at a time when only refunds are allowed

During her communication with many Taobao merchants, Meng Ya, a merchant who runs an independent brand, shared a screenshot of a competitor's store closing with Shi Xiang.

The merchant attributed the reason to this: the platform's long-term unfair order processing consumed too much of my energy, taking up the time that I should have spent calmly researching products. These consumptions made it difficult for me to strike a healthy balance between products, operations and management. All of this was contrary to my values ​​​​and original intentions.

"It was after seeing so many of these announcements that I finally decided to give myself a new life," Meng Ya revealed to "Shi Xiang" her plan to close the store in the near future."For me personally, there are many ways to make a living, but for many small and medium-sized businesses, e-commerce stores may be their livelihood."

Talking about Taobao's new refund-only policy, Meng Ya told "Shi Xiang", "In addition to the experience points factor, it's mainly because too much was spent in the early stages and people are tired of the current situation of the platform. Maybe finding other ways will lead to better development. Don't pin your hopes on it (the new rule)."

In fact, it is not just the above screenshots of store closures. Coinciding with the implementation of Taobao’s new regulations, there are quite a few Taobao merchants on the Xiaohongshu platform who chose to close their stores.

Another screenshot of a store closure has been circulating more widely recently.

10 years, golden crown, millions of fans, the reasons for store closure are almost the same - faced with an unbalanced e-commerce environment between buyers and sellers and third-party platforms, we also tried to adjust our mindset and business model to actively respond, but we still couldn't stop the wave of bad money driving out good money. Some unscrupulous refund-only behaviors made us, who originally loved the clothing industry, gradually become powerless and had to make the decision to close the store.

Many businesses have spent too much time and effort on refunds in the early stages."What I remember most clearly are these kinds of malicious after-sales services. The kind that is hard to get rid of."A number of Taobao merchants expressed similar views to "Shi Xiang".

It was these factors, coupled with dissatisfaction with the new regulations, that ultimately caused them to fail.

Recently, Taobao's rectification action of "only refunding the goods as required" has achieved certain results. According to public reports, thanks to the improvement of merchants' after-sales autonomy and the upgrade of the recognition model of abnormal behavior of only refunding, Taobao and Tmall's intervention in the "only refunding the goods as required" scenario has been reduced by 20%, and the number of unreasonable only refunds has dropped sharply.

Even for small and medium-sized merchants whose experience scores do not reach 4.8 points, the upgraded model has become more accurate and efficient in intercepting abnormal behaviors. This capability has fully covered all platform merchants and is unrelated to the experience score.

Taobao and Pinduoduo's correction measures of only refunding are undoubtedly a positive step towards balance, aimed at finding a better balance between market justice and efficiency.

The lessons learned from this "detour" and the "bias" of the new regulations have forced some small and medium-sized businesses to bear the consequences by closing their stores.

(Zixuan, Junhe and Mengya are all pseudonyms.)