Major sellers of seasonal goods began removing artificial Christmas trees from marketplaces ahead of schedule in order to avoid massive refunds after the New Year holidays. First of all, we are talking about products that fall under the standard 14-day return period, which is actively used by customers after January 1.
According to market participants, the problem is systemic and affects not only Christmas trees, but also a wide range of New Year's products, from carnival costumes to garlands and festive decorations.
Timur Urinbaev, Chief Operating Officer of Reful fulfillment, said that last year the share of returns of artificial Christmas trees from large sellers reached critical values.
"If we talk about large sellers, their losses are very large. Last year, we recorded up to 20% of individual sellers' returns of exactly the products sold after December 16," Urinbayev said.
According to him, some of the company's partners had a turnover of 10 to 15 thousand Christmas trees in December, and the return of even a fifth of the goods resulted in multimillion-dollar losses.
"20% is a lot for them. And a decision was made: after December 16, to close sales on marketplaces precisely because of these 14 days for a refund," he stressed.
The economics of returns in the seasonal goods segment are proving disruptive for sellers. If the Christmas tree is not sold before the New Year or returned after use, the seller incurs costs not only for return logistics, but also for storing the goods for almost a year or disposing of them.
Leonid Seller, who sells street lights, confirms the scale of the problem in the market as a whole:
"One refund cancels out three sales. If 50% of the product was returned to you, you lost 30% of the total volume. This is a loss—making job," he says.
Attempts to protect against unfair returns through seals, tags and special markings have failed.
Ilya Bukharin, founder of the Marketplace Partners Club, emphasizes that the current practice of accepting returns does not actually take into account the condition of the product.
"Marketplaces don't check seals and tags. They have no instructions. They just check the contents against the application and accept the refund," he said.
As a result, for large sellers, the only effective risk management tool remains a complete shutdown of online sales a few weeks before the New Year. At the same time, some of the goods go to offline retail, where returns after the holidays are either limited or impossible.
The situation once again raises the issue of the need to review the rules for the return of seasonal goods on marketplaces and the balance of interests between buyers and sellers.
