The dilemma of "no reason to return" for second-hand goods purchased online should be resolved in advance
2024-05-27
Seven day no reason return (hereinafter referred to as "no reason return") is a special "legal benefit" that consumers have in the era of e-commerce and online shopping. Article 25 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law clearly stipulates that if a business operator sells goods through methods such as the internet, television, telephone, mail order, etc., the consumer has the right to return the goods within seven days from the date of receipt, without the need to explain the reason. However, sometimes the implementation of "no reason return" may encounter some obstacles, making it seem that a "reason" is needed again. Mr. Wu and Mr. Liu are both registered users of a certain online second-hand trading platform. Mr. Wu purchased the pet supplies sold by Mr. Liu on the platform and applied for a return and refund online. The platform supported Mr. Wu's request. But Mr. Liu believes that the items he sells should not be subject to the "no reason return" system and has filed a lawsuit with the court, demanding that Mr. Wu return the payment. After trial, the court found that Mr. Liu purchased products in bulk from others and then sold them at an additional price. His trading behavior is profit-making, and his identity should be recognized as an "operator" rather than an "ordinary user". His sales behavior should be subject to the "no reason return" system. Finally, the court ruled to dismiss Mr. Liu's lawsuit request (according to the May 26th Pengpai News). As can be seen from this case, the implementation of the "no reason return" system has encountered difficulties on second-hand trading platforms, and consumers have also encountered the confusion of "no reason return" here. The reason is that the Consumer Rights Protection Law restricts the seller's identity as an "operator". In recent years, compared to purchasing brand new products, second-hand goods with good quality and affordable prices have become increasingly popular among consumers. Meanwhile, although it has become increasingly convenient for people to dispose of idle items through online second-hand trading platforms, with the increase of platform users, there are also a large number of operational users specialized in second-hand trading on the platform. The identification of these sellers determines whether the "no reason return" system can be successfully implemented here. The question is, today's consumers shopping on online platforms, "no reason to return" has become a habit or awareness. In situations where the seller's identity is difficult to distinguish at the moment, can consumers still feel at ease to "buy buy buy"? If everything is like the previous case, the seller's identity needs to be confirmed by the court one by one, and the time, judicial and other costs involved appear too high. In the rapidly developing second-hand market, if the dilemma of "no reason to return" cannot be properly resolved, it may lead to more similar disputes, which in turn will affect the healthy and healthy development of this market. On the other hand, can one enjoy the right to "return without reason" when purchasing second-hand goods? If the responsibility for this discrimination is solely entrusted to consumers, it seems to be clearly unfair. This approach, on the one hand, unnecessarily adds extra burden to consumers, and on the other hand, may often fail to fully protect consumers under the Consumer Rights Protection Law, affecting people's consumer confidence. Therefore, in order to make consumers have a more definite judgment on their return rights without adding any burden, it should be a more feasible choice to clarify the seller's identity during transactions. This requires second-hand trading platforms to distinguish users more clearly when registering their identities. Whether a registered user is a business operator or an ordinary user, they should be clearly distinguished and prominently marked on their homepage to avoid consumers having difficulty distinguishing between males and females. The rapid increase in registered users on second-hand trading platforms requires the platform to distinguish the identity attributes and transaction nature of each user in real-time, strictly, and accurately, and there are also great difficulties in practice. In addition, according to the provisions of the E-commerce Law, natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations registered on the platform to engage in trading activities are all referred to as "platform operators", while non-profit second-hand goods transactions are often found on many platforms, making it difficult to define the identity of "ordinary users". At this point, in order to protect the smooth operation of legitimate and non-profit second-hand goods transactions between individuals, it is particularly important for both parties to have a voice in the transaction. For example, when a user sells second-hand goods for non-profit purposes, they declare to the buyer that their goods are not subject to the "no reason return" rule, and the transaction can only be concluded after both parties reach an agreement on this. In this way, it will be easier to solve the problem of "no reason to return" first. (Lai Xin She)
Edit：Wangchen Responsible editor：Chenjie
Source：jcrb.com
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