Disputes arising from transactions on the AliExpress platform are transaction disputes, that is, misunderstandings or deliberate concealment by one party during the transaction, which prevents the transaction from being completed successfully. There are two major categories when buyers file a refund application during a transaction, namely, failure to receive the goods and receipt of goods that do not match the agreement. These two major categories have different subcategories, namely: ① Goods not received: invalid waybill number, wrong address, logistics in progress, customs detention, package return; ② Goods received that do not match the agreement: goods do not match the description, quality problems, damaged goods, short shipments, and sales of fake goods. Buyers file a refund application for various reasons and disputes arise. In the future transaction process, they will question the platform’s products, sellers, and the platform itself, which will eventually cause the seller’s customer base to lose and affect the transaction collection cycle. At the same time, the platform also has relevant punishment measures for disputes, and more resources will be provided to high-quality sellers.
If a buyer does not receive the goods during the transaction or is dissatisfied with the goods received, he or she can file a refund application, and a dispute will arise. The buyer and seller can negotiate to resolve it. If no agreement can be reached, it can be submitted to the platform for arbitration.
The submission of the arbitration includes the following three situations:
(1) The buyer submits the dispute for arbitration. From the 4th to the 15th day after the buyer first filed a refund application, if the buyer and the seller cannot reach an agreement, the buyer can submit it to the platform for arbitration.
(2) The system submits the dispute for arbitration: From the 16th day after the buyer first filed a refund application, if the seller fails to reach a refund agreement with the buyer, and the buyer does not cancel the refund application or submit it to the platform for arbitration, the system will automatically submit it to the platform.
(3) The seller submits the dispute for arbitration: If the buyer applies for a refund or return, and the seller does not receive the return or the returned goods are not the same as the ones described within 30 days after the buyer fills in the return address, the seller can submit it to the platform for arbitration.
AliExpress will intervene within 2 working days of the dispute being resolved. It will make a decision based on the evidence provided by the buyer and seller during the dispute negotiation stage and the dispute resolution stage:
(1) If the existing evidence is sufficient, a decision will be made directly and the appeal period will begin. If the evidence is insufficient, both parties will be contacted to provide the corresponding evidence within a time limit. AliExpress will make a decision based on the evidence provided by both parties. If either party fails to provide evidence within the time limit, AliExpress will make a decision based on the evidence already obtained and the appeal period will begin. (2) If sufficient evidence is provided during the appeal period, a final decision will be made based on the supplementary evidence. If no valid evidence is provided, a final decision will be made based on the decision opinion.
(3) If the buyer and seller reach a consensus on the handling of the case during the appeal period, AliExpress will make a decision based on the opinions of both parties.
If sufficient evidence is provided during the appeal period, a final decision will be made based on the supplementary evidence. If no valid evidence is provided, a final decision will be made based on the decision opinion.