{"id":89446,"date":"2026-07-17T09:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/89446\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T09:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:07:16","slug":"coupang-raises-free-return-bar-to-curb-bad-faith-shoppers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/89446\/","title":{"rendered":"Coupang Raises Free-Return Bar to Curb Bad-Faith Shoppers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PhotoPhoto of a hanbok product sold on Coupang. The outer packaging carries a notice about return restrictions. Photo courtesy of the seller.<\/p>\n

Coupang is tightening some criteria for the free-return program it has operated for Wow membership subscribers. The move aims to curb abuse of the system amid a string of cases where customers returned products after using them. Coupang plans to first introduce return restrictions on items such as hanbok to counter “black consumers” \u2014 those who deliberately file malicious complaints to obtain unfair gains.<\/p>\n

According to reporting compiled by the Seoul Economic Daily on the 16th, Coupang recently consulted with manufacturers and sellers and decided to attach an additional tag loop to hanbok products, restricting returns if the tag is removed or damaged. The tag loop is made of thread rather than plastic, making it difficult to reattach. The measure took effect this month.<\/p>\n

Along with this, guidance stickers are attached to the outside of product packaging containing messages such as “Returns may be restricted if the tag is removed or damaged” and “Exchanges and returns are not possible if the product’s value has decreased due to signs of use.” The measure is intended to notify consumers in advance to remove the tag and use the item only after sufficiently checking its size, color and condition. The product sales page also separately notes that returns may be restricted depending on the product’s condition or signs of use.<\/p>\n

Until now, Coupang has offered free-return service to Wow membership subscribers, enhancing consumer convenience while encouraging sign-ups for the paid membership. At a monthly fee of 7,890 won, Coupang’s Wow membership has won consumer favor by offering services such as Rocket Delivery, free shipping and free returns. Recently, Gmarket also decided to introduce free-return service for its paid membership subscribers starting next month, as free returns spread as a core membership benefit in the e-commerce industry. However, there have been steady criticisms that the barrier to free returns is too low, leading to a growing number of cases where consumers abuse the benefit \u2014 for example, returning products that have been used several times rather than new items.<\/p>\n

Coupang is applying the strengthened free-return criteria on a trial basis to items such as hanbok, where abuse is most frequent. Hanbok is cited as a representative item where consumers repeatedly buy it for holidays such as Chuseok and Lunar New Year, or for daycare, kindergarten and elementary school events, wear it once or twice, then return it. In fact, according to hanbok manufacturers that supply Coupang, the normal return rate for hanbok is around 30%, but immediately after holidays such as Lunar New Year and Chuseok, it soars to around 60% \u2014 twice the usual level.<\/p>\n

Through this measure, Coupang and sellers will be able to reduce the additional costs incurred in the process of collecting, inspecting and repackaging returned goods. The industry also expects a certain reduction in unsellable inventory. Since demand for hanbok plummets after holidays, once worn items are returned, resale is virtually difficult, and most are classified as dead stock.<\/p>\n

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Coupang is reportedly reviewing plans to apply similar criteria to other product categories with a high potential for return abuse, after examining the results of this trial run. In addition, the company plans to refine related measures so that sellers do not face disadvantages even if they refuse return requests from consumers who abuse the return service.<\/p>\n

An industry official said, “If cases of buying hanbok, wearing it once during a holiday or event, and then returning it keep recurring, small sellers ultimately have no choice but to bear the cost,” adding, “A proper return culture needs to take root so that even consumers who purchase products normally are not harmed.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo of a hanbok product sold on Coupang. The outer packaging carries a notice about return restrictions. Photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[47042,426,997,47040,33169,19067,47041,607],"class_list":["post-89446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-coupang","tag-black-consumers","tag-coupang","tag-e-commerce","tag-free-return-policy","tag-gmarket","tag-hanbok","tag-return-abuse","tag-wow-membership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}