Returns on Vietnamese Marketplaces: How Not to Lose Margin and Customers

I hear this conversation in negotiations every week. "Dmitry, our returns are up, and the marketplace says everything is per policy." I don't argue: returns hurt. But most often, a brand loses money not on the return itself, but on not understanding where the platform's policy ends and its own operations begin.

Let's break down honestly how this works on Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Sendo, and TikTok Shop in 2026.

What Happened in 2026

The rules of the game on Vietnamese marketplaces have been rewritten in recent months. Not "gradually updated" — but rewritten.

Shopee published its updated returns and refunds policy on March 4, 2026, and it took effect a week later — March 11. This is not cosmetic: the text of Shopee's policy explicitly states both dates, which for a platform of this scale means one thing — sellers were given a week to adapt their processes.

TikTok Shop went further and tougher. The seller policy updates took effect on June 11, 2026. There are two things that change the economics: renaming the return reason "Không Còn Cần Nữa" to "Đổi ý" (meaning "changed my mind") and the seller's obligation to inspect the quality of returned goods. Sounds like a formality. In reality, it shifts part of the operational burden onto you.

And the third layer — regulatory. The new e-commerce law with accompanying decrees, including Decree 248/2026/NĐ-CP, introduces norms from July 1, 2026. According to the overview by the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (IDEA), this is the first time returns and refunds receive not only a platform but also a legislative framework.

What the Market Numbers Say

Three facts worth keeping in mind when you calculate unit economics.

• Shopee gives the buyer 6 days to send the item back after return approval — this is stipulated in the returns processing regulations.
• TikTok Shop obliges the seller to inspect the quality of returned goods — previously this was the platform's domain, now it's yours.
• The legislative framework takes effect July 1, 2026 — meaning brands that entered in 2025 have a window to get their processes in order before it becomes mandatory.

Notice the logic. All three platforms are moving in one direction: more responsibility on the seller, less on the platform. This is not a conspiracy. It's economics — marketplaces are cleaning up their costs, and costs don't disappear, they move.

Where Margin Is Actually Lost

I hear this often: "A return is a loss of goods." No. A return is a loss of time, and that's where the real arithmetic begins.

Look at what happens along the chain. The buyer clicked "return." The platform approved. You have 6 days for the item to reach the warehouse (for Shopee — exactly that). Then the item must be received, inspected, and decided — return to stock, write off, or send for repackaging. And only then do you find out whether you lost or not.

Every day in this chain is frozen money. And if you don't have a process, you pay twice: first for return logistics, then for the item sitting as dead weight.

Here's the twist many don't see. A return is not a customer service problem. It's a logistics and accounting problem. Service only records the fact. Money is lost further down the chain.

Expert Commentary

A return is not a loss of goods. It's a loss of time. And you pay not for the return — but for not having built a process.

Dmitrii Vasenin Founder, VietSmart

What I See from Operations

At VietSmart, we launch partners on Shopee Mall and run their operations from Ho Chi Minh City. Here's what I see on returns.

First. Brands coming from Russia almost always build their process around an "average" return. But returns in Vietnam are extremely heterogeneous by category. Cosmetics and clothing are one pattern. Electronics are completely different. There are no exact public figures on return share by category, but the difference between categories is multiples — this is visible from operations.

Second. The most common mistake is not setting up automatic tracking of return status. The partner learns about a return when the item has already arrived at the warehouse and is sitting there. Five to seven days lost. During this time, money isn't working.

Third. Almost no one calculates the cost of a return separately from the cost of a sale. But these are different lines in the P&L. As long as they're lumped together, you're not managing either.

And fourth, the most painful. Brands underestimate TikTok Shop. Returns there are structured differently than on Shopee, and the same logic that works on Shopee breaks on TikTok. These are different games.

How to Compare Platforms

Not "which platform is better." But "which platform for which category and which type of buyer."

The logic of the table is simple. Where the platform takes inspection on itself, you have less operations but also less control. Where inspection is on you, there's more control but you need a process. Shopee and TikTok Shop in 2026 are moving in the second direction.

What a Brand Should Do

This is not a 200-page strategy. These are five steps you can check in two weeks.

1. Open Shopee's returns policy from 11.03.2026 and compare it with your internal regulations. If there are discrepancies, you're already paying for them.
2. Set up automatic tracking of return status in Seller Center. Not upon the item's arrival, but from the moment the platform approves it.
3. Separate the cost of return and the cost of sale in your accounting. These are two different lines. As long as they're together, you don't see where you're losing.
4. Check TikTok Shop's deadlines separately. Don't transfer Shopee's logic to TikTok — different rules and different deadlines there.
5. Establish a process for inspecting returned goods — who, when, and by what criteria decides: return to stock, repackage, or write off.

The first two steps yield results fastest. The third changes the picture entirely, because you start seeing real unit economics.

If you have multiple platforms, do this separately for each. One process for all platforms is an illusion. Different platforms, different rules, different costs.

Not a Return, but Loyalty

Now the main point. Returns are not only costs. They're also a point of contact with the customer. And here most brands lose more than on logistics.

A buyer who returned an item and was satisfied with the process buys again. A buyer who returned an item and waited two weeks leaves forever. The difference is not in the product, but in speed and transparency.

What I see among partners: those who set up fast returns get a noticeably higher share of repeat purchases. I won't give an exact percentage — it heavily depends on the category. But the direction is stable and has been for two years running.

This is not about returns. It's about how you treat the customer at their most inconvenient moment. And that's exactly where it's decided whether they come back or not.

The market isn't falling. The market is maturing. And return rules are part of that maturation.

At VietSmart, we take on setting up return and refund processes for each platform — from regulations to tracking automation. Partners' first sales come within 60–90 days, and returns in this model are a manageable line, not a surprise.