A female online clothing seller in Dongguan has sparked heated online debate after revealing she received more than 400 returned “interview dresses” shortly after China’s teacher qualification interviews ended this month.
The seller claimed many of the returned outfits appeared heavily worn, carried strong sweat and perfume odours, and could no longer be resold.
According to the woman, surnamed Cao, the massive wave of returns began immediately after the national teacher qualification interview examinations concluded on May 16.
Within just two days, her online store reportedly received nearly 300 refund requests, along with over 30 “refund only” applications where buyers allegedly attempted to keep the products without properly returning them.
In total, more than 400 pieces of clothing were eventually sent back to her shop.
The seller said she suffered estimated losses of between 40,000 and 50,000 yuan due to the incident.
What angered her most was the condition of the returned items.
After opening the packages, she allegedly discovered that many of the dresses and shirts had obvious signs of wear.
Some shirts reportedly had yellow stains around the collars, while many garments had their original tags removed or cut off completely.
She also claimed the returned clothes were filled with unpleasant smells including sweat, perfume and strong body odour.
“The clothes came back smelling terrible,” she complained online.
Because foul odours are difficult to prove through platform evidence systems, Cao said the returned items could not be resold and are now simply piling up inside her home.
After reviewing customer information, she noticed many of the buyers’ return addresses were linked to universities and vocational colleges across China.
Chat records shared online allegedly showed some buyers openly admitting they only intended to “wear the outfits for two days first.”
One buyer reportedly even questioned her by asking: “Why can’t worn clothes be returned?”
Cao further claimed that some customers first participated in the shop’s “positive review cashback” promotion to receive rewards before later applying for refunds as well.
She also accused buyers of abusing the platform’s shipping insurance system by exaggerating postage fees during returns.
According to Cao, some customers submitted inflated shipping costs and the platform automatically reimbursed them using money deducted directly from merchants.
The controversy has reignited discussions in China over abuse of the country’s “seven-day no reason return” policy.
Lawyers commenting on the issue stressed that the policy only applies if products are returned in good condition.
They said consumers who wear clothing extensively before returning it have clearly exceeded reasonable fitting or trial use limits.
Legal experts added that merchants have the right to reject refunds involving visibly used products and warned that malicious returns could potentially amount to breach of contract or even fraud.
