Myntra is slapping a convenience fee on some customers but no-one knows how they are chosen

Myntra is a big name in the Indian fashion business, and they make a ton of deliveries every day. Sometimes, customers return their items if they're not happy with them. But did you know that Myntra can actually charge you if you return too many things?

What 

• Believe it or not, if you are anything like me, who likes to shop a lot, you must have seen something called the convenience fee on Myntra. Myntra describes the convenience fee as a 'platform fee' that the company charges from everyone including Myntra insiders. 
• This charge also differs from product to product but is generally above Rs 10, which might not seem too much for you, at that point but imagine the sales they make with thousands of orders placed every day. For some context, Zomato has a platform fee of Rs 2-3. 

But no, we are not talking about that fee. You will be charged this particular convenience fee if you have made too many returns! 

Why now? 

This whole 'return business' with Myntra, where they are charging money for returning too many products actually comes as good news, as previously the company used to charge a whopping Rs 200 to 300 for each product that you returned.

But you're in the safe if you don't have too many returns. 

What's new?

The experiment is being introduced as "return-as-a-service". This initiative comes a few months after Myntra implemented a flat "convenience fee" ranging from Rs 199 to Rs 299 on every order placed by customers who had a high rate of product returns.

This has now been reduced to Rs 15-30. 

Consumers who were already annoyed by the convenience fee the platform was charging, are angrier after figuring out that they have to pay a certain amount for returning items on Myntra. 

 

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But how to know if you are 'returning too many items"? 

DailyO spoke to a Myntra customer care who handles returns, and they told us: 

• There isn't any 'specific information' available regarding the criteria for selecting consumers who make excessive returns.

• They have only mentioned that if you return more than what is considered "normal", you will incur a charge of Rs 50. So, what is considered 'normal'? Myntra has no clue.

Myntra has a consumer base of 5 crore, and around 5-10% of people are charged with this 'convenience fee' that is applicable on returns. That means a consumer base of 25 lakh to 50 lakh people who are charged with this convenience fee.

Why? According to Myntra, the company is implementing this measure to offset the high volume of returns they process. 

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