Wear, Return, Repeat: How Festive Shoppers Are Hurting India’s Online Sellers

India’s festive online-shopping boom is creating a costly problem for small fashion sellers: customers who wear festive outfits and then return them for refunds can leave sellers with unsellable stock, extra shipping costs and shrinking margins. A Business Standard report published on October 29, 2026, describes sellers who say repeated returns have made selling ethnic wear through e-commerce platforms financially difficult.

The practice is known as “wardrobing”—buying an item, using it briefly and returning it as though it were unused. The problem is particularly acute for clothing bought for Navratri, Garba and Dandiya celebrations because demand can fall sharply once the occasion has passed. However, not every return is abuse: sizing problems, defects and inaccurate product descriptions can also lead to legitimate refunds.

Key Takeaways

• Wardrobing is hurting sellers: Some shoppers allegedly wear festive outfits before returning them, leaving merchants with products that are difficult to resell.
• Small sellers face mounting losses: One seller reported shutting down an online clothing business after losses of ₹3–4 lakh.
• Returns can erase profits: An ethnic-wear seller estimated losses of ₹100–120 for each returned order.
• Festive apparel has a short selling window: Clothes returned after an event may lose much of their commercial value.
• Platforms face a difficult balance: Marketplaces must investigate suspected misuse without penalizing customers returning defective or incorrectly described products.
• Better evidence and verification are needed: Product-condition records, return inspections and transparent dispute processes could help protect legitimate sellers and buyers.

What Is Wardrobing in Online Shopping?

Wardrobing occurs when a customer buys a product, uses it temporarily and then returns it for a refund. In fashion, this can involve purchasing a garment for a particular event, wearing it and sending it back afterward.

The practice has drawn attention during India’s festive season, when demand for ethnic wear increases around celebrations such as Navratri, Garba and Dandiya. A video circulating on social media showing a delivery agent collecting numerous return parcels prompted speculation that some shoppers were returning outfits after wearing them for festivities.

The video alone does not establish that the parcels contained used clothing or that every return was improper. However, sellers interviewed by Business Standard described experiences that they believe reflect a broader problem.

Rishabh Jain, who operated an online clothing business under the name Mega Fashion, said more than 80% of his products were returned. He attributed losses of ₹3–4 lakh to returns, including garments he said appeared to have been worn. He eventually shut down his online operation and shifted his focus to physical retail and wholesale.

These figures represent one seller’s reported experience, not an industry-wide return rate. They nevertheless illustrate the financial pressure that repeated, disputed returns can create for a small business.

Why Festive Fashion Returns Are Particularly Costly

Fashion is already a challenging category for e-commerce because customers cannot physically try on clothing before ordering. Sizes may vary between brands, colors can look different on screens and garments may not match customers’ expectations.

Festive clothing adds another complication: its commercial value is closely tied to timing.

A seller may purchase inventory weeks before a festival, pay for storage and listing, and prepare for a short period of high demand. If an outfit is returned after the celebrations, the seller may struggle to sell it at the original price.

The problem becomes worse when returned clothing has stains, sweat or perfume odors, missing tags or visible signs of use. Such garments may require cleaning, repair or repackaging. Some may no longer be suitable for resale at all.

Naveen Malpani, partner and consumer and retail leader at Grant Thornton Bharat, told Business Standard that industry observations suggested 25–30% of apparel purchased online could be returned during the festive season. This is an industry estimate cited in the report, not a confirmed final return rate for all platforms.

Legitimate returns remain an important part of online fashion shopping. The challenge is distinguishing normal customer dissatisfaction from deliberate use of a product followed by a refund request.

How Returns Can Turn Profitable Orders Into Losses

A returned order can cost a seller money even when the original purchase price is refunded and the garment eventually comes back.

The merchant may have paid for outbound shipping, return logistics, marketplace fees, handling and inspection. If the garment cannot be resold, the business may also lose the value of the inventory.

Cost or risk	How it affects the seller
Outbound delivery	The seller may incur delivery-related costs before the return
Reverse logistics	The returned item must travel back through the delivery network
Inspection and handling	Staff must check the garment’s condition and prepare it for resale
Damaged or used clothing	Cleaning, repair or markdowns can reduce the item’s resale value
Lost seasonal demand	Returned festive clothing may arrive after peak demand has passed
Tied-up inventory	Money invested in stock remains unavailable for other purchases

A sales executive at Aarco Aura, an ethnic-wear seller operating through Flipkart, Amazon and Meesho, estimated that the business loses around ₹100–120 per returned order.

That amount may appear small in isolation, but repeated returns can add up quickly. For a seller operating on thin margins, dozens or hundreds of loss-making returns can erase the profit from successful orders.

The impact extends beyond marketplace sellers. Manufacturers and wholesalers may also suffer when retail customers reduce orders or stop selling online because the return economics become unsustainable.

Why Small Online Sellers Are More Vulnerable

Large retailers may have more resources to absorb returns, inspect products, negotiate logistics arrangements and use data to identify suspicious activity. Smaller merchants often have less financial flexibility.

In East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar, a major market for women’s ethnic wear, traders told Business Standard that repeated returns were making online selling increasingly difficult. VS Fashion, a clothing manufacturer based in the market, said small businesses were particularly vulnerable because they lacked the financial capacity to absorb repeated losses.

The problem can also discourage sellers from investing in inventory. A merchant planning for festive demand must estimate how much stock to purchase, how much money to reserve for operations and how many products may ultimately be returned.

If the return rate is unpredictable—or if a significant proportion of returned garments cannot be resold—the business becomes harder to plan. Sellers may respond by reducing online inventory, raising prices to account for risk or moving toward wholesale and physical retail.

Such responses could reduce the variety of products available online, particularly from smaller brands that rely on marketplaces to reach customers beyond their local markets.

What Can E-Commerce Platforms Do?

Marketplaces face a difficult balancing act. Easy returns help customers shop confidently when they cannot try products before purchasing. But a system that fails to detect clear signs of misuse can shift substantial costs onto sellers.

Grant Thornton’s Malpani recommended targeted measures rather than a blanket tightening of return policies. Platforms could identify repeated high-return patterns, improve product-condition checks and investigate cases where evidence suggests misuse.

Several practical measures could help:

• Document product condition before dispatch: Sellers can retain records of garment condition, packaging and attached tags.
• Inspect returned items: Platforms and sellers can record stains, damage, missing tags or other changes before processing disputes.
• Identify unusual patterns: Repeated returns involving similar products or suspicious timing may warrant closer review, while avoiding assumptions based on return frequency alone.
• Improve seller dispute processes: Merchants need a clear way to submit evidence and challenge deductions.
• Keep policies transparent: Customers should understand return conditions, while sellers should know how claims of product misuse will be evaluated.

These safeguards have costs of their own. Inspecting every garment takes time, and overly strict procedures can delay legitimate refunds or create disputes. Effective systems must therefore rely on evidence and proportionate checks rather than treating every return as suspicious.

What India’s Consumer Protection Rules Mean

India’s Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 establish obligations for sellers and e-commerce entities, including requirements concerning consumer information and grievance redressal.

The rules also require marketplace sellers to accept returns and provide refunds in specified circumstances, including when goods are defective, deficient, spurious or materially different from their advertised characteristics. This means platforms cannot simply eliminate legitimate consumer protections to reduce seller losses.

The regulatory challenge is to preserve those protections while addressing demonstrable misuse. A garment that does not match its description is different from one allegedly worn for an event and returned as unused.

Clear policies, documented evidence and fair dispute resolution can help platforms distinguish between the two. The exact outcome of a return dispute will depend on the facts, the applicable terms and the relevant legal requirements.

The Bigger Picture

India’s e-commerce market depends on trust among customers, platforms and sellers. Consumers need confidence that they can return products that are defective or unsuitable under the applicable policy. Merchants need confidence that returned inventory will be handled fairly and that documented misuse will not automatically become their financial responsibility.

Wardrobing exposes the weakness of a return system that does not adequately distinguish between legitimate dissatisfaction and temporary product use. The consequences can be especially severe for small sellers of seasonal products, whose margins and selling windows are already limited.

The solution is unlikely to be a blanket ban on returns. Better condition checks, stronger evidence, targeted fraud detection and transparent dispute mechanisms could help preserve customer convenience while making online selling more sustainable for smaller businesses.

FAQs

1. What is wardrobing in e-commerce?

Wardrobing is the practice of purchasing a product, using it briefly and returning it for a refund as though it were unused. In fashion, it may involve wearing festive clothing to an event before returning it.

2. How much are online sellers losing from festive returns?

The Business Standard report cites one seller who said his online clothing business suffered ₹3–4 lakh in losses before he shut it down. Another ethnic-wear seller estimated a loss of ₹100–120 per returned order. These are individual business estimates, not industry-wide averages.

3. Are all online clothing returns fraudulent?

No. Customers may legitimately return clothing because of sizing issues, defects, inaccurate descriptions or other reasons permitted under the applicable policy. High return rates alone do not prove misuse.

4. Why are festive clothing returns especially damaging?

Festive outfits have a limited selling window. If a garment returns after a major celebration, demand may have fallen. If it also shows signs of use or damage, the seller may have to discount it or write off the inventory.

5. What can marketplaces do to protect sellers without harming customers?

Platforms can document product condition, inspect returned garments, investigate repeated suspicious patterns and offer transparent dispute mechanisms. These measures should protect genuine customer refunds while helping sellers challenge returns supported by evidence of misuse.

Looking Ahead

As online festive shopping grows, marketplaces will face increasing pressure to make return policies work for both consumers and merchants. Better inspection systems, targeted misuse detection and faster seller dispute resolution could reduce avoidable losses without undermining legitimate refunds.

For small fashion businesses, the key question is whether online marketplaces can offer access to a large customer base without making merchants absorb disproportionate return costs. The way platforms address wardrobing may influence how confidently smaller sellers invest in festive inventory and continue selling online in future seasons.