Overseas Direct Purchase Shipping Agency Terms Disadvantage Consumers... 'Shipping' Tops Consumer Complaints

Consumer Agency Analyzes 1,928 Consumer Consultation Cases

Status by Reason for Consultation.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] It has been found that the terms and conditions of companies that handle the delivery of overseas direct purchase (direct import) goods are often less favorable than the standard terms. Delivery agency service is a service where consumers send items purchased from overseas online malls to a local delivery agency address, and the delivery agency sends the items to the consumer's domestic address for a fee.

According to the Korea Consumer Agency on the 8th, from 2018 to last year, a total of 1,939 consumer consultations related to delivery agency services were received over three years. Analyzing 1,928 cases where the reason for consultation was confirmed, complaints related to delivery such as delayed delivery, loss, or damage accounted for the largest portion at 46.3%, followed by unfair penalty fees or commission charges and price complaints (17.2%), and contract non-fulfillment (10.8%).

Investigating the transaction conditions of five companies with many complaints (New York Girls, Malltail, iPorter, Ohmyzip, Geniezip), it was found that the business operators’ terms of use were often less favorable to consumers than the standard terms. The terms of these companies did not include the receipt of goods transported to the delivery agency address as a service they could provide. Additionally, international return services after domestic delivery, excluding return tasks at the local delivery agency, were also not included in the terms.

The standard terms include tasks related to international returns such as receipt, storage, inspection, and delivery of goods purchased overseas, as well as returns, exchanges, and refunds. The timing of contract formation is also defined in the standard terms as "when the company’s confirmation of receipt of the user’s delivery agency application reaches the user." However, Malltail, iPorter, and Geniezip define it as "the date of payment for the service fee," and New York Girls defines it as "the moment the consumer’s purchased goods are received," raising concerns that the business operator’s responsibility may be limited for issues occurring before these points.

The standard terms require obtaining the consumer’s prior consent when repackaging the goods, but all five sites allow repackaging without prior consent. New York Girls, iPorter, and Ohmyzip also set shorter deadlines for filing damage claims than the standard terms.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency from May 14 to 24 on 700 people who had used delivery agency services within the past year showed that the average number of uses of this service was 5.6 times per year. Among the respondents, 10.6% reported having complaints or damages. The types of damages (multiple responses allowed) were mainly delivery delays and insufficient inspection (each 63.5%), and loss of goods (32.4%). Only 29.8% of consumers were aware of the delivery agency standard terms.

The Korea Consumer Agency plans to recommend major delivery agency operators to improve their terms of use to comply with the standard terms and to make key information such as inspection scope and repackaging options easily accessible to consumers.