What is Flipkart's return policy for sellers?

The window is set by category, not by you

Return eligibility and the length of the window are category settings on Flipkart's side. Most categories sit in the seven to ten day range, some are replacement only, and a few are not returnable at all. Check the current window for your own sub-category in Seller Hub, because these get revised.

You cannot opt out of your category's policy. What you can influence is how often it gets used, and that comes down to your listing and your packaging.

Who pays depends on the reason code

A return raised because the product was damaged, defective or not as described is treated as a seller fault, and the logistics cost lands on you along with the lost sale.

A return raised because the customer changed their mind is handled differently, and courier or platform failures are meant to be borne by the platform. Reason codes are worth reading. They are the basis of every claim you might raise.

Claims have deadlines. A wrong or missing item you never contest becomes a cost you volunteered for.

The number nobody puts in the pricing sheet

Return rates in Indian marketplace categories are not small. Apparel and footwear routinely run far above what a seller assumes when they set a price, and every returned order still consumed a forward shipping fee, a reverse leg, and often a product that comes back unsellable.

Work it the other way around. Take your fee stack, then divide your contribution by one minus your return rate. That is the margin you actually need on the orders that stick, and it is usually well above the one in the spreadsheet.

We plan advertising against that number, not the gross one. It is the whole reason our break-even maths looks pessimistic next to a standard calculator.