About You marketplace returns: partner requirements for Germany and Austria

Selling on About You means meeting the marketplace’s return requirements, not just shipping orders on time.

For partners handling their own fulfilment, returns must be received, inspected and reported quickly. According to About You’s published Seller Center documentation, returned items must be reviewed within 24 hours of receipt.

Missing that window can delay customer refunds and create operational problems, especially for brands selling across Germany and Austria.

This guide explains About You’s return policies, partner responsibilities and the practical steps sellers should take to manage returns efficiently.

In this article:

• About You returns policies in Germany and Austria.
• Partner requirements for labels, carriers and return addresses.
• The 24-hour inspection deadline and refund process.
• Fees, reserves and performance requirements.
• A practical checklist for marketplace sellers.

Why this matters now

About You is now part of Zalando. The takeover closed in July 2025 with around 91% of the shares, and the squeeze-out took effect on 6 November 2025, when About You was delisted. Zalando describes About You as one of its storefronts, alongside Zalando and Lounge, supported by ZEOS, Tradebyte and SCAYLE. In October 2026 About You still runs its own Seller Center, documentation and payment arm, SCAYLE Payments, and public documentation confirms partner return rules remain governed by About You's dedicated Seller Center standards.

The return window has shrunk to 30 days. According to the consumer site RetourenHeld (secondary), it was 100 days until July 2025.

Withdrawal law has changed. Germany’s § 356a BGB, requiring an electronic withdrawal function with a “Vertrag widerrufen” button and a “Widerruf bestätigen” confirmation step, took effect on 19 June 2026. Austria implemented the same EU rule as § 13a FAGG through BGBl. I Nr. 59/2026, published on 28 July 2026 and in force partly from 27 September and partly from 1 October 2026.

Customs has changed. Since 1 July 2026 a fixed €3 duty applies per item type (by tariff heading) on parcels under €150 entering the EU from IOSS-registered sellers.

What the About You customer is promised in Germany and Austria

The window is 30 days in both countries, counted from receipt of the order.

Returns are free in Germany and mostly free in Austria. The German help page says the return is free. The Austrian page says it is free if the order value after the return is at least €34.90; below that, a fee of €1.90 can apply to selected customers, including for full returns.

Carriers differ by country. German customers can drop off at any Hermes ParcelShop or DHL branch. Austrian customers are told to use Hermes parcel shops or any post office.

The label is already there. Customers use the return label and slip from the delivery, or download them from their account, and return only the items on that delivery note in that parcel.

Worth a mention: the customer pages do not explain which items come from a partner. The customer simply follows the label in each parcel, so a wrong label or slip leaves them with no other signal about where the item should go.

Two fulfilment models, two return flows

About You partners can operate through two fulfilment models. The main difference is who stores the products, ships orders and handles customer returns.

Fulfilment by Seller

• The brand stores inventory, ships orders and receives customer returns at its designated warehouse. About You manages customer service and payment collection through SCAYLE Payments.
• The return handling requirements described in the next section apply to this model.

Fulfilment by About You (FbAY)

• The brand sends its inventory to About You, which manages customer shipments and returns through its fulfilment network.
• According to the published documentation, FbAY currently operates from a German warehouse and requires German and Czech VAT IDs.
• The public logistics price list states a return handling fee of €2.91 per shipment for Germany and Austria.

What About You requires from partners on returns

A return label in every box. Each package must contain a self-adhesive return label valid for 30 days.

Approved carriers only. Partners may use only the listed last-mile carriers per country: DHL and Hermes for Germany, Post AT (preferred) and DHL for Austria.

A named return warehouse. During onboarding you provide shipping and return warehouse addresses and your carrier per country. Standard onboarding policies mandate an accessible EU return warehouse location for DE and AT orders.

A return tracking code. ChannelEngine’s integration guide (secondary) says a return tracking code is mandatory in drop shipments. About You’s return API takes order item IDs plus a return tracking key.

24 hours to inspect and decide. The return management guide says partners must review a returned item and accept or reject it within 24 hours of receipt.

Your status update triggers the refund. When you accept, you mark the item “Returned” in the Seller Center, through the API or in a connected system such as Shopify, and the customer refund starts automatically. The API also offers a webhook for returned items. A return sitting unbooked on your dock is a customer waiting for money.

Worn or damaged returns are rejected by not booking them. If an item is damaged, used or past the return deadline, do not mark it as returned. Photograph the problem and contact About You Customer Service within 24 hours through a Jira ticket with the order number and evidence. Legally, Article 14(2) of the Consumer Rights Directive makes the consumer liable only for diminished value caused by handling beyond what is needed to assess the goods.

Returns that are not yours go to Czechia. Goods you cannot identify as your own must be forwarded to About You’s warehouse at Hermes Fulfilment CZ in Šťáhlavy.

Worth a mention: the 30-day return deadline measurement is defined by the carrier drop-off date or return initiation date as recorded by the last-mile logistics partner.

Commission, reserves and the performance scorecard

Commission varies by category and price. The public invoicing page shows women’s textiles running from 4% under €35 to 18% above €100, and packaging choice also influences the rate. Commission is credited back to the partner upon successful processing of a valid customer return.

A large refund reserve is held back. The page states that a minimum of 63.48% of the captured amount is withheld for refunds and 0.3% for chargebacks, with unused reserves released after 60 and 180 days. Payouts go out on the fifth working day of the new month.

The scorecard measures shipping, not returns. It tracks on-time shipping and order completion. The “Standard” tier needs at least 95.0% and 99.0%, and the weekly cancellation rate should stay below 1.0%.

Worth a mention: About You says it does not track specific return reasons for customer orders. The inspection at your return address is the only place where reason, condition and photos are captured.

The statutory layer behind the marketplace rules

The 14-day right sits underneath. Under the Consumer Rights Directive, the consumer has 14 days to withdraw. The trader must refund within 14 days of being told, and may withhold the refund until the goods are back or proof of posting is supplied. About You’s customer pages promise the credit within 14 days of the return arriving and being checked.

The seller carries the withdrawal-function duty. German commentary on § 356a BGB (Noerr, ITMR) notes that the obligation applies on third-party platforms too, and that the merchant should ensure contractually that the platform provides the function. About You integrates this functionality directly in the customer account area and routes the corresponding status updates to partners.

What non-EU and UK sellers must solve first

An EU entity. About You’s application page states that an EU-based legal entity is required. KYC with SCAYLE Payments follows.

EU stock and an EU return address. Dispatch is expected within 24 hours and delivery within 72 to 96 hours of order creation, which is hard to meet from Great Britain.

Customs in both directions. UK-origin parcels to EU consumers now meet the €3 duty, which is not repaid on ordinary change-of-mind returns. Returned items going home need an EU export and a UK re-import. Holding returned stock inside the EU avoids both.

What this looks like inside the business

The Monday backlog. Returns arrive on Saturday and are booked on Tuesday. The 24-hour window has passed and customers are asking About You where their refund is.

The worn dress. An item comes back with make-up marks. The team books it as returned out of habit, the refund fires automatically, and the option to reject has gone.

The reserve surprise. Finance expects the first payout to equal sales less commission. It arrives much smaller because most of the captured amount is held as refund reserve.

What to check before you scale on About You

• Entity, VAT registrations and LUCID number meet the onboarding conditions
• Every parcel contains a 30-day return label for the right country and carrier
• Your return address for Germany and Austria is confirmed in writing
• Return tracking codes are transmitted through your integration
• Returns are inspected and booked within 24 hours of arrival
• A photo-documented rejection process exists, with a named ticket owner
• Unidentifiable returns are forwarded to Šťáhlavy
• Finance has modelled the refund reserve and its 60-day release
• Commission treatment on returned items is confirmed in your contract

How ShopReturns helps

For About You partners handling their own fulfilment, returns management requires accurate tracking, product inspection and timely reporting.

Carriers About You accepts. About You allows only listed last-mile carriers per country. ShopReturns provides return labels with the carriers About You requires for return handling: DHL and Hermes in Germany, Post AT and DHL in Austria. Every return gets a tracking code, which About You’s integration requires for drop shipments.

A local return address. ShopReturns provides local return addresses in nine European markets, helping brands organise domestic customer returns and keep returned stock inside the EU, with no customs leg on the way back.

Evidence for every decision. At our Wrocław hub, returned products are verified using barcode scanning and photo-documented inspection. The photos give partners the evidence About You asks for when a damaged or used item is rejected through a Jira ticket.

Important: About You’s published partner documentation requires returned items to be reviewed within 24 hours of receipt. Before routing About You returns through ShopReturns, agree the booking workflow and timing with us, so the 24-hour window is met.

Depending on the brand’s instructions, returned items can be returned to stock, prepared for resale, donated or disposed of. Consolidated transportation can also help reduce the cost of moving returned inventory across borders.

The goal is to give brands greater control over return logistics, inventory visibility and processing costs.

FAQ

How many days do customers have to return About You orders in Germany and Austria? About You’s help pages state 30 days after receipt in both countries. The 14-day statutory withdrawal right applies underneath.

Who pays for About You returns? German customers are told returns are free. Austrian customers may pay €1.90 if the remaining order value falls below €34.90. How label costs are split between partner and About You is not published.

How fast must About You partners process returns? The public guide says within 24 hours of receipt. Marking the item as returned starts the refund automatically.

Can a UK company sell on About You? The application page requires an EU-based legal entity. A UK brand therefore needs an EU entity, EU VAT registrations and an EU logistics and returns set-up.

Not sure what your current setup is costing you?

Send us your numbers and we'll run them against the new regime - where the duty is hitting twice, what your return freight actually costs against the goods you recover, and how much of it is avoidable. One working session, and you leave with the figures either way.