On Kaufland, returns follow fixed rules: how long the buyer has, who pays the return shipping, how fast you have to act, and what your first reply must contain. That last rule has been mandatory since 1 February 2026, and missing it can mean refunding the whole order at your own expense. For international sellers there is a further question: where do the parcels go back to?
Below are the rules as the Kaufland Seller University described them on 30 September 2026.
The return period: 14 days by default
Kaufland sets the return period to 14 days by default. You can change it for each marketplace separately in the Seller Portal under Settings, Returns settings.
Who pays for return shipping
Kaufland’s seller terms (section 13.1.2) require free return shipping for items over €40. If the purchase price of the returned product is more than €40.00 (990 Kč on Kaufland.cz, 175 zł on Kaufland.pl), excluding postage and customer discounts, you bear the cost of the return.
From abroad this adds up. Say a buyer on Kaufland.it sends back a €55 item to your warehouse in another country: you pay the cross-border return label on top of the outbound shipping. The free return cost calculator works out what one return costs you in total, with shipping, handling, unsellable stock and commission.
Four ways to handle returns
You choose the route in your returns settings:
| Route | What you need | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Kaufland’s DHL return label programme | Your own DHL contract and a German return address | For items up to €40.00, you can charge the buyer at most €5 |
| Automated DPD returns | An existing DPD contract and a German return address | For items up to €40.00, the buyer pays at most €5; for DE, AT, FR, CZ, PL, SK, NL and IT |
| An automated message to the buyer | Your return instructions | Must contain a valid return option (see below) |
| Via a ticket | A reply within the ticket deadline | The same |
The two automated label programmes only work with a German return address, and any returns address you give Kaufland must be in the EU. If your stock and returns address are outside Germany, the automated message and the ticket remain. In both, your reply has to meet the rule below.
The first-reply rule since 1 February 2026
When a buyer asks to return an item for a refund within the withdrawal period, your first reply must contain a valid return option. The new terms took effect on 1 January 2026, and the rule has applied since 1 February 2026.
Valid options according to Kaufland:
- a return label already in the parcel;
- a prepaid return label;
- your return address, provided the item is worth no more than €40;
- a link to download a prepaid return label;
- a refund without return.
If you do not offer one of these, Kaufland’s customer service cancels the order and refunds the buyer in full at your expense. You then have four weeks to arrange the return of the goods with the buyer yourself. The rule does not apply to items legally excluded from withdrawal, such as hygiene products, perishables or custom-made goods; your statutory warranty obligations remain.
In practice: keep your return instructions as a text module in the Seller Portal (Ticket management, Text modules), so your first reply always contains a valid option. Tickets must be answered within 48 hours on working days.
Confirming receipt and refunding
When a return arrives, you confirm receipt, and that starts the refund to the buyer. If the return came back with a Kaufland DHL or DPD label and you do nothing within 3 working days of receipt, Kaufland confirms it automatically.
A return like that, left on the shelf for a few days, is decided without you. Check incoming parcels within those three working days, and if a third-party warehouse receives your returns, agree that timeline with them.
Rejecting a return
You can reject a return, for example if the item comes back damaged or incomplete. Rejecting opens a ticket automatically, in which you settle the matter with the buyer. Record what you received: photos of the parcel and its contents make that conversation shorter.
An open ticket also pauses the release period for that order. Kaufland releases your revenue 14 days after delivery (with a tracking number) or 21 days after the order is marked as shipped (without one); see the payout date calculator.
Refunds without a return
Kaufland lets you set up free rules for refunds without a return, per sales channel, with a price limit and optionally a category or return reason. For cheap or heavy items, and for buyers in a country far from your warehouse, that can cost less than a return label you pay for. Work it out per item before you set such a rule.
A routine in four steps
- Settings: check your return period and returns address in the Seller Portal.
- First reply: always use the same text module with a valid return option, and only change the label or amount.
- Receipt: open return parcels the day they arrive, take photos, and confirm or reject within three working days.
- Review: once a month, look at which items come back most and why. A misleading photo or size chart keeps causing returns, in every country you sell in.
How Sellgrip helps
Sellgrip connects through the Kaufland Seller API. Returns shows your return rate, refunds and return reasons, per item and across all your Kaufland countries, with returns awaiting your decision at the top, including amount and deadline. With Return decisions you accept or reject a return in Sellgrip; because both are final, Sellgrip asks you to confirm first. The Returns radar finds products that come back unusually often, with the reasons and the cost.
