How MLG Handles Damaged Product Refunds
Here's the reality: MLG will ask you to negotiate your own reimbursement. Not offer it. Ask you to negotiate it.
You've already absorbed the costs. You purchased inventory, paid to ship it to their US warehouse, waited for the sale, and watched your capital sit idle while the product moved through their system to a buyer in Mexico. By the time that buyer returns a damaged item to your Mexican return address, six weeks have passed. Your money is tied up. Your stock is gone.
Then comes the message from the support team essentially asking: What amount do you believe is appropriate for reimbursement?
The Negotiation Trap: What to Expect
The answer should be obvious—the full sale price. But MLG's support team is trained to push back. They'll question your valuation. They'll suggest a lower figure. You'll have to stand firm, cite your costs, and insist on what you're owed. Another week passes. Now it's seven weeks of frozen capital.
Eventually, they'll reimburse you the full amount. But only after you've fought for it. This delay isn't accidental—it's part of MLG's strategy to manage cash flow at seller expense.
Hidden Costs MLG Won't Reimburse
The advertising spend? That's your problem. If you ran ads to move that product, those costs vanish into the margin. MLG won't compensate you for customer acquisition expenses. Build that loss into your pricing and move forward.
This means your true cost of a damaged product return includes not just the inventory value, but also the marketing dollars spent to acquire that buyer. Factor this into your margin calculations when pricing for MLG.
How MLG Compares to Other Marketplaces
This strategy is distinctly MLG. Amazon may be ruthless with sellers, and eBay has its own friction, but neither platform pulls this particular tactic—making sellers justify reimbursements for inventory that arrived damaged through their own fulfillment network.
It's a calculated friction designed to wear down smaller sellers and protect MLG's margins. Understanding where MLG stands relative to competitors helps you decide which platforms deserve your inventory investment.
Pricing Strategy: Building MLG Losses Into Your Margins
Knowing it's coming doesn't make it less frustrating, but it does let you price accordingly and plan your cash flow around the reality that your capital will be locked up longer than it should be.
When calculating your MLG pricing, account for:
- Extended reimbursement timelines (6–7 weeks of frozen capital)
- Negotiation friction and support overhead
- Unrecovered advertising and customer acquisition costs
- Inventory carrying costs during the return and negotiation period
By building these costs into your MLG pricing from the start, you protect your margins and avoid the frustration of discovering them after your first damaged product claim.
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