数字经济下电商虚拟商品退换货的法律规制路径研究

Study on the Legal Regulation Paths for Return and Refund of E-Commerce Virtual Goods in the Digital Economy

摘要: 当前数字技术与电商经济迅猛发展，虚拟商品交易市场规模也在不断扩大，然而虚拟商品因其非物质性、易复制性等特性，与现有的商品交易退换货规则存在冲突，目前的法律规则框架难以满足当前需要。实践中主要表现为虚拟商品范围界定模糊、商品完好的判断标准缺失、举证责任失衡等问题。为解决上述困境，提出通过增设数字商品交易专章、构建分层分类退换货规则、平衡经营者与消费者的举证责任分配等完善路径，旨在平衡消费者权益保护与数字产业创新，促进虚拟商品交易市场规范化及数字经济的健康有序运行。

Abstract: With the rapid development of digital technology and the e-commerce economy, the market scale of virtual goods transactions has been continuously expanding. However, due to the characteristics of virtual goods such as intangibility and ease of replication, they conflict with the existing rules on return and refund for commodity transactions, and the current legal framework is hardly able to meet the current needs. In practice, this is mainly reflected in problems including ambiguity in the definition of the scope of virtual goods, a lack of criteria for determining the integrity of goods, and an imbalance in the burden of proof. To address the aforementioned predicaments, this paper proposes improvement paths, such as adding a special chapter on digital goods transactions, establishing hierarchical and categorized return and refund rules, and balancing the distribution of the burden of proof between operators and consumers. These paths aim to balance the protection of consumers’ rights and interests with the innovation of the digital industry, and further promote the standardization of the virtual goods transaction market as well as the healthy and orderly operation of the digital economy.