Abstract: Authentication service platforms provide quality assurance for online commodity sales by offering authentication services, effectively improving consumer satisfaction and reducing the return rate of online products. In views of this, a hybrid E-supply chain system consisting of an authentication service E-supply chain and a traditional E-supply chain is constructed in this paper. Using Stackelberg game, the optimal pricing strategies and the corresponding profit under the centralized decision-making modeland the decentralized decision-making model were solved. The impact of authentication service efforts on the operation of each model is analyzed, and the optimal decisions of different models are compared. Finally, through numerical analysis, the model conclusions are verified. The research shows that: 1) Whether it is incentralized or decentralized decision-making model, the product sales prices in both channels increase with the growth of authentication service efforts while the total profit of the hybrid E-supply chain decreases first and then increases with the growth of authentication service efforts; 2) In the decentralized decision-making model, the product sales price of the authentication service channel are higher under the seller-dominated model, butthe profit of the seller and of the authentication service platform are higher under the platform-dominated model, and the commission charged by the authentication service platform and the profit of the authentication service platform all increase with the growth of authentication service efforts while the total profit of the seller decreases first and then increases with the increase of the degree of effort; 3) The hybrid E-supply chain has the highest profit in the centralized decision-making model, when the main profit belongs to the seller. These conclusions above would not only further enrich and develop the hybrid E-supply chain theory, but also provide references for the decision-making of authentication service platforms and online sellers.

Key words: authentication services; hybrid E-supply chain; channel returns; power structure