Returnless Refund

For low-value, bulky, or perishable items, keeping the return off the network can save money. It needs rules on value thresholds and customer history to limit abuse.

Returnless refund saving = return label cost + processing cost − expected resale recovery

Offer a returnless refund when the saving is above zero.

When does a returnless refund make sense?

It makes sense when the cost of return shipping and processing exceeds what you can recover by reselling, such as low-priced, heavy, or perishable items. Limit it by item value and customer history to prevent abuse.

• Cost per ReturnThe total cost of handling one return, including return shipping, receiving and inspection labor, repackaging, refund processing, and lost value from items that cannot be resold at full price.
• Return FraudThe abuse of a return policy to obtain money or goods dishonestly, such as returning stolen, used, or swapped items, claiming empty boxes, or returning items never bought.
• DispositionThe decision on what happens to a returned item: restock as new, sell as open box, refurbish, liquidate, recycle, or destroy.