Returns from abroad: what to agree on in advance, what it costs, and how to get the item ready for resale
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
A return from London or Oslo costs more than just a label. Here’s how you set your conditions, pass on the actual costs, and quickly make a returned item ready for resale.
A return from Rotterdam costs you a label and ten minutes. A return from London, Oslo, or Zurich costs you a label, a customs form, a discussion about who bears the costs, and sometimes a two-week wait for a package whose condition upon return you don't know. If you're just starting to sell outside the EU, this is the part most often overlooked.
This article is about what you arrange in advance, what an international return actually costs you, and how to get a returned item ready for sale again as quickly as possible.
Start with your terms and conditions, not the first return request
If you sell to consumers, the statutory cooling-off period applies. The ACM states that consumers may "cancel the purchase up to 14 days after the product has been delivered or the contract has been confirmed," with exceptions for, among other things, custom-made products and sealed hygiene products, for which the cooling-off period expires as soon as the seal is broken (source: acm.nl). If you sell to business customers abroad, what you agree upon applies — and then a short, explicit rule in your terms and conditions is extra important.
In any case, establish:
Who pays for the return shipment. You may charge this to the customer, but you must clearly state it before the purchase.
To which address returns should be sent, and whether you use a return label.
Within what period the customer must report and ship.
What you do with duties or costs paid by the customer upon import. This is often not something you refund, but the customer needs to know where they stand.
For the fiscal and customs technical aspects of returned goods, you can contact the Dutch Customs Authority and your carrier. Ask them how a return from a non-EU country should be delivered to them — this varies per carrier and per country, and it's exactly the point where packages get stuck.
What does such a return really cost?
Calculate an example once, and you'll know your limit. Add up:
The return shipment itself — often more expensive than the outward journey, especially for light items with a large volume.
Your time: processing the request, receiving the package, checking it, repacking it, and refunding. Realistically, count ten to twenty minutes.
Depreciation. An item with torn packaging can no longer be sold at full price.
If you arrive at an amount close to the item's price, the question of whether you even want the item back is justified. For small, inexpensive items, many sellers choose to only refund and let the customer keep the product. This is a conscious choice, not laziness: it saves shipping costs, paperwork, and two weeks of uncertainty.
Give your customer a five-rule instruction
Most problems with international returns arise because the customer ships the package as they would domestically. Therefore, include a short list with each return request:
Pack the item in a sturdy box, with the original product packaging around it — not as a shipping box.
State on the customs form that it is a return shipment and refer to the original order number or original shipment.
Fill in the description and value as they appeared on the original shipment.
Ship with track-and-trace and keep the shipping receipt.
Take a photo of the contents before sealing.
Those last two points are not exaggerated: for a lost or damaged returned shipment, the difference between "the customer said that" and "here is the photo and proof" is precisely the difference between compensation or no compensation.
When the package arrives: first look, then open
Treat an international return as a delivery you check, not as mail you just tear open.
First, inspect the exterior: is the box dented, is the seal broken, is there a customs sticker on it? If there's damage, take a photo BEFORE opening — after that, you can no longer prove how the package arrived. Then, open the box with a knife that allows you to control the depth, such as the Kinzo Warehouse Knives 3 pieces (€ 1.95) or the Warehouse Knife Set 8 pieces Yellow (€ 4.95), so you don't cut through the product packaging.
Then, check in a fixed order: completeness, condition of the product, condition of the packaging, and only then whether it is resalable. Note your conclusion immediately — in a discussion a week later, no one will remember exactly.
Making it resalable again
An item that returns is rarely completely store-ready. What you need is limited:
Keep returns you haven't yet assessed separate from your sales inventory. One bin labeled "to be checked" prevents an item with dented packaging from accidentally being sold as new — and that's the mistake that will result in a second return, this time with an angry customer.
The cheapest return policy is a better product page
Every return you prevent is one you don't have to process. For international customers, concrete data is especially helpful: dimensions in centimeters, weight, material, number of pieces per package, and photos that clearly show the scale. Also, explicitly state what is NOT included — batteries, attachments, a key — as this is a classic reason for returning an order.
Additionally, on your shipping page, state approximately how long a shipment to that country will take and that customs processing can add extra days. A customer who knows their package will take twelve days to arrive is less likely to cancel than a customer who, after five days, thinks it's lost.
Checklist
Return conditions are online, also in English if you sell outside the EU.
You know what a return from your most important export country costs.
You have a standard five-rule instruction ready for the customer.
There is a designated place for received returns.
Packaging material to make items resalable again is in stock.
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