Returns
Return dispositions: how we grade, restock, refurbish or liquidate
Every returned unit should get one of four outcomes within a day of arriving: restock, recondition, liquidate or dispose. How BoxHero grades each return by the next morning, what each disposition costs you, and the five rules to set before holiday returns arrive.
Every returned unit should get one of four outcomes within a day of arriving: back to stock, reconditioned and restocked, sold as open box or liquidated, or disposed of and recorded. The outcome comes from the unit's condition and a rule you set once. At BoxHero every return is opened, photographed and graded by the next morning at the latest, and sellable units are back in their bin the same day. Here is how the grading works, what each disposition costs you, and the five rules to set before the holiday returns arrive.
What happens to a return at BoxHero
A return is a mini quality check, and it has to run on a schedule. Ours has five steps. The parcel is scanned in and matched to the original order and SKU. Returns that arrive with no paperwork are still matched. The unit is opened at the bench, photographed, and the return reason is recorded. We check the packaging as well as the item, because a crushed retail box turns a sellable unit into an open-box unit. The unit is then tagged with one of three conditions: sellable, opened but fine, or damaged. Your rule for that condition fires, and you can override any single unit from the dashboard. The photos sit next to the order in your dashboard, which is also what you need when a customer claims the box came back empty (see our seller playbook on delivery disputes).
Returns that arrive during the working day are inspected and graded the following morning at the latest. Sellable units go back to their own bin location and are added to the on-hand count the same day, so your store can sell them again that afternoon.
Three conditions, four dispositions
| Disposition | Condition that triggers it | What happens | What you decide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restock | Sellable: unopened, or opened and indistinguishable from new | Back to its bin, on-hand count updated the same day | What "sellable" means for your product |
| Recondition | Opened but fine: tried on, tested, or missing the outer wrap | Cleaned, repackaged, then restocked or tagged for an open-box listing | Whether to recondition, and the floor value below which you do not bother |
| Liquidate | Damaged, cosmetic defect, or discontinued | Held in a separate bin until you route it: outlet or seconds sale, liquidator pickup, donation, or parts | The channel, the discount, and how long we hold before disposal |
| Dispose | Unsafe, unsellable, or worth less than the handling | Disposal handled and recorded against the SKU | The disposal rule and any recycling preference |
The brands in the Shopify Community thread that asked this question landed on the same split. One store runs a "Gently Used" section at 25% off for face masks with cosmetic scuffs. Another puts open-box units in an outlet collection at 20% to 30% off with photos and notes. Apparel with a stitch error goes out as "imperfect" at 50% off. Dented skincare boxes go to shelters. Unopened candles go straight back to stock. The pattern is condition first, value second, and the disposition follows.
Why the grading has to happen the next morning
A return loses value while it waits. Optoro's estimate, reported by CBRE, is that fashion apparel loses 20% to 50% of its value over eight to 16 weeks, and electronics lose 4% to 8% a month. That estimate is from 2019, and it is still the one most of the industry quotes. A unit that sits in a returns tote for a month is already discounted before anyone looks at it. Grading on arrival puts the sellable units back in stock while the product page is still live at full price.
The other cost of waiting is the landfill. Optoro says 9.6 billion pounds of returns end up in a landfill each year, and that retailers using its routing sent 95% of returned and excess inventory to reuse channels in 2023. A unit that is never graded cannot be routed to resale, so it ends up in the first number.
The numbers behind the returns pile
The NRF and Happy Returns 2025 report (October 15, 2025) puts the return rate at 15.8% of retail sales, or $849.9 billion, with 19.3% of online sales coming back. It found 9% of all returns are fraudulent, and retailers tracking fraud reported more empty boxes and more decoy returns such as counterfeits. That is why every unit gets opened and photographed, including the ones that look fine from the outside. The same report says 49% of retailers plan to rely more on third-party logistics partners for holiday returns, and 40% name the rising cost of processing returns as the reason they now charge a return fee. If you are deciding who should pay for return shipping, the processing cost is the half of the math most brands skip.
Five rules to set before peak
- Define "sellable" per SKU. For a sealed supplement it means seal intact. For a jacket it means tags on, no wear, no scent. Write it down and we grade against it.
- Pick the open-box channel and the discount. A collection on your own store at 20% to 30% off keeps the margin. A liquidator pays less and takes everything at once.
- Set a floor value. Below it, do not recondition. A $12 item does not earn a repackage and a second pick.
- Set the hold time for damaged units. Thirty days in a held bin, then liquidate or dispose, keeps the returns shelf from becoming storage.
- Read the return reasons by SKU every month. One product with a size or fit problem produces more returns than any policy change fixes.
What it costs
At BoxHero the first 10 returns a month are included with the account. After that it is $2 a unit, and inspection, photos and grading are part of that price. There is no separate inspection line. Reconditioning and repackaging are quoted on request. That matters because returns processing is one of the eleven 3PL fees that are often missing from the quote. Full details are on the returns page and the pricing page.
You keep the refund decision, the published return policy, the customer conversation, and the definition of sellable for your product. We handle receiving, inspection, grading against your rules, restocking, reconditioning, disposal, and the return-reason trends by SKU. Your customers start a return in a portal under your brand and never see our name.
