Okount team ·
Don't put a return back into stock or treat it as settled until the parcel is opened and checked. Grade each item as resellable, damaged or wrong, then restock, write off or claim it.
Why returns leak money
A return is three things at once: a refund, a parcel in transit and a unit of stock that may or may not be sellable. Sellers lose money when they restock a return before seeing it, refund a parcel that never arrives, or never notice that the box held a different item.
Step 1: Hold it until the box is open
When a return is raised, mark the order as returning, but don't add the item back to stock yet. It is stock in transit, not stock you can sell.
When the parcel arrives, open it on camera if you sell anything of value. The video is your evidence if the box holds a used item, a different item or nothing at all.
Step 2: Grade what came back
Every returned item goes into one of three groups, and each has its own next step.
- Resellable: back into stock at its location.
- Damaged: written off, or sold as seconds.
- Wrong or missing item: claimed from the marketplace or the courier, with the video.
Step 3: Find the products that keep coming back
Count returns by product and by reason every month. One product with a 20% return rate is usually a wrong size chart, a misleading photo or a weak pack, and fixing the listing costs less than the returns.
Worked example. A seller ships 600 orders a month and 48 come back, 8%. Thirty of those are one pair of jeans, returned for size. A corrected size chart halves those returns and saves around 15 return trips a month.
How Okount helps
In Okount, returns hold the money and the stock until the parcel is opened and checked. Exchanges, refunds and reverse pickups run from the same order, so the stock count and the refund stay in step.