Amazon's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in 2025 will be the largest in its history. According to The Independent, Amazon will run its promotions from November 20th to December 1st, spanning 12 days and covering millions of items across categories such as electronics, home goods, and fresh produce. High-profile electronics like Apple AirPods and laptops are expected to see significant discounts, while Eufy and Soundcore have already offered early discounts.
For cross-border sellers, these sales events represent sales opportunities, but also immense after-sales pressure. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are traditionally considered the peak season for returns in the US. According to data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), the return rate for online retail in the US consistently ranges from 17% to 20%, typically higher during holiday promotions. With a longer sales period and deeper discounts in 2025, the demand for returns is bound to increase further.
Therefore, "How to handle returns in the US?" has become a crucial question that sellers must plan ahead for. If goods are returned to their home country, sellers not only incur high logistics costs but also face long processing times and uncontrollable risks. Professional local US return warehouses, on the other hand, can help sellers maintain stable after-sales service and reduce losses during peak seasons.
Why must sellers rely on local return warehouses when Black Friday returns surge in the US?
Returns during Black Friday and Cyber Monday have several distinct characteristics:
Concentrated and surging returns. A 12-day consecutive promotion often leads to a more concentrated wave of returns, with many consumers returning items in the final days of the promotion or in the days following.
More complex reasons for returns. Impulsive purchases, duplicate orders, incorrect sizes, functional discrepancies, and damaged packaging are all frequent occurrences during major sales events.
Extremely high costs for cross-border returns to China. The value of most returned goods is insufficient to cover shipping or re-clearance costs.
Failing to quickly inspect goods for quality can result in missing the second sales window. This is especially true for electronics, small appliances, and gifts, as December is the peak sales season; slow processing translates to direct losses.
Therefore, having a local returns warehouse is the only viable option for sellers—it allows for inspection, sorting, and restocking within the US, while avoiding high shipping costs and getting products back into the sales chain as quickly as possible.
U-Speed US returns warehouse: East Coast + West Coast Dual-Warehouse Structure to Handle Black Friday Returns Peak
To cope with the concentrated returns during this peak season, U-Speed has established two self-operated returns warehouses in the US, one in the East Coast and one in the West Coast, covering major consumer areas and helping sellers efficiently handle Black Friday returns.
The East Coast (New Jersey) returns warehouse has an area of 7250㎡ and a daily processing capacity of over 20,000 items. Located near high-return-volume areas such as New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, it is suitable for handling returns of electronics, home goods, and apparel.
The West Coast (Los Angeles) returns warehouse also has an area of 7250㎡ and a daily processing capacity of over 10,000 items, serving California, Arizona, and surrounding states, making it one of the most crucial areas for e-commerce logistics on the West Coast.
Both warehouses are equipped with 24-hour security, CCTV monitoring, light and heavy-duty shelving, and fire protection systems, ensuring stable operations even during peak seasons with surging returns.
High shelving efficiency is a major advantage of U-Speed's return warehouses. The US team handles on-site operations, the China team manages and monitors processes, and the customer service team provides real-time feedback, making the entire return process transparent and traceable.
From unpacking to restocking, how does U-Speed help sellers reduce Black Friday return losses?
A large proportion of Black Friday and Cyber Monday returns are not actually "damaged" items. Many are simply returned due to packaging damage, minor scratches, missing accessories, or after the buyer has tried the product. U-Speed's return inspection and processing services maximize the resaleability of these items.
Specific operations include:
Unpacking and registration management
Basic quality inspection completed within 2 days
Inspection of appearance, function, accessories, and packaging
Product surface cleaning, lint removal, dust removal, and folding/organizing (applicable categories)
Repackaging, labeling, or relabeling
Sellable items immediately put into storage; unsellable items cleared out or processed as needed
Items requiring return to China can be centrally returned according to seller requirements.
Return logistics takes approximately 3-5 days, allowing sellers to promptly grasp inventory status and quickly adjust their sales strategies for the next stage.
For highly seasonal and price-sensitive promotional events like Black Friday, most returned goods must be processed quickly, otherwise they will rapidly depreciate in value. U-Speed's rapid quality inspection and restocking capabilities can significantly improve seller profit margins.
Returns are just the beginning; U-Speed builds a complete US cross-border logistics loop for sellers.
Compared to ordinary overseas warehouses that only provide return services, U-Speed is more suitable for the Black Friday peak season because it provides a complete service chain including first-leg transportation, warehousing, drop shipping, and return processing. During peak season, sellers only need to connect with one service provider to resolve shipping, restocking, and returns issues, significantly reducing communication costs.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2025 will be the longest Amazon sales event in history, offering huge sales opportunities, but also unprecedented return pressure. Cross-border sellers who want to maintain profits and stabilize store performance after the big sale must plan their return strategies in advance, and local US return warehouses are undoubtedly the most crucial element.
U-Speed, through its self-operated return warehouse network in the East and West US, efficient quality inspection capabilities, transparent management system, and complete logistics loop, has created a comprehensive solution for sellers to adapt to the Black Friday return surge. Pre-planning a return system ensures that Black Friday and Cyber Monday not only involve "selling more," but also "receiving more."
