In the past two years, Anxi, Fujian, has become more than just a "tea town." With the maturation of cross-border e-commerce channels, a number of factories and sellers in Anxi, primarily producing home and garden supplies, have begun selling garden decorations, gardening tools, home storage solutions, and small outdoor items to the US market through platforms like Amazon, eBay, and TikTok Shop.

Home and garden products have relatively stable average order values and clear repurchase cycles. However, this category also faces an unavoidable problem in the US market—high return processing costs and complex procedures. For Anxi sellers, how to handle returns in the US directly impacts profit margins and even account security.

The Realistic Background of Anxi's Home and Garden Cross-Border E-commerce

From an industrial perspective, Anxi and surrounding areas have accumulated years of experience in metal products, plastic products, wooden furniture, and garden accessories, possessing expertise in foreign trade and OEM manufacturing. As cross-border platforms lower entry barriers, more and more factory-type sellers are directly targeting overseas consumers.

However, home and garden products have several distinct characteristics: first, a large number of SKUs with significant size variations; second, pronounced seasonality, with returns concentrated during peak seasons; and third, while many products are resaleable, high quality control requirements are necessary for returns. These characteristics mean that improperly handled returns can easily become a "cost black hole."

Why are home and garden product returns so difficult in the US market?

From a platform perspective, US consumers generally have a higher willingness to return items. According to data released by the National Retail Federation (NRF), the average return rate for home goods is significantly higher than that for fast-moving consumer goods, and "not meeting expectations" and "size or appearance issues" account for a large proportion of return reasons.

Specifically for home and garden sellers in Anxi, common pain points regarding returns mainly focus on three aspects:

First, high return shipping costs, making it wasteful to simply discard the goods. Many gardening supplies and home storage items have resale value, but if the only options are to discard them or return them back to China, the costs often outweigh the benefits.

Second, a lack of professional quality control makes relisting difficult. The platform allows some products to be relisted under certain conditions, but this requires local completion of basic quality inspections, including appearance and functionality. Without an overseas returns warehouse, this step is virtually impossible.

Third, the processing time is long, impacting inventory turnover. Returns remaining in the platform's warehouse for extended periods not only tie up capital but can also disrupt peak season replenishment, especially during the spring and summer gardening season when time costs are particularly sensitive.

For Anxi sellers, what kind of return solution is truly feasible?

From a practical perspective, a suitable US return solution for home and gardening sellers must meet at least three conditions: local reception of returns, rapid quality inspection and grading, and support for relisting or forwarding.

This is why more and more Anxi sellers are starting to focus on US-based returns warehouses. Compared to simple transit points, returns warehouses with complete warehousing and operational capabilities can truly transform "returns" from a cost item into a controllable process.

How does U-Speed's US returns warehouse handle home and gardening returns?

For US returns processing, U-Speed has established two major return warehouses: one in the East Coast (New Jersey) and the other in the West Coast (Los Angeles), covering major consumer areas in the US and better suited to the warehousing needs of home and garden products.

The New Jersey warehouse has an area of approximately 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of over 20,000 items; the Los Angeles warehouse also has 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of over 10,000 items. Both warehouses are equipped with forklifts, light and heavy-duty shelving, fire monitoring, 24-hour security, and CCTV systems, capable of handling home and garden products with significant differences in size and weight.

In terms of operation, after returned goods arrive at the warehouse, they undergo basic quality inspection, appearance inspection, functional confirmation, and categorization according to the seller's needs. Items that meet the criteria can be relabeled and repackaged to prepare for subsequent restocking or transfer to another warehouse.

Timeliness and collaboration are more critical for sellers.

For home and garden products with significant seasonality, the speed of return processing is often more important than the unit price. U-Speed's US return warehouse emphasizes efficiency in its processes: Return quality inspection is generally completed within 2 days, and subsequent return logistics processing takes approximately 3-5 days, helping sellers quickly obtain a clear assessment of their inventory status.

In terms of team configuration, U-Speed employs a model of a Chinese management team plus a local Chinese operations team in the US. The Chinese team, familiar with cross-border business, manages the overall process, while the local US team handles the practical operations and collaborates with the customer service team to follow up and provide feedback, minimizing communication errors.

Furthermore, in addition to return services, U-Speed also covers the initial shipping, warehousing, and dropshipping aspects of the US forward logistics chain. For Anxi sellers with long-term US market plans, this reduces the management costs associated with dealing with multiple service providers.

For home and garden cross-border sellers in Anxi, Fujian, US returns are no longer just an "after-sales issue," but a crucial link directly related to inventory turnover, cash flow, and long-term operational capabilities. Choosing a US return warehouse that supports relisting, has a clear process, and provides timely responses is becoming a real need for more and more sellers.

With returns becoming increasingly sophisticated, transforming returns from a passive cost into a controllable process may be a crucial step for Anxi home furnishing and gardening sellers to continue expanding into the US market.