"If all these returns were disposed of, we would have lost at least tens of thousands of yuan more this year." This was a statement made last year by a cross-border seller mainly selling home furnishings, reflecting on their business in the US market.
This seller had a consistently best-selling SKU, selling tens of thousands of units annually with consistently stable orders. However, as sales increased, so did the number of returns. By the end of the year, they had received approximately 3,000 returns for this single product.
Initially, like many sellers, they found handling returned goods too troublesome: storing them after returning them to FBA incurred storage fees, while shipping them back to China was too costly, so they simply disposed of many items.
Until one day, they randomly inspected a batch of returned goods intended for disposal and discovered a problem—very few actually had quality issues.
Many items only had minor damage to the outer packaging, missing labels, or dust from shipping; some were simply returned by consumers who found them unsuitable after opening. In other words, a significant portion of these items could have been resold.
US consumer return rates continue to rise, forcing sellers to prioritize return management.
This seller's problem is not an isolated case. As one of the world's largest e-commerce markets, the US continues to see its online consumer spending expand rapidly. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, compiled by Digital Commerce 360, US e-commerce retail sales are projected to reach approximately $1.234 trillion in 2025, a 5.4% year-on-year increase, accounting for 23.1% of total online retail sales—a record high.
With the growth of online consumption, the scale of returns is also expanding. The "2025 Retail Returns Landscape" report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Happy Returns shows that total US retail returns are expected to reach $849.9 billion in 2025, accounting for 15.8% of total retail sales; the average return rate for e-commerce orders will reach 19.3%. Meanwhile, 82% of consumers indicated that free return policies influence their purchasing decisions.
For cross-border sellers, returns have become an unavoidable part of operating in the US market. What truly differentiates profit margins isn't who has a lower return rate, but who can process returned goods more efficiently.
One adjustment turned returned goods back into inventory.
Realizing the problem, this seller decided to change their return processing method. Instead of rushing to apply for FBA disposal, they sent all returned goods to a US return warehouse.
Each item was first signed for, photographed, and inspected, then categorized based on its condition. Items with intact packaging and normal condition were repackaged and relisted; damaged packaging but intact goods were replaced with new packaging materials and continued to be sold; shoes, clothing, bags, and other items with only lint or a slight odor underwent simple cleaning, lint removal, and deodorization before being assessed for resaleability.
After standardizing the return processing process, the number of resaleable items significantly increased, the number of discarded items decreased dramatically, and inventory utilization improved markedly.
Professional Returns Warehouses: Giving Every Returned Item a Chance to Be Resold
In fact, more and more cross-border sellers are establishing overseas return processing systems because professional returns warehouses can help them process returns faster, reducing inventory backlog and value loss.
For the US market, U-Speed has established two major returns warehouses in the East Coast (New Jersey) and West Coast (Los Angeles). The New Jersey warehouse has an area of 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of over 20,000 items; the Los Angeles warehouse also has an area of 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of over 10,000 items, accepting consumer returns as well as returns from Amazon FBA and other overseas warehouses.
During the returns processing, U-Speed employs a collaborative management model between its Chinese management team and a local Chinese operations team in the US, providing services such as return receipt confirmation, photo inspection, and repackaging. Three quality inspection photos are taken for each item and uploaded to the system, allowing sellers to remotely monitor product status. Return logistics takes approximately 3-5 business days, and quality inspection takes approximately 2 business days, helping sellers make faster return processing decisions.
For high-return categories such as footwear, apparel, bags, and home goods, U-Speed also offers customized return processing services based on seller needs, including lint removal, simple cleaning, ironing, and odor removal, allowing more returned items to be sold and improving product utilization.
Furthermore, U-Speed provides integrated US cross-border logistics services including warehousing, drop shipping, and return processing, helping sellers reduce communication costs between multiple service providers and improve overall supply chain efficiency.
Return management is becoming a profit growth point for cross-border sellers.
Many sellers view returns as a "closing-off" task after order completion, but with the ever-expanding scale of returns in US e-commerce, return management has become a crucial factor affecting profits. For items with slightly damaged packaging that can be easily resold after simple handling, professional local processing is often more valuable than simply discarding them.
Sellers who truly profit don't just sell their goods; they make sure returned items continue to generate value. By utilizing professional US return warehouses for quality inspection, repackaging, and customized processing, sellers can reduce disposal costs and get more inventory back into the sales process, resulting in higher product utilization and operational efficiency.
