Many cross-border sellers have a misconception: once a customer requests a return, the order means a loss. However, in reality, for the same returned item, some sellers can only pay disposal fees and watch the goods become inventory waste; while others can handle the return locally, putting the item back on the market and minimizing their losses.
Returns themselves don't determine profits; what truly determines profits is how returns are handled.
The scale of returns in the US is growing rapidly, and return management is becoming a competitive advantage.
The US has consistently been the world's largest e-commerce market and one of the most important overseas markets for cross-border sellers. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, published by Digital Commerce 360, U.S. e-commerce retail sales reached approximately $1.234 trillion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%, accounting for 23.1% of all online retail sales, a record high.
With the continued 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 retail returns in the US are projected 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%. Furthermore, 82% of consumers indicated that free return policies influence their purchasing decisions.
This means that returns have become an unavoidable part of US e-commerce operations. What truly differentiates sellers is not who doesn't have returns, but who can handle returns more efficiently.
Why do some sellers lose money on returns?
Many sellers, upon receiving returns, typically face two choices: continue storing them in overseas warehouses or apply for disposal. This seems like the easiest way, but in reality, profits often dwindle little by little this way.
First, returning goods incurs reverse logistics and warehousing costs. If not handled promptly, long-term inventory buildup will continue to generate warehousing costs.
Second, many sellers lack local processing teams and cannot determine whether the goods are still resaleable, leaving them with no choice but to discard them.
More importantly, many returned goods don't actually have quality issues. For example, shoes, apparel, bags, and household goods often only have minor packaging damage, missing tags, or have picked up dust or developed an odor during shipping. Simply discarding them not only incurs disposal fees but also means a complete loss of procurement costs, initial logistics costs, and the value of the goods.
Therefore, what appears to be a loss on a single item actually represents a loss of investment in the entire supply chain.
Why do some sellers actually reduce losses through returns?
More and more experienced cross-border sellers no longer simply view returns as "refund complete." They are more concerned with: Which products can still be sold?
After a customer returns a product, the local returns warehouse will first complete the signing, photography, and quality inspection, and then categorize the goods according to their condition.
Goods with intact packaging and normal functionality can be repackaged and resold; shoes, apparel, bags, and other items with only minor dust, lint, or odor can be restored to resale condition through lint removal, simple cleaning, ironing, and odor removal.
Products with genuine quality issues are then repaired, destroyed, or otherwise disposed of according to the seller's requirements.
This way, a significant portion of products that might otherwise have been discarded can re-enter the sales process, increasing product utilization and reducing the costs of repeated procurement. For cross-border sellers, this shift in thinking is the key to truly reducing return costs.
U-Speed US return warehouses: Giving Returned Goods New Value
To help cross-border sellers process returns from the US market more efficiently, U-Speed has established two major return warehouses in the East Coast (New Jersey) and West Coast (Los Angeles).
The New Jersey return warehouse has an area of 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of over 20,000 items; the Los Angeles return warehouse 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.
U-Speed employs a collaborative operation between a Chinese management team and a local Chinese operations team in the US, providing sellers with services such as return receipt confirmation, photo quality 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 quickly make return processing decisions.
For categories with high return rates, such as footwear, apparel, bags, and home goods, U-Speed also offers customized return processing services based on the specific product condition, including lint removal, simple cleaning, ironing, and odor removal. This helps more eligible products return to market, increases resale rates, and reduces value loss.
Furthermore, U-Speed provides integrated US cross-border logistics services including warehousing, drop shipping, and return processing. This allows sellers to manage the entire process of warehousing, shipping, and returns without dealing with multiple suppliers, further improving supply chain efficiency.
Returns are not the end of the profit cycle, but a test of operational capabilities.
For cross-border sellers, returns have become a normal part of operating in the US market. What truly determines profit is not the quantity of returns, but whether the returned goods can still generate value.
For a returned item, simply discarding it means all initial investments in procurement, transportation, and warehousing are wasted. However, if it can be inspected, repackaged, and customized through a professional local returns warehouse, it has the potential to re-enter the sales chain and continue generating revenue.
Therefore, more and more cross-border sellers are beginning to view returns management as a crucial component of their supply chain. The more professional and efficient the returns processing, the higher the product utilization rate, the lower the operating costs, and the greater the chance for the business to maintain sustained profitability in the highly competitive US market.
