With the increasing online purchasing power of European consumers, televisions (including smart TVs and 4K/8K TVs) have become one of the most popular categories in cross-border e-commerce. For Chinese sellers, selling televisions through European sites or cross-border platforms presents a huge opportunity, but this is accompanied by the challenge of handling returns.

The European television market has solid demand and stable sales growth.

Research shows that the European television market was worth approximately US$30.62 billion (approximately US$3.062 billion) in 2024 and is projected to continue growing from 2025 to 2034, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 2.6%.

Meanwhile, data from the European smart TV market shows that in 2024, the European smart TV market size was approximately US$26.3 billion, and is projected to reach approximately US$37.4 billion by 2031, with a CAGR of approximately 4.5%.

These figures indicate that European television consumption has a solid foundation, with high-end categories such as smart TVs being particularly active. For cross-border sellers, this presents both opportunities and challenges: high sales volume, high return rates, and high logistics costs.

Televisions have low return rates but high processing costs.

While the return rate for electronics is relatively lower than that for apparel, it's still significant. The overall return rate for cross-border e-commerce in Europe is generally around 20%–30%. Specifically for electronics, UK data shows an online return rate of approximately 6.2%.

For large, high-value items like televisions, returns involve not only the return itself but also logistics, customs clearance, repair/inspection, restocking, or destruction, making the costs far higher than for ordinary goods. Cross-border sellers face long logistics cycles, high costs, and significant capital tie-up when processing returns from Europe back to China.

Three common pain points in television returns:

1. High logistics and transportation costs

Televisions are large and heavy. Returning them from Europe to China incurs high shipping, insurance, and customs clearance fees, significantly increasing costs during the return and reshipment process.

2. Complex Product Inspection and Restocking

Returned TVs typically undergo comprehensive quality inspection, including checking for screen damage, back panel deformation, power/interface functionality, packaging integrity, and missing accessories. Only those passing inspection can be restocked; otherwise, they must be cleared out or destroyed.

3. Stagnant Inventory and Significant Capital Tiering

Slow return shipping leads to prolonged TV inventory retention, tying up storage space and capital. This is especially problematic after peak seasons, when sales decline while inventory remains, posing a risk of losses for sellers.

Can European Returns Be "Returned to Hong Kong"? The Reality is Not Simple

For many Chinese cross-border sellers, "returning European returns to a Hong Kong warehouse for unified processing" is a viable option. However, in practice, the following challenges exist:

Transporting European returns to Hong Kong involves long-distance transportation, complex customs clearance procedures, and complicated additional tariffs or VAT refunds, resulting in high costs and long processing times.

The transport of large items like TVs back to Hong Kong carries significant risks (easily damaged, packaging broken), and the added costs of Hong Kong warehousing and labor further complicate the overall process.

Even when returned to Hong Kong, goods still require quality inspection, repair, refurbishment, and repackaging before being reshipped to Europe/other markets or domestically. This adds more steps to the multi-stage logistics chain.

Therefore, more sellers prefer to receive, inspect, restock, or destroy returns locally in Europe to save costs and shorten processing times.

U-Speed European returns warehouse: Professional Support for TV Returns

In this context, U-Speed has established multiple return warehouses in Europe to provide strong support for cross-border TV sellers. The following are highlights of its European network and services:

Multi-country warehouse network covering key European regions

UK returns warehouse: 17,000 square meters, peak daily order volume up to 30,000 items.

Reims, France Returns Warehouse: 3,000 square meters, maximum storage capacity 600 plts, daily processing volume exceeding 1,000 orders.

Spain Returns Warehouse: 20,000 square meters, with a daily processing capacity of over 12,000 items.

In addition, U-Speed also has returns warehouses in Germany and Italy, covering more European regions.

Strong Quality Inspection Capabilities for Large Electronic Items like TVs

For large electronic products like TVs, U-Speed provides processes including: unpacking inspection, accessory integrity verification, packaging and relabeling, and repackaging. It also supports relabeling, resale, local warehousing, or destruction options.

U-Speed Offers Multiple Return Processing Options

Local Destruction: For TVs that can no longer be sold, direct destruction in Europe is supported, avoiding return shipping costs.

Returns to China: If sellers wish to ship returns back to Hong Kong, U-Speed also provides customized international logistics solutions.

Transparent Operations and Attentive Service

Sellers can view the real-time status of return vehicle reception, quality inspection processing, inventory changes, and resale status through the system. The U-Speed team, led by a Chinese management team and executed by a local European operations team, boasts efficient communication and professional service.

For cross-border TV returns in Europe, choosing a local quality inspection warehouse is key.

While the European market demand for large electronic products like TVs is stable, the challenges of handling returns cannot be ignored. Simply sending returns back to Hong Kong or China for processing is far less efficient in terms of cost, risk, and time compared to using a local European warehouse.

U-Speed's European return warehouses, with their multi-country network, professional quality inspection, restocking, and flexible return channels, provide reliable solutions for cross-border TV sellers. Sellers who can "turn problems into opportunities" in the return process—that is, process returns efficiently and restock quickly—can gain a competitive edge in the fierce market.