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Returns handling cost calculator
The refund is one cost. The conversation is another.
Handling one return end to end takes about fourteen minutes: finding the order, asking for the reason or the photo, explaining the rule, arranging the pickup and closing the thread. At 60 cases a month that is fourteen hours — before a single refund is paid out.
How this is calculated
Cases per month × minutes per case ÷ 60 × hourly cost. Refunds, restocking and return shipping are separate costs and are not included here. Task definition and sources: the Cost of Work Index.
Put this calculator on your own site
Copy and paste. Works on WordPress, Shopify, Wix or plain HTML — it resizes itself to fit.
Who does this work
ChrisIn training
Handles every return by your rules — labels, refunds under your limit, questions above it.
$0.80 per closed case — Planned price — not charged yet.
Questions
Does this include the refund itself?
No. This is the labour of handling the case only. The refund, the return shipping and the restocking are separate costs that vary far too much between shops to guess at, and adding them would make the number larger but less useful.
Why fourteen minutes for a return?
Because a return is a conversation, not a transaction. Finding the order, getting the reason or the photo, explaining what your policy actually says, arranging the pickup and closing the thread all take time, and the awkward ones take considerably more.
What about cases that need a goodwill exception?
Those go to the owner. Deciding to break your own returns rule for a particular customer is a judgement call about the relationship, and it is not the kind of thing that should be handled by whoever answers the mailbox that day.