The honest way to answer this is with arithmetic you can re-run yourself. Here's the short version, the full analysis with every source is on our site:
The two numbers that matter
What a return costs you: returns-industry research consistently puts the all-in cost of one apparel return at $20–45 (return shipping, inspection, restocking, markdowns, support time - only ~48% of returned apparel resells at full price). $30 is a fair central figure.
What a try-on costs you: with AI Frame, each try-on beyond your plan's included allowance costs $0.16 (Starter), $0.14 (Growth) or $0.12 (Advanced).
The Free plan is hard-capped at 10 try-ons/month, no extra charges are possible on it. Cached re-views are free.
The break-even
Divide one by the other: at a $30 return cost and Growth rates, one prevented return pays for ~214 try-ons. So the tool breaks even if fewer than 1 in 200 try-ons stops a garment coming back, before counting any extra sales from more confident shoppers.
Put at plan level: the Growth plan ($59.99/mo) pays for itself at two prevented returns per month. Starter at roughly one prevented return every six weeks.
For comparison: published figures credit fit tools and try-on with 10–20% return reductions, orders of magnitude above that break-even line.
Run it for your own store
Take your monthly returns × your all-in cost per return (use $30 if unsure) = your baseline returns cost.
Even a small prevention rate (try 2% as a pessimistic floor) × that baseline = your monthly saving.
Compare against your plan cost. In a worked example (1,000 orders/mo, 25% returns, $30/return), even the pessimistic 2% scenario is net-positive.
When it does NOT pay off
If your returns are cheap to handle, your return rate is in single digits, your traffic is very low, or your average order value is very small, the maths weakens. That's exactly why the Free plan exists: 10 try-ons a month at $0 lets you measure on your own store before spending anything.
📄 The full analysis: cost breakdown, break-even table per plan and the worked example with all assumptions: The Maths of Confidence: Virtual Try-On Cost vs the Cost of a Return
Need a hand? Send us your store's numbers and we'll run the break-even with you, including if the answer is "stay on Free for now."