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FAQ: International Return Workflows
FAQ: International Return Workflows

Understanding international returns

Kaylie avatar
Written by Kaylie
Updated over a week ago

In ReturnLogic settings, you have the option to allow or disallow international exchanges and alert customers about limitations related to international returns. This article will go over the answers to frequently asked questions related to the following topics:

  1. International Returns Key Terms

  2. Shipping Address & International Shipping Address

  3. International Shipping & International Shipping Providers

  4. International Returns for US-based Retailers

TIPS:

  1. Share this article with your team members who work on international returns and provide shipping labels to customers.

  2. If you would like to use shipping providers outside of the ReturnLogic Shipping Solution, please reach out to ReturnLogic support.

Related Topics

  1. How to Manage International Returns

  2. Advanced Shipping & International Returns

  3. The ReturnLogic Shipping Solution

  4. How to compensate a Customer for a Shipping Charge

  5. International Shipping & International Warehouses

International Returns Key Terms

  1. International Return Policy: No matter where your store is located, it's important that your return policy on your website agrees with your ReturnLogic settings. If they do not agree, this can cause confusion among your staff and customers. If you need help configuring your international return settings, please reach out to support for assistance.

  2. An international return is a return where the customer's return package has to cross an international border in order to reach the retailer's warehouse location. This most commonly occurs when a customer’s address is international to your Return Shipping Address.

  3. Domestic vs non-domestic addresses: Domestic refers to an address within a country's borders and non-domestic means outside of a country's borders.

  4. Allowing International Exchanges: You have the option to enable this setting in ReturnLogic, or not depending, on your return policy. If you do not allow international exchanges, your customers will not be able to request them in the return center.

  5. Show International Exchange Disclaimer: When enabled, the Show Dialog setting allows retailers to warn customers in the return center that international returns have limitations and offers customers the option to enter an alternate domestic shipping address so that the return can avoid becoming an international return. If you decide the hide the dialog, customers will not see that warning or be prompted to enter in an alternative domestic address. Please note, the International Exchange Disclaimer will only appear if you Allow International Exchanges and have set this setting to show.

  6. Shipping Address & International Shipping Address: You can have just one shipping address added in settings or you can add a second, international address. At this time, you can not have more than two return shipping addresses and each address needs to be located in a different country. If you have added an International Shipping Address, all international returns will be routed to that address.

  7. International shipping labels: You can decide if you'd like to offer international labels to customers or not. Your shipping settings should agree with your returns policy.

  8. International Shipping Provider: If you have any questions about how to connect shipping providers that can support international returns in certain countries, please contact ReturnLogic support, support@returnlogic.com, for guidance and instructions.

  9. The shipping type selection will default for various RMA workflows depending on what your current settings and integrations can support at the time the RMA is created. If you have an international exchange RMA but do not have a valid shipping provider connected (that can support that international return), the shipping type will default to the Customer Shipping shipping type and the customer will have to generate their own label.

FAQ: International Returns

How can I enable international exchanges?

In your General Policy settings, you can allow or disallow international exchanges under Allow International Exchanges.

How can I show customers the International Exchange Disclaimer?

You can also decide if you'd like to prompt customers using your returns portal to change their shipping address to a domestic shipping address with the Show International Exchange Disclaimer. If the customer is able to switch their shipping address to a domestic address, this will eliminate the need for an international return.

Please note, the International Exchange Disclaimer will only appear if you Allow International Exchanges and set Show Dialog.

If you have questions about either of these settings, please feel free to reach out to support.

How can I block exchanges for international customers?

This question is answered in our How to Manage International Returns article, click here to learn more.

How can I block all returns for all international customers?

  1. As of release version 3.37.0, this functionality is not supported in ReturnLogic settings but you can let your customers know that international returns are not accepted in your policy, email communication, and on your return center landing page. You can make changes to your return center in the Customize part of settings.

  2. You can also use the Show International Exchange Disclaimer feature to make sure your customers understand that there are limitations with international shipping addresses. This feature will also give present customers in the return center the option to use a domestic shipping address as an alternative shipping address which would turn the return into a domestic return.

  3. If you have turned on the ability to reject RMAs in your settings, you can also reject an international RMA after it populates in the Originate tab. To learn more about RMA rejection and how to utilize this feature, click here.

How will I know if a return address is considered international (according to my shipping providers)?

  1. A return is international when a customer's package has to cross an international border in order to be returned to the retailer. Criteria for domestic vs non-domestic shipping can differ depending on the shipping provider. If you have added two shipping providers, each may have slightly different interpretations of what an international border is, especially in regard to territories.

  2. You will want to figure out what a shipping provider considers to be domestic or non-domestic before deciding to integrate with that shipping provider. Each international shipping provider should have documentation about this topic.

  3. If you have questions about specific territories being domestic or non-domestic, please reach out to that shipping provider's support team to learn more. Here is a link to our Shipping Resources help article for easy navigation to commonly used shipping provider's websites.

How can I manually create and send international return labels to customers?

You can log in to your EasyPost or Shippo account to manually create shipping labels with the help of various shipping providers you have already connected to within your settings. While EasyPost works with quite a few shipping providers when it comes to international return shipping, Shippo currently supports international returns for US and Canada via US providers and Canada Post.

  1. To read a more in-depth guide, check out the FAQ: Manually Creating Shipping Labels article.

  2. This question is also answered in our How to Manage International Returns article.

If I have two return addresses added in my ReturnLogic settings, how will my customers know where to send their returns?

Your Shipping Address is the warehouse address that is in the same country as your Shopify Store. In this example, the ReturnLogic test account is based in the US and has a US address added as the Shipping Address.

Your International Shipping Address is the warehouse address that is not in the same country as your Shopify store.

In the return workflows, your customers will never see more than one warehouse location during their return process and will never be alerted that you have more than one Shipping Address. If their return results in a shipping label being provided, they will only see the relevant return address printed on the label. ReturnLogic and your shipping provider will automatically work together to ensure that your customer is matched up with the correct return Shipping address.

If you have added an International Shipping Address all international returns will be routed to your International Shipping Address.

Should I encourage my international customers to discard or donate their unwanted items?

Sometimes the cost of the international return label is greater than the value of the item the customer is sending back, especially if that item is not easily re-sellable. If this is sometimes the case, you may consider addressing this in your return policy. Here are some other alternatives that would allow you to avoid paying for a customer's international shipping label:

  1. Instruct the customer to donate, discard, repair, or recycle the item on their own as an alternative to sending the item back. Let the customer know you will not be providing a shipping label.

  2. Instruct the customer to send the usable item to a third-party donation location such as one provided by GiveBackBox. For more information about this option, please contact ReturnLogic support.

International Returns for US-based Retailers

  1. US-based retailers & warehouse addresses: If your Shopify store and operations are based in the US, your warehouse location will be a US address and your international address (if applicable) will not be a US address. You are not required to have or add an international warehouse if you do not have one.

  2. US-based retailers using the ReturnLogic Shipping Solution: This solution uses USPS labels that are not able to support international returns at this time. To learn more about the ReturnLogic Shipping Solution and International returns, click here.

  3. US-based retailers & US territories: Currently, Puerto Rico is the only US territory that ReturnLogic can support as a domestic address. The USVI territory is not supported at this time and will be considered an international address. Not all shipping providers consider Puerto Rico to be a domestic US address so that is something to look into when you are evaluating which shipping providers you'd like to work with.

What workflow occurs if I only have a US return address in settings (and left the international address blank)?

  1. It's okay to have only a US-based return shipping address added in your settings. If you do not currently have an international warehouse address, there is no need to add one here.

  2. If you have only a US return shipping address in your settings and if the customer making the return does not have a US-based address, it will automatically be considered an international return. Your customer will automatically be assigned Customer Shipping when creating an international return.

How will I know if my shipping provider can support my customers?

  1. Ideally, you will know ahead of time what shipping zones your shipping provider is able to support before a customer needs a label. It's recommended that you research this first.

  2. If you add more than one shipping provider, you may expand what you can offer customers as far as shipping options. If it makes sense for your business, it may be wise to integrate with more than one shipping provider just so that you are not solely relying on one provider to be able to handle all of your customer addresses.

  3. The providers that you have successfully added in settings will ultimately determine if a shipping label can deliver the package from the customer to your return shipping address. If there is no way for the provider to do so, you or your customer will see an alert or error that specifies that there are "no shipping options available". If you need any assistance troubleshooting this error with your shopper, have the customer make sure they have entered their address correctly and contact ReturnLogic support if needed.

  4. To see a more detailed guide on how to select a shipping provider, click here.

  5. You can also create a test RMA to test out if certain addresses can be supported by your shipping provider. If your provider can support the return, a label will be created (as long as customer shipping or no shipping was not selected as the shipping type for the test RMA). If you would like to go look at a specific RMA's shipping label, you can do so by opening the RMA page, going to the shipping section of the page, and clicking on view label.

This will open the label page and the shipping provider's name will appear somewhere on that label.

In this example, the shipping provider, USPS created a label via EasyPost.

What are the benefits of utilizing more than one shipping provider?

  1. Providing more shipping options: If you add more than one shipping provider, you may expand what you can offer customers as far as shipping options. If it makes sense for your business, it may be wise to integrate with more than one shipping provider just so that you are not solely relying on one provider to be able to handle all of your customer addresses.

  2. Outages: Occasionally, shipping providers will have an outage. Adding an additional provider proactively could prevent any potential disruptions around shipping.

  3. Tracking Information Occasionally, shipping providers will have periods of time where their package tracking is delayed or inaccurate which can cause some confusion with automation and processing. Adding an additional provider proactively can prevent disruptions around automation and shipping.

  4. Retailer Costs: Adding an additional provider proactively can potentially provide your customers with more affordable shipping labels and thus reduce your business expenses. RMAs that are created by the customer in the return center are automatically paired with the most affordable label pricing available based on your settings.

  5. Customer Costs & Satisfaction: If your customers will be responsible for covering the cost of shipping, they may prefer to have access to a cheaper shipping label option.

What should I know about addresses that are part of US territories (but are not considered part of the domestic US)?

  1. US territories may need an urbanization code depending on the shipping provider. For example, USPS requires an urbanization code whereas FedEx and UPS do not require one.

  2. ReturnLogic supports a workflow where your team members who process RMAs can choose whether they want to treat Puerto Rico as an international return or as a domestic return. This includes addressing the need for a customs form.

  3. ReturnLogic can not currently support domestic shipping for any other US territories other than Puerto Rico.

  4. Different shipping providers approach US territories differently when it comes to international shipping so it is key to look into those details before deciding on a shipping provider. To read an article about how to select a shipping provider, click here.

  5. Non-domestic customer addresses that are part of US territories (such as USVI) can cause the "Customer Shipping" shipping type to be auto-selected in a return workflow. It is best to figure out what your shipping provider considers to be part of the US beforehand. Depending on your provider, they may have information about whether or not they currently service certain US territories.

Where will I be prompted about Customs info when Shipping to Puerto Rico?

When your Customer Support team member creates an RMA for a customer in Puerto Rico, two options will appear in the “Select Shipping” section: “Skip Customs Info” and “Enter Customs Info”. There is also a tooltip right next to these options explaining how different carriers treat Puerto Rico differently. The tooltip will say "If you are using Manual RMA creation and are at the select shipping step, you will see a blue bubble with a white question mark. If you click on it, a pop-up explanation will appear about shipping to Puerto Rico."

Here is what that pop-up tooltip looks like at the shipping step:

The text in the box will say "Customs form requirements for Puerto Rico varies by shipping carrier. Please check with your shipping carrier to determine if you will need to fill out customs information. If your shipping carrier treats Puerto Rico as an international address, then you will need to fill out a customs form. If you have a question about using an international shipping carrier that does not support return labels please reach out to support@returnlogic.com for assistance."

Have questions? We're here to help! Email us at support@returnlogic.com or use the live chat inside the platform with any questions. Enjoy!

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