The freight is the only step with a published price. The other four are your own time, and they are not free either.
Straight about what we sell: SMKlog sells parcel labels through a guest checkout, tracking included, with no account — US domestic, plus international lanes to Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia. We do not run fulfillment, we do not receive or inspect returns, we do not store stock, and we do not sell storefront integrations. This page is an operations guide, not a pitch for a service we do not offer. Our services page lists what we actually do.
The five steps and what each one costs
- The trip back. One parcel label. This is the only step with a market price, and it is quoted below.
- Receiving. Opening, matching the box to an order, and recording that it arrived. Small sellers underestimate this because it feels like nothing until twenty boxes arrive in one week.
- Inspection. Deciding whether the item is as-new, resellable at a discount, repairable, or finished. This is the step that determines whether the return recovers any money at all.
- Disposition. Back on the shelf, into an outlet listing, into parts, or into the bin. Write the thresholds down before the boxes arrive, because deciding item by item is how a week disappears.
- Refund. Money out, plus whatever deductions your published policy allows. Our policy template covers the wording.
Pricing the leg you can price
Three parcel profiles coming back into a Newark, NJ 07102 address, priced through the SMKlog calculator on 2026-07-28. Each row shows the cheapest service on that quote at the full checkout amount.
| Parcel | From | Service | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 x 9 x 1 in poly mailer at 0.7 lb | Atlanta, GA 30303 | USPS Ground Advantage | $8.86 |
| 13 x 8 x 5 in shoe box at 3 lb | Los Angeles, CA 90011 | USPS Ground Advantage | $11.04 |
| 12 x 12 x 12 in carton at 15 lb | Atlanta, GA 30303 | USPS Ground Advantage | $17.01 |
Those three numbers are your disposal thresholds in disguise. A returned item that will resell for less than $17.01 is worth less than the freight on the carton it travels in, so paying to bring it home is a decision you are making for a reason other than money. Refunding in place and telling the customer to keep the item is a legitimate answer, and large retailers reach it constantly.
Write the disposition rules before the season
Three brackets are usually enough: back to full price, into a reduced-price listing, or gone. Attach a condition description to each and the inspection step stops being a judgement call every single time. Rules written in a quiet week hold up in a busy one.
Batch the receiving
Opening returns twice a week rather than as they land turns a scattered interruption into a scheduled task. USPS publishes free package pickup that can be scheduled up to three months ahead, which is the same principle applied to the outbound side. Details are on our pickup guide.
Photograph on arrival
A photo of the item as it came out of the box, taken before you touch anything, settles every later disagreement about condition. It also gives you the evidence to apply a partial refund clause without it turning into an argument.
Keep the freight decision separate
Whether to accept a return and whether to pay for its freight are two decisions, and small sellers routinely collapse them into one. You can accept a return, refund it, and still decline to pay the postage, provided your published policy said so first.
Reverse logistics questions
What is reverse logistics for a small seller?
The whole path a product takes after a customer decides against it: the trip back, receiving, inspection, disposition and the refund. In a large company those are five departments. For a small seller they are five tasks on one table, and only the trip back carries a published price.
What does the return leg cost?
Priced through our calculator on 2026-07-28 into Newark, NJ, at the full checkout amount: $8.86 for a 0.7 lb poly mailer from Atlanta, $11.04 for a 3 lb shoe box from Los Angeles, and $17.01 for a 15 lb carton from Atlanta. All three were cheapest on USPS Ground Advantage that day.
When is it not worth shipping a return back?
When the item's resale value is below the freight. Our 15 lb carton quote came to $17.01 on 2026-07-28, so anything that will resell for less than that costs more to retrieve than it recovers. Refunding without requesting the item back is a normal answer in that situation.
Does SMKlog handle returns processing?
No. We sell US domestic parcel labels through a guest checkout with tracking included, and that is the extent of it. We do not receive, inspect, store or restock anything, and we do not sell fulfillment or storefront integrations; international labels we sell to four lanes only (Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia).