A customer wants to send something back, and the product came from a warehouse in China. The usual return label does not help, because the return address on your parcel is on the other side of the world.

There are three ways to handle it: refund and let the customer keep the item, take the return at a US address, or send it back to China. At USPS prices from 4 October 2026, a 1 lb parcel to China costs $22 to $29, which is a quarter to a third of the median US order measured from July to September 2026. That one number decides most returns before anyone has looked at the item.

This guide covers:

• The three ways to handle a return when the product shipped from China
• What each one costs, using current USPS prices and a measured order value
• When a refund without a return might be the cheaper answer
• What the EU and UK 14-day rules mean for an order that took two weeks to arrive
• The return policy lines to write, and the Shopify settings that match them

The three options

Refund, and the customer keeps the item. Often called a returnless refund. You refund all or part of the order, and nothing travels. No postage, no waiting, and nothing comes back to resell.

Return to an address in the US. The customer sends the item to a US address you control: your own, a US warehouse, or a returns service. A domestic label costs a fraction of an international one, and the item can be checked and sold again locally.

Return to China. The customer, or you, pays for an international parcel back to the supplier or the warehouse. The item ends up where it started, which only helps if the supplier credits you for it or can resell it.

Which one fits depends on three things you can check per order: what the item is worth to you if it comes back, what the postage costs, and whether the customer is owed a free return by law or by your own policy.

What each option costs

Here is the postage for a 1 lb parcel at USPS prices from 4 October 2026:

• US label, Ground Advantage, commercial price: $8.01 to $11.22, depending on how far it travels
• US label, Ground Advantage, retail price (what a customer pays at the counter): $10.05 to $13.65
• To China, First-Class Package International: $22.00
• To China, Priority Mail International: $29.00

Now set that against what the order was worth. Across orders shipped from China and placed from July to September 2026, the median US order was about $89, counted as what the customer paid. About 1 in 8 US orders was under $40, and about 3 in 10 were under $60.

On the median order, a US label is 9% to 13% of what the customer paid. A return to China is 25% to 33%. On a $40 order, the $22 to China is more than half the order, and that is before anyone has checked whether the item can be sold again.

The postage is only the visible part. A returned item also needs someone to open it, check it and put it back in stock.

When a refund without a return might be cheaper

A simple test, per return: what you would get back if the item came home, minus the postage to get it there, minus the time to check and restock it. If that comes out at zero or below, asking for the item back costs you more than letting it go.

On these prices, the refund without a return could be the cheaper answer for:

• Low-value items, where the postage is a large share of the order
• Items that cannot be resold, such as opened cosmetics, underwear or anything personalised
• Damaged or wrong items, where a photo is proof enough and a replacement keeps the customer

A return to a US address might be worth it for higher-value items that can be resold as new, and for products where returns cluster (one size that runs small), because a pile of the same item can be sold locally.

A return to China could make sense when the supplier credits you for the item, or for a faulty batch where the units are part of the claim.

The other side: the risk in refunding without a return

Once customers learn that a complaint gets a refund and they keep the item, some will complain more. That is the main reason not to make it the only option. Three ways to keep it fair:

• Ask for a photo of the item before any refund, and keep it on the order
• Decide case by case, not in the written policy. The policy can say returns go to a US address; you can still waive the return when it makes sense
• Watch repeat requests from the same customer or address

The EU and UK rules start on delivery, not on the order

If you sell to the EU or the UK, the customer has a legal right to cancel an online order for any reason within 14 days. Those 14 days start when the goods are delivered, not when the order was placed.

On orders from China, that matters. Measured on orders placed in June and July 2026, the median time from order to delivered was 11.3 days for the UK and 12.9 days for the EU. So the customer's 14 days usually close about four weeks after they paid.

Two rules from the EU guidance are worth putting in your policy word for word:

• The customer pays the return postage, unless you offer to pay or you did not tell them about the cost before they bought.
• So say it before they buy. A store that leaves return postage out of its policy could end up paying for a parcel back to China itself.

US shoppers have no federal right to return an online order for a change of mind, so the window is whatever your policy says. What they do have is their card issuer: a customer who cannot get a refund might open a dispute instead. There is more on how those are won in proof of delivery for an item not received dispute.

The return policy to write

Five lines cover most of it. Each one is a setting in Shopify's return rules or a sentence on your returns page.

1. The window, counted from delivery. Shopify's return rules offer 14, 30 or 90 days, unlimited, or a custom number. 14 days from delivery is the legal floor in the EU and UK. A longer window could suit the holidays, set before November so it covers gifts.
2. Who pays return postage. Free returns, a flat fee per return, or the customer buys their own label. All three are options in Shopify's return rules. Whichever you pick, write it on the returns page so EU and UK customers know before they buy.
3. Where returns go. A US address if you have one. Shopify Shipping return labels need a default location in the US, so a store whose only location is in China cannot rely on them.
4. When you refund without a return. Keep this as your call per order. The page can say "we may ask you to send the item back".
5. Damaged or wrong items. A photo within a few days of delivery, then a replacement or a refund. These are your cost, whatever the policy says about change of mind.

Mark products that cannot come back (opened cosmetics, custom items) as final sale in Shopify, so the return rules skip them.

How to check your own numbers

Take the last three months of returns and refunds and work out:

1. The share of orders that had a return or refund request, by product
2. The order value of each, against the postage to wherever it went
3. How many came back in a condition you could sell again
4. Which products bring repeat requests, often a size or a fault

If one product brings most of the returns, the cheaper fix is usually the product (a size chart, a photo, a supplier check), not the return policy.

What to do

• Price the three options for your own products, at today's postage
• Put return postage in your policy before an EU or UK customer buys
• Count the window from delivery, and set it in Shopify's return rules
• Get a US return address if your products are worth reselling
• Keep the refund without a return as a case-by-case call, with a photo on file
• Fix the product behind repeat returns, not just the policy

How we handle this at Commercive

Commercive is your all in one sourcing and fulfilment partner. We ship from China on frontier lines like YunExpress, Yanwen and 4PX, and every order in our dashboard shows its delivered scan, so you can see exactly when a customer's 14 days started.

You can also test a product with us without buying the full minimum first, so a product that turns out to come back a lot costs you less to find out. Our measured delivery times by line and country are on our shipping status page.

If you're currently running a brand, just give us the product and your daily order volume. We'll get you a quote within the next 24 hours to hold up against what you're paying today.

How we measured this. Order values are every order placed with stores we fulfil between 1 July and 30 September 2026, not cancelled, test stores excluded, counted as what the customer paid, converted to US dollars at fixed rates. Order to delivered times are from orders placed between 1 June and 31 July 2026, measured on 5 October 2026. Postage is from the USPS price list effective 4 October 2026 for a 1 lb parcel; prices change, so check them before you set a fee. Legal rules are from the EU's Your Europe guidance and the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, as of 7 October 2026. This is not legal advice.

Do I have to accept returns if my products ship from China?

In the EU and UK, yes: customers can cancel an online order within 14 days of delivery for any reason. In the US, there is no federal right to return for a change of mind, so your policy sets the rules. Damaged or wrong items are a different case everywhere and are usually yours to fix.

How much does it cost to send a return back to China?

At USPS prices from 4 October 2026, a 1 lb parcel costs $22.00 by First-Class Package International and $29.00 by Priority Mail International. A US domestic label for the same parcel costs $8.01 to $11.22 at commercial prices.

When should I refund without asking for the item back?

When what you would get back is worth less than the postage plus the time to check and restock it. That is often the case for low-value items, items that cannot be resold and damaged items with a photo. Keep it as a call per order, not a promise in the policy.

Who pays return shipping for EU and UK customers?

Under the EU rules, the customer pays the return postage unless you offer to pay or did not tell them about the cost before they bought. Say who pays on your returns page so it is clear before the order.

Can I use Shopify return labels if I ship from China?

Shopify Shipping return labels need a default location in the United States. A store whose only location is in China would need a US address and its own label setup, or customers who buy their own labels.