Return Shipping Cost
Compare free versus paid return shipping to size up the real cost.
About Return Shipping Cost
Returning an item can cost you shipping and sometimes a restocking fee, both of which reduce what you effectively recover. Free returns save a meaningful share of the price on frequent online shoppers, so the return policy matters when choosing a store.
Formula
Return Shipping Cost
Total return loss = return shipping + restocking fee
- restocking fee
- A percent of the price kept for processing the return
Worked example
With the default values below, Return Shipping Cost returns Total Return Loss of $9.99. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Item price
- 60
- Out-of-pocket return shipping
- 9.99
- Restocking feeaccepts 0–100 %
- 0 %
Results
- Total Return Loss
- $9.99
- Restocking Fee
- $0.00
- Return Cost Share
- 16.65%
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Return Shipping Cost
- 3Total Return Loss= 9.99
- 4Restocking Fee= 0.00
- 5Return Cost Share= 16.65
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Return Shipping Cost calculated?
Total return loss = return shipping + restocking fee Returning an item can cost you shipping and sometimes a restocking fee, both of which reduce what you effectively recover.
Why does Return Shipping Cost matter?
Free returns save a meaningful share of the price on frequent online shoppers, so the return policy matters when choosing a store.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 3 inputs: Item price, Out-of-pocket return shipping, Restocking fee. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.