A free method

A return with no reason cannot hide

For owner-run shops on Shopify, Amazon, eBay, or a mix. The leak is usually a listing or a pack, not a mysterious buyer.

A return that hits the bench with no reason code becomes a box in the corner. Next month you cannot say whether people are sending things back because the photo was wrong, the lid cracked in transit, or they changed their mind.

Give it a reason before you decide restock or scrap. That is the whole method.

Open it with a code, not a mood

Use five codes and no more:

• Changed mind
• Not as described
• Damaged in transit
• Wrong item sent
• Defective

If the buyer wrote a paragraph, pick one code anyway. “Other” is how codes die.

Photograph, then decide once

One photo of the item and the packing. Then choose: restock, scrap, or claim. Write that on one row. Tag it return or ship.

Example: order 1882 comes back. You mark 1882-R, photograph a cracked lid, code it damaged in transit, scrap the unit, and open a carrier claim the same day. You do not also refund and replace unless you wrote down why.

Tell the buyer once

Refund, replace, or deny with one sentence from your policy. Then stop. A return that turns into five emails is a second leak.

If it is not as described, the next job is the listing, not a nicer apology. If it is wrong item sent, the next job is pick and pack.

Friday, count the codes

If more than one in five returns has no reason, that is the Monday problem. If “not as described” shows up three times in two weeks, fix the listing before you write a longer refund note.

If you have not taken a return yet, write the five codes and the decide-once line anyway. The first return will arrive on a day you are already packing.

Why this works

Returns feel personal. Codes are not. A code on a sheet is how you see the same fire twice. You do not need a returns app. You need a bin, a photo, and a word.