How to return goods to a foreign online store without losing money on postage

A jacket ordered from Germany hangs off the shoulders. Headphones from China play through one channel only. Shoes from Italy come up a size short of the chart. Almost anything can go back to the seller. The catch is that once a parcel crosses a border, return postage can swallow enough of the refund to turn the whole exercise into a loss.

And it is not only about the shipping price. What matters most is which of three situations you are in, because each has a different payer and a different set of deadlines.

Work out what you are actually returning

Withdrawal from the contract, a faulty-goods claim and a return leaving the EU are three separate regimes with three different payers. Shoppers routinely mix them up, then wonder why the trader refused to reimburse the postage.

Situation	Who pays the return shipping
Withdrawal within 14 days (the item is fine, you changed your mind)	The buyer, if informed in advance
Withdrawal within 14 days, no information given about the cost	The trader
Faulty or non-conforming goods	Always the trader

The last row is worth remembering. With a faulty item there is nothing to negotiate. During the two-year legal guarantee, defective goods must be repaired or replaced at no cost to the consumer, and shipping is part of that cost. If a store tells you otherwise on a warranty claim, it is simply wrong. The mechanics of filing are covered in the guide on how to file a parcel claim, and what to do after a refusal is in the article on a rejected damage claim.

The disclosure that decides who pays

Across the EU the rule is the same: the buyer bears the direct cost of returning the goods, but only if the trader disclosed that cost before the purchase, typically in the terms and conditions or the withdrawal instructions.

Here is the part most people miss. If the trader failed to disclose it, the trader pays the return shipping. Not as a goodwill gesture, but as a matter of law.

Among smaller cross-border stores, especially those running machine-translated terms, the omission is far more common than you would expect. So open the terms and find the returns clause before you send anything back. Two minutes of reading decides whether the postage comes out of your pocket or the seller’s.

Three windows of fourteen days

The fourteen-day period appears three times in the process and means something different each time.

1. 14 days from delivery to withdraw. You do not have to ship the goods within that window. It is enough to send the withdrawal notice itself, by email, the store’s form or a letter. Sent on the final day, it still counts.
2. A further 14 days to send the goods. From the withdrawal notice a new period runs, within which the goods must be dispatched or handed over. Again the dispatch date counts, not delivery.
3. 14 days for the trader to refund. The refund covers everything paid, including the original standard delivery charge. The trader may, however, wait until either the goods or proof of dispatch arrive.

That last point has a practical consequence: proof of dispatch is your leverage. Once you send it to the trader, there is no legitimate reason left to delay. Which is why a return should never travel without a tracking number. Besides the evidence, you get to see where the parcel is when a refund starts dragging. The guide to international parcel tracking explains how to read the numbers, and tracking statuses covers what they mean.

Outside the EU, duty and VAT join in

Import duty and VAT already paid are not refunded automatically when goods go back. The store refunds the price of the item, because that is all it knows about. Duty and VAT went to the state, and the state has to be asked.

The claim goes to the national customs authority, usually through an electronic form, by post or in person, and filing is free of charge. Two deadlines apply:

• One year from notification of the customs debt where the goods were defective or did not match the contract, which is the typical reason for a return. This rests on Article 118 of the Union Customs Code.
• Three years for overpayments and errors made by the authority.

One condition matters more than the rest: you must prove the goods actually left the customs territory. The export document is the heart of the claim, so keep the posting receipt, the customs declaration and the proof of delivery. Without them there is nothing to build on. The wider picture is in the guide to customs and VAT in international shipping, and you can model the amounts in the customs calculator.

Factor in the newer rule as well. Since 1 July 2026 the EU has removed the duty exemption for consignments up to €150 and applies a specific duty of €3 per item. An order containing one type of product plus three units of another means €6, because items are counted, not units. For returns the consequence is awkward: that amount is not refunded automatically, and on small purchases the paperwork may cost more effort than the money is worth. You can size it up with the de minimis calculator.

A non-EU return has to be declared properly

A parcel leaving the EU needs a customs declaration just as an incoming one does. What you write on it decides whether the parcel reaches the seller cleanly or lands them with an unexpected bill.

Mark the consignment as returned goods and add the original order or RMA number. That lets the recipient claim returned goods relief. In the EU it sits in Article 203 of the Union Customs Code, which grants relief from import duty where goods come back within three years in the same state, and comparable schemes exist elsewhere. Without the note the parcel looks like an ordinary commercial import, and plenty of sellers simply refuse it.

What you should not do is understate the value or write “gift” or “no commercial value”. That is a false statement on a customs declaration and in practice it delays the return rather than speeding it up. Put the real invoice value in, attach a copy of the document and complete the form in full. The errors that strand parcels are covered in the article on the CN22 and CN23 customs declaration, and the CN22/CN23 tool helps you build the form. British specifics have their own guide on sending parcels to the UK after Brexit.

How to send a return without eating the refund

A few decisions before you tape the box shut will move the cost of the journey back.

• Look for the seller’s label first. Larger stores run a returns portal that issues a prepaid label. Even when you pay for it, it is often the cheapest route, because the store buys at volume rates no individual can reach.
• Send everything at once. Three separate parcels from three orders mean three lots of postage.
• Do not default to the carrier that delivered the item. For bulkier goods a broker usually beats the postal option; the guide to shipping with Eurosender covers how that works, and parcel price gives you a quick comparison.
• Watch the volumetric weight. Carriers charge the greater of actual and volumetric weight, so a half-empty box left over from a winter coat costs more than it should. The volumetric weight calculator works it out.
• Never send a return cash on delivery. The seller will not accept it, the parcel comes back and you pay for both legs.
• Pack it for the journey, not for the bin. Goods have to arrive in resaleable condition, otherwise the trader may reduce the refund to reflect diminished value. The guide on how to pack a parcel helps, as does how to address a parcel.

One more thing, and it is the step skipped most often: check where the return is actually going. Many stores sell from a European warehouse but route returns to Asia. The address on the label matters more than the domain of the shop, because it decides whether you are handling an intra-EU shipment or a full customs procedure.

Three things to take away

1. Check whether the trader disclosed the return costs. If not, they pay for the journey back. It is the quickest way to save the entire postage.
2. Send the withdrawal notice immediately and forward the proof of dispatch yourself. It starts the 14-day refund clock and removes the trader’s reason to wait.
3. Treat duty and VAT as a separate claim on non-EU returns. Filing is free and defective goods carry a one-year window, but nothing works without the export document.

The general rules for cross-border parcels are in the guide on how to send a parcel abroad, and what may not travel at all is summarised in prohibited items in parcels. If you are unsure which service fits, the advisor will narrow it down.

Quick facts

How to return goods to a foreign online store without losing money on postage

schedule Updated 10/09/2026

Summary

Returning goods to an online store in another country falls into one of three situations, each with a different payer and different deadlines. Under the EU right of withdrawal the buyer has 14 days from delivery to withdraw, and pays the cost of returning the goods only if the trader informed them of that cost before the purchase; if the trader did not, the trader bears it. Directive 2011/83/EU sets three separate 14-day windows: 14 days to withdraw, 14 days from withdrawal to send the goods back, and 14 days for the trader to refund, including the original standard delivery charge, although the trader may wait until the goods or proof of dispatch arrive. For a faulty item the trader always pays return shipping under the two-year legal guarantee. When the store sits outside the EU, import duty and VAT are not refunded automatically: a claim to the national customs authority is required, within one year of notification of the customs debt for defective goods or goods not matching the contract under Article 118 of the Union Customs Code, supported by an export document. Since 1 July 2026 the EU has removed the duty exemption for consignments up to €150 and applies a specific duty of €3 per item.

Withdrawal window

14 days from delivery; sending the notice within the window is enough

Deadline to send goods back

A further 14 days from the withdrawal notice

Refund deadline

14 days, including the original standard delivery charge

Who pays the return under withdrawal

The buyer, if informed in advance; otherwise the trader

Who pays the return for a faulty item

Always the trader, shipping included

Duty and VAT on non-EU returns

Claim required; one year for defective goods; filing is free of charge

EU duty rule since 1 July 2026

€3 per item on consignments up to €150 from non-EU stores