"COD orders get returned too often" is a common complaint that's hard to act on without a real number behind it. This tool turns your own shipped/returned counts into an actual RTO rate, prices out what one return-to-origin really costs once forward and return shipping are both counted, and compares COD's net revenue per order against a discounted prepaid alternative.

Why a self-calculated rate beats a benchmark

Published "average RTO rate" figures vary wildly by category, price point, region, and courier. A rate quoted for one seller's electronics business tells you very little about a different seller's apparel business. Calculating your own rate from your own shipped and returned counts is the only version of this number worth acting on.

The cost of an RTO is more than the return shipping

A returned COD order already cost you the forward shipping fee before it ever came back, and that money doesn't come back when the customer refuses delivery. Add the return shipping fee and the repackaging, and a single RTO can cost more than either shipping leg looks like on its own.

Reading the COD vs prepaid comparison

The comparison assumes every prepaid order ships (no RTO cost) and every COD order carries your calculated RTO rate. Read it as a comparison of the two channels' typical net revenue per order, not as a claim that switching everyone to prepaid is the right call for every business or customer base.

Frequently asked questions