A return merchandise authorization (RMA) allows a buyer to return merchandise to the seller for repair, replacement, credit, or refund. RMAs are common in online commerce and are usually incorporated into the shipping label. The process for long-distance returns is the same as in-store returns.
A return merchandise authorization is the seller’s approval of merchandise that allows the buyer to ship the merchandise to the seller for repair, replacement, credit, or refund. It authorizes the customer to return the merchandise, and its unique identification number written on the shipping label authorizes the seller’s shipping and receiving department to accept delivery of the package containing the return. A long-standing staple of mail-order transactions, return goods authorizations (RMAs), called return goods authorizations (RGAs) in some markets, became much more common toward the end of the 20th century, as retailers were increasingly entering the world of online commerce. The resulting long-distance sales made the delivery and return of goods increasingly dependent on shipping and courier services.
In most cases, when the goods are sold, the buyer has the right to return them. In most traditional retail settings, the retailer has a specific policy regarding the return of merchandise, usually restricting it to a relatively short period after purchase and further specifying minimum standards for the condition of merchandise returned for refund or credit. The customer takes the merchandise back to the point of sale with the purchase documentation, usually a receipt, and presents it for return. If circumstances are consistent with the seller’s return policy, the seller accepts the returned merchandise and issues a refund or credit. Merchandise is usually restocked from the seller’s inventory and prepared for sale.
Buyers of merchandise from mail-order and online order sources generally have the same right to return merchandise, but the process presents more of a logistical challenge for the seller. In the traditional environment, for example, returns are handled one by one and are usually handled on-site by the seller. All paperwork is handled on the spot as well, as is the refund or credit, and the transaction is completed when the customer walks away. When a mail-order or online customer order initiates the return process, if the request complies with the seller’s return policy, a Return Merchandise Authorization is issued. In many cases, for efficiency and environmental responsibility reasons, the Return Merchandise Authorization is incorporated into the shipping label used to deliver the merchandise, and the customer can then reuse the shipping label to return the merchandise. Otherwise, when the customer prepares the shipping label for the return, he simply writes the Return Merchandise Authorization number somewhere on the label.
The long-distance return process is the same as the in-store process. The Return Merchandise Authorization usually captures all the information that would be recorded in the store and is usually printed on the same document that the seller provides to the customer as a shipping label, so that the relevant information can be read or scanned from the label without having to open the package upon receipt, facilitating delivery of the return package to the appropriate location. When the return package is opened, the condition of the returned goods is examined and, if acceptable, a refund or credit is issued.
A return merchandise authorization, therefore, is simply the reduction of the return process to writing to facilitate the process of returning long-distance merchandise for a refund. The same process is generally applied to shipping goods back to the seller for repair or replacement. In all cases, the return goods authorization process mirrors the process followed when customers transport goods to the seller’s premises to return them.
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