Automatic Determination of Order Cost Based on Return Status (3-Way Branch) #395

Current Challenges

Before the returns page was implemented, if a return or refund event occurred for an order, we assumed that “the product might have been returned.” Since it was unclear whether the product had actually been returned in a condition suitable for resale, we operated under the assumption that “the product was returned at cost” and set the cost to 0 for convenience. If compensation was provided, it was recorded as compensation in the order.

This led to the following issues:

• Even for items that were damaged or opened and therefore actually unsellable, the cost was set to 0, meaning the actual costs incurred were not deducted from profit (resulting in overstated profit).

• The system currently cannot handle cases of “no inventory returned and no compensation”—i.e., complete losses—under any scenario

Behavior After Improvement

With the implementation of the FBA Returns Management page, we can now determine whether a product is resalable ( detailed-disposition ) based on the order ID. Using this information, we have divided the cost allocation for orders into the following three patterns:

1. Inventory was returned (resalable = SELLABLE) → Order cost is 0

2. Inventory not returned and no compensation → Order has a cost (cases currently not distinguishable)

3. Inventory not returned, but replacement provided → Order has cost + replacement (replacement is recorded as usual)