Return Wise
See what a return actually costs before you buy, or before the window closes on something you already own.
ReturnWise
See what a return actually costs before you buy, or before the window closes on something you already own.
Date: 2026-08-06 Form factor: web app Status: Prototype
What it is
ReturnWise is a return-cost calculator and deadline tracker for online shoppers. Pick a retailer, an item price, and how you're sending it back, and it shows the refund you'll actually receive after mail fees and restocking charges, not the sticker price. A second view tracks purchases against each retailer's return window so nothing expires quietly in a drawer.
Who it serves
Online shoppers who've been burned by a return costing more than they expected: someone who mailed back a coat and got $20 less than the tag said, or missed a 15-day electronics window because nothing reminded them. It's aimed at people who buy from several retailers with different, unposted rules, not any single store's loyal customer.
Why it could be profitable
The free tier is the calculator and tracker; a paid tier ($3–5/month) would add a browser extension that flags return costs automatically at checkout and pushes deadline reminders, plus affiliate links to the retailers with the friendliest policies when a comparison surfaces one. A retailer-facing angle is plausible too: license the return-cost API to comparison-shopping and browser-agent tools that need to factor total cost of ownership into a recommendation, not just price.
The trend is real: 75% of retailers now charge some kind of return fee, and specific charges have gotten steep enough to notice. Marshalls and TJ Maxx take $11.99 off a mailed refund, Best Buy keeps 15% of an opened electronics return, Dillard's stacks a $9.95 label fee on top of a 10% restocking charge. Whether shoppers will pay a subscription to avoid a $10 surprise is the open question. The free calculator has to prove people actually check before they buy, or before they mail something back, before a paid tier is worth building.
Form factor & scope
Lives as a web app today; the natural next surface is a browser extension that reads the retailer at checkout and shows the same math inline. This prototype demonstrates the calculator and the deadline tracker on a hand-curated set of 14 retailers, enough to compare, not a live policy feed.
How to run it
- Open
index.htmlin any modern browser. - On the Cost calculator tab, pick a retailer, enter a price, toggle "opened," and switch between mail and in-store to see the refund change.
- Switch to My returns to see four sample purchases sorted by how many days are left in their return window, color-coded by urgency. Click "+ Track a purchase" to add your own.
- Switch to Compare retailers to see which of the 14 sample retailers keep the most of a $100 refund on a mailed, opened return.
What's in this prototype
- A return-cost calculator covering flat mail fees, percentage restocking fees, and opened-vs-unopened conditions, sourced from real 2025–2026 retailer policies.
- A return-deadline tracker with four seeded purchases, urgency color-coding, an add-purchase dialog, and a remove action.
- A retailer comparison view ranking all 14 sample retailers by fee on an identical $100 return.
sample-data.jsonwith policy details (fee type, amount, condition, return window, loyalty waivers) for 14 major retailers plus four tracked sample purchases.
Roadmap
- Browser extension that detects the retailer at checkout and shows the same calculation inline.
- Real policy data via a maintained feed instead of a hand-curated sample, since retailers change fees without much notice.
- Push/email reminders a few days before a tracked return's deadline.
- Photo-based receipt import so tracked purchases don't have to be entered by hand.
- A "worth it" flag comparing return cost against the price difference at a competing retailer.
Sources
- Which retail stores are now charging fees for returns? About 75% of them. — KGUN9 — the 75%-of-retailers stat and specific fee amounts for Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Macy's, JCPenney, J.Crew, Dillard's, Urban Outfitters, and Best Buy.
- What Is a Restocking Fee? A 2026 Guide for Ecommerce Brands — Redo — typical restocking fee ranges by category and the per-return processing cost retailers are trying to recover.
- The Top 12 Customer Pain Points Costing You Money in 2026 — Chargebacks911 — complex return policies and restocking fees named as a purchase-anxiety driver.
Requirements
ReturnWise — Requirements
Goals
- Show a shopper the refund they'd actually receive for a given retailer, price, and return method, before they commit to buying or mailing something back.
- Track purchases against each retailer's return window and surface urgency so a deadline doesn't pass unnoticed.
- Let a shopper compare retailers on return cost alone, independent of the item's price.
Primary user
An online shopper who buys from several retailers with different, unposted return policies. They've been surprised by a return fee before and want a quick check before checkout or before a return window closes, not a full research project.
Functional requirements
- FR1: The calculator must let a user select a retailer, enter an item price, toggle opened/unopened, and choose mail or in-store return.
- FR2: The calculator must recompute the refund amount immediately when any input changes, with no submit button required.
- FR3: The refund breakdown must itemize each fee applied (mail label fee, restocking fee) with its dollar amount.
- FR4: In-store returns must always compute as fee-free, matching the sample data's retailer policies.
- FR5: The calculator must flag when a return costs the user nothing versus when it costs a visible share of the refund.
- FR6: The tracker must list all tracked purchases sorted by return deadline, soonest first.
- FR7: Each tracked purchase must show its days-remaining count and a color-coded urgency state (urgent, soon, ok).
- FR8: A user must be able to add a new tracked purchase (retailer, item name, price, purchase date, opened state) through a form.
- FR9: A user must be able to remove a tracked purchase from the list.
- FR10: The deadline for a tracked purchase must be computed from its purchase date plus the retailer's return window in days.
- FR11: The compare view must rank all sample retailers by the fee charged on an identical reference item (opened, mailed), worst first.
- FR12: The compare view must visually distinguish retailers with a $0 fee from those with a nonzero fee.
- FR13: All retailer, tracked-purchase, and fee data must load from
sample-data.jsonat page load viafetch.
User stories
- As a shopper about to buy something online, I want to see the real refund I'd get if I returned it, so that I can factor that into my purchase decision.
- As a shopper who just bought something, I want to log the purchase and see a countdown to its return deadline, so that I don't miss the window.
- As a shopper with several open returns, I want the most urgent ones sorted to the top, so that I address the one about to expire first.
- As a shopper choosing between two retailers that sell the same item, I want to compare their return costs directly, so that the cheaper listing isn't a false economy.
- As a shopper returning something in person, I want the calculator to reflect that in-store returns are free, so that I know mailing isn't my only option.
- As a shopper who decided not to return something, I want to remove it from my tracked list, so that my list only shows what's still relevant.
Non-functional requirements
- The app must run entirely client-side from
index.htmlwith no build step and no server dependency beyond serving static files. - All computation must happen in the browser; no user data leaves the page.
- The UI must remain usable on a mobile-width viewport (single-column layout below 720px).
- Color-coded urgency states must be paired with text labels, not color alone, for accessibility.
- Added and removed tracked purchases persist only for the current page session; there is no backend or local storage layer in this prototype.
Out of scope (for the prototype)
- Live retailer policy data or an API integration; the dataset is a hand-curated snapshot.
- User accounts, authentication, or cross-device sync.
- Browser extension packaging or checkout-page detection.
- Push, email, or SMS deadline reminders.
- Persisting tracked purchases across browser sessions.
Open questions
- Would shoppers actually check a return-cost tool before buying, or only after a return has already gone wrong?
- Is the more valuable product the pre-purchase calculator, the post-purchase deadline tracker, or the retailer comparison, and should the roadmap prioritize one over the others?
- How often do retailers change return fees, and what would it take to keep a real dataset current without manual upkeep?
