Process a customer return (RMA)

An RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) is the record that a customer is sending goods back. It's the physical half of a return — the sales credit is the money half. An RMA authorizes what's coming back, tracks it in transit, and — when the goods arrive — puts each unit where it belongs: back into sellable stock, onto a separate blemished SKU, or in the bin.

Before you begin

• The order must be fulfilled (or partially fulfilled). Only shipped items are returnable — the create dialog shows "No returnable items found. Items must be fulfilled before they can be returned" otherwise.
• You need the return permissions for your role (for example returns.create and returns.receive).

Create the RMA

1. Go to Orders → RMAs and click Create RMA.
2. In the Sales Order field, search by order number or customer and pick the order the goods came from. Its returnable lines load.
3. Set the Return Warehouse the goods are coming back to.
4. Tick the lines being returned, set each Qty (capped at what was fulfilled), and pick a Return Reason.
5. Choose the starting Status — Draft to stage it, or Approved to authorize it immediately — and click Create RMA. The RMA opens with a number like RMA-2026-00001.

Move it through its life

An RMA runs Draft → Approved → In Transit → Received → Closed. The detail page header carries the action for its current state:

• Approve — authorizes a draft (the return is now expected).
• Mark Shipped — records the Carrier, Tracking Number, and dates. Adding shipping info moves the RMA to In Transit; it counts as expected inbound until it arrives.
• Receive Items — records what physically arrived (see below).
• Close RMA — closes a fully received return. Cancel stops a return that hasn't been received yet.

Receive the goods

There are three ways to receive a return, depending on how busy your dock is:

• Receive Items on the RMA — the per-line grid described below. Best when you're working one known return at a time.
• Receive from the RMAs list — receive a row inline, or select several RMAs and receive them in bulk, without opening each one.
• The Receive Station — a scan-driven counter that's the fastest for a busy dock, and the only path that can take in a parcel that arrived before its RMA (a blind receipt). See Receive returns at the Receive Station.

Receive Items opens a per-line grid — Expected, Remaining, and three disposition columns whose quantities must add up to what you're receiving:

• New — the unit is fine; it goes back into sellable stock on the original SKU (a new FIFO layer, restocking inventory).
• Blemished — the unit is damaged but salvageable; it lands on a separate blemished SKU you name, not the original, so it never ships as new.
• Discarded — the unit is scrap; nothing is added back to inventory.

A disposition policy can pre-set those New / Blemished / Discard defaults so receivers don't have to decide case-by-case — see Set up return disposition policies. New returns also default to your configured returns warehouse and rules; see Configure returns settings.

Receiving updates the RMA to Partially Received or Received, and the Movements and FIFO Layers tabs show exactly what each disposition did to your stock.

When the return arrives before its paperwork

Sometimes the box beats the RMA — especially with marketplace returns, where the channel ships the goods back before there's a record. Receive the parcel anyway (a blind receipt at the Receive Station) and SKU reconciles it to the right RMA automatically when the match is found, without counting the stock twice. See How returns reconciliation works for the mechanics, or match one by hand with Link unmatched returns.

Next steps

• Create & allocate a sales credit — the refund/credit that pairs with the return.
• Receive returns at the Receive Station — scan-driven receiving for a busy dock, including blind receipts.
• How returns reconciliation works — how blind and marketplace returns match back to their RMA without double-counting stock.
• Link unmatched returns — match a blind receipt to its RMA or order by hand.
• Match marketplace returns — clear channel returns from the Returns Inbox.
• Set up return disposition policies — pre-set the New / Blemished / Discard defaults receivers apply.
• Configure returns settings — the default returns warehouse and blind-receiving rules.
• Import RMAs in bulk — create many RMAs at once from a spreadsheet.
• RMA status reference — every status and disposition at a glance.

The Returns Dashboard (return rate, restock recovery, disposition mix) and the Returns Inbox (matching marketplace returns to RMAs) sit alongside the list under Orders → RMAs.

Video transcript

A customer return starts with an RMA. Create it from the fulfilled order, pick the warehouse it comes back to, and authorize it. Mark it shipped with the carrier and tracking, and it's in transit — expected back at your warehouse. When it arrives, receive each unit — back into stock, onto a blemished SKU, or discarded — and the return is settled.