For Canadian apparel and accessories brands with frequent US returns

Every return crosses the border alone, and pays for the privilege.

A $70 top comes back from Ohio as its own international shipment with its own brokerage fee. ReturnBridge gives your US customers a domestic return address, inspects what arrives, resells good stock in the US, consolidates the rest into one shipment home, and handles the customs paperwork.

A US return address, so returns stay domestic for your customer
Good stock resold in the US instead of shipped twice
One consolidated shipment home, with the paperwork done

Request details See how it happens

Early access — we are onboarding a first cohort and reply to every enquiry within one business day.

One returned top, the long way round

Return shipping, Ohio to Canada$18.00

Brokerage on the inbound return$12.50

Reship to the next US buyer$14.20

Duty and fees, second crossing$9.80

Total to resell a $70 item−$54.50

Illustrative, for a single-item apparel return. The second crossing is the avoidable part — and it is the part that disappears entirely when the item is held and resold in the US.

The problem

The worst unit economics in your business are on the orders you refund.

Cross-border returns are expensive in a specific and avoidable way. The customer ships internationally, which means slow transit, a commercial invoice they do not understand, and a brokerage fee on a parcel containing a single garment.

Then the item arrives in Canada. You inspect it, find it is perfectly sellable, and now it is in the wrong country — so the next US customer who buys it pays duty and brokerage on it a second time. You have paid to move one top across a border three times.

And the customer experience is poor throughout: a return label that is confusing, transit measured in weeks, a refund that waits on arrival. For apparel, where returns are a normal part of buying rather than a failure, this is a structural disadvantage against any US competitor.

In their own words

This is what brands with this problem are searching for

We did not invent this problem. These are the actual queries people type when they hit it.

cross border returns canada USSearched by brands in exactly your position

US return address for canadian businessSearched by brands in exactly your position

avoid brokerage fees on returnsSearched by brands in exactly your position

Built for you if

Is this you?

If three or more of these are true, ReturnBridge will pay for itself. If none of them are, we will tell you so rather than sell you something.

You sell apparel, footwear or accessories to US customers
Your US return rate is high enough to notice in your margin
Returns currently come back to Canada one parcel at a time
You are paying brokerage on items you are about to refund anyway

How it works

Four steps, and you are only in one of them

The work happens whether or not you are watching. You get the output.

Your customers return to a US address

A domestic return for them: a normal label, normal transit, no commercial invoice, no brokerage fee at any point.

We receive and inspect

Each item checked against your condition standards, photographed, and dispositioned: resellable, repairable, or not sellable.

Resellable stock stays in the US

Good inventory is held and made available to your next US order, so it never crosses a border again. This is where most of the saving is.

The rest comes home consolidated

Non-resellable items are batched into one periodic shipment to Canada with the customs documentation prepared properly, instead of dozens of individual entries.

What you get

Everything included

US domestic return address

The customer-facing change. Returns stop being an international shipping exercise for the person you want to buy again.

Inspection against your standards

Your condition grades, applied consistently, with photographs so disputes have evidence.

US resale inventory pool

Returned stock held locally and sold to US customers without a second crossing. The single largest line in the saving.

Consolidated return freight

One entry instead of many. Brokerage on a consolidated shipment is a fraction of brokerage on the same items individually.

Customs paperwork for returned goods

Returned goods have their own documentation considerations. Getting them wrong means paying duty again on your own merchandise.

Refund triggered on receipt

Refunds fire when we receive and grade the item, not weeks later when a parcel reaches Canada. Faster refunds measurably reduce disputes.

Side by side

Before and after

	Today	With ReturnBridge
Customer’s return experience	International shipment, weeks	Domestic label, days
Brokerage on returns	Per parcel	Once, on a consolidated shipment
Resellable stock	Stranded in Canada	Available to US buyers
Second crossing	Paid again	Does not happen
Refund timing	On arrival in Canada	On receipt and grading

Find out what this is costing you

Send us your situation and we will tell you plainly whether ReturnBridge would make a difference at your volume — before you commit to anything.

Request details

Tell us what your situation looks like

Seven questions. We use them to work out whether ReturnBridge is actually the right fit for you — and to say so if it is not.

1You send the formTakes about two minutes. No call booking widget.
2We reply within one business dayWith a straight answer on whether this fits your volume and setup.
3If it fits, we show you your own numbersA short review of your actual orders and invoices before anything is signed.

We are onboarding a first cohort of Canadian brands, so spots are limited and we would rather tell you early if you are not one of them.

Your name *

Work email *

Brand / company *

Store URL

Monthly US orders *

Carriers you ship with *

What is happening right now? * Specifics get a specific answer.

We reply within one business day. No newsletter, no sequence, no sales calls you did not ask for.

FAQ

Questions worth asking

How do cross-border returns from the US actually work today?

Badly. The customer creates an international shipment, usually with a commercial invoice they do not understand, and the parcel is entered into Canada where brokerage and potentially duty apply. Returned goods can be eligible for relief from duty in certain circumstances, but claiming it on individual low-value parcels is rarely done because the administrative cost exceeds the duty. So most brands simply absorb it.

Can I give US customers a US return address without a US entity?

In most cases yes — receiving returns at a US facility is a logistics arrangement rather than something that inherently requires a US legal entity. What matters is how the goods are handled, documented, and either resold or re-exported, which is the part that needs doing properly rather than the part that needs a company.

How do I avoid brokerage fees on returns?

You cannot avoid the fee on an individual international parcel — it is charged for making the entry. What you can do is reduce the number of entries. Receiving returns domestically and consolidating the non-resellable portion into one periodic shipment means one entry instead of hundreds, which is where the saving comes from.

What about duty on returned goods coming back to Canada?

There are provisions that can provide relief when goods are returned, but they depend on circumstances and require documentation. Doing this correctly on a consolidated shipment is practical; doing it on individual parcels generally is not, which is another argument for consolidation.

Do you resell my returns to anyone else?

No. Resellable stock is held as your inventory and allocated to your orders. We are a return address and a holding point, not a liquidation channel.

What return rate makes this worth it?

It is driven by return volume and average order value rather than rate alone. Apparel and footwear brands with meaningful US volume usually clear the bar comfortably, because the second-crossing saving applies to every resellable item. We will model it against your numbers before you commit.

Guides

Read the detail first

Written for the specific questions brands ask us. No gate, no email required.

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