Why parcels come back, and what to do about it
Six causes, how to read the markings, and what to change before resending.
A returned parcel costs twice: the postage you already paid and the postage to send it again, plus a customer who has been waiting. Most returns come from a small set of causes, and most are preventable.
Read the markings first
Before anything else, look at what is written on the box. Carriers and customs authorities annotate returns, though rarely helpfully. Common markings:
- Insufficient address or address incomplete
- Not known at this address or gone away
- Refused or refused by addressee
- Customs declaration missing or incomplete
- Charges not paid
- Prohibited item or a reference to a restriction
There may also be a sticker from the destination’s postal operator in the local language. It is worth translating rather than guessing, because the fix differs completely depending on which of these applies.
The six causes
1. The address was incomplete for that country
The most common cause, and the least obvious, because the address looked fine to you.
Different countries require different things. A US address without a state is incomplete. A New Zealand address without the suburb may go to the wrong side of Auckland. An Ecuadorian address without the cross street may not be findable at all. A Hong Kong address without the district loses its main routing element, because there is no postal code to fall back on.
Fix: check what that country actually requires, not what yours does. Then resend with the missing element.
2. The recipient had moved, or the name did not match
Post is often delivered on the address alone, but not always. In some countries the name on the parcel must match the name on the mailbox or the building register, and a parcel addressed to a company at a residential flat can be refused on that basis.
Fix: confirm the recipient’s current address and the exact name they receive post under.
3. Customs charges were not paid
The parcel arrived, the recipient was asked for import VAT, duty or a handling fee, and either did not receive the notice or declined to pay. After a holding period it goes back.
This is the cause most likely to be a surprise to the seller, because from your side nothing was wrong.
Fix: tell customers about possible import charges at checkout. If it happens repeatedly into one market, look at collecting the tax up front.
4. The customs declaration was missing or inadequate
No form, an unsigned form, or a description too vague to clear. “Goods”, “sample” and “gift” with nothing else are the usual offenders.
Also in this category: a UK sender using a CN22 after June 2026, when Royal Mail withdrew it in favour of the CN23.
Fix: itemise properly. Specific descriptions, real quantities, honest values, signature and date.
5. The contents were restricted or prohibited
Lithium batteries, aerosols, liquids over a threshold, perishables, certain foods, plant material, cosmetics with particular ingredients. Restrictions depend on both the carrier and the destination, and they are not the same list.
Fix: check both the carrier’s restrictions and the destination country’s before resending. Resending the same item the same way will produce the same result.
6. It was a military address with a country name on it
Specific to APO, FPO and DPO parcels, and worth naming because it looks like helpfulness. Writing the foreign city or country pushes the parcel out of the military postal channel into a civilian network that cannot route it.
Fix: remove the foreign city and country entirely. See the APO/FPO guide.
Before you resend
Remove the old label completely. Not covered, removed, or at minimum thoroughly blacked out including the barcode. A box with two scannable barcodes will be sorted by whichever one a scanner sees first, and it may well be the one that already failed.
Do not simply reprint the same label. Whatever caused the return is still there. Fix the specific thing, then reprint.
Check whether the goods still qualify as returned goods. If the item is coming back to you across a customs border, declaring it as returned goods can avoid paying duty a second time on goods that already cleared. Conditions vary, but it is worth knowing the box exists.
Consider the economics. On a low-value item, two more lots of international postage plus your time can exceed the value of the goods. Refunding and writing it off is sometimes the cheaper answer, and the customer will remember it better than a second failed delivery.
Reducing returns in the first place
- Validate the address format for the destination, not just that the fields are filled in.
- Ask for a phone number. Couriers use it, and customs may need to reach the recipient about charges.
- Be specific on the customs form. Vague descriptions cause inspections, and inspections cause delays and refusals.
- Say something about import charges before the customer pays. Most refusals are not about the goods.
What this site does
Labelbench formats the address the way each destination expects, warns when a postal code does not match that country’s shape or when a required state is missing, and adds the correct customs form for the route including the CN23 for UK senders.
It cannot tell you whether your contents are restricted. That list depends on both the carrier and the destination and changes often enough that publishing one here would mislead you.