Free tool
RTO Loss Calculator
The RTO Loss Calculator estimates retained return-to-origin costs from dispatched shipments, their RTO rate and your net cost per returned shipment. It separates freight, packaging, other retained fees and inventory write-offs without treating missed revenue or resellable stock as a realised loss.
Illustrative starting values, not benchmarks. Replace every value with one cohort's records. Run COD and prepaid separately.
Exclude cancelled orders that never shipped; use the same cohort as your RTO rate.
RTO shipments divided by these dispatched shipments × 100. Allow the cohort to resolve first.
Average retained cost per RTO shipment, after confirmed credits. Enter zero for waived or fully reimbursed charges; keep unknown charges outside a final estimate until verified.
Do not repeat freight or handling already entered above.
Net unrecoverable product cost across the whole RTO cohort ÷ RTO shipments, not selling price or cost per damaged item.
RTO retained-cost estimate · selected period
Fractional shipment counts are scenario estimates. This is not total business loss: missed revenue, resellable inventory value, advertising, financing and fixed overhead are excluded. Do not treat the result as guaranteed savings from preventing RTO.
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Scenario estimate only, not a tariff or profit forecast. Use one resolved dispatch cohort, confirmed net charges and inventory write-offs on a consistent tax basis. Unknown charges are not zero; provisional credits may change. Verify against invoices, returns and settlement records.
Also free: Marketplace Fee Calculator and ACOS to Profit Calculator.
These are estimates. Your free audit finds the real number — from your actual settlement files.
Scan my real account →Assumptions behind the maths
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
- Starting values are illustrative, not an industry RTO rate or courier tariff.
- Use the same resolved dispatch cohort for the shipment count and RTO rate. Analyse COD and prepaid separately.
- Each rupee input is an average retained cost per RTO shipment after confirmed credits, on one consistent tax basis.
- Return freight can be zero if waived or reimbursed. Unknown charges require verification, not a zero assumption.
- Inventory write-off uses unrecoverable product cost averaged across all RTO shipments, not selling price.
- Advertising, fixed overhead, financing, missed revenue and resellable stock value are outside this estimate.
How the RTO calculator works
Estimated RTO shipments = dispatched shipments × RTO rate ÷ 100. Estimated retained cost = RTO shipments × (net forward freight + net return freight + consumed packaging and handling + other retained fees + average inventory write-off).
Illustrative example: 500 dispatches at 20% RTO gives 100 returned shipments. With ₹60 forward freight, ₹40 return freight, ₹10 packaging and zero other fees or write-offs per RTO, the selected-period cost is ₹11,000. These figures are not a marketplace rate card.
Check charges before calling them losses
Shiprocket's RTO charge guidance describes courier return charges, while its shipping-zone guidance explains that forward and RTO freight depend on the route. Neither is a universal marketplace tariff: use your applicable terms, invoices and settlement credits.
Read the RTO reduction guide and cost worksheet for cohort selection, a write-off example and a weekly control routine. Our RTO & Return Control service connects reason analysis with targeted operational tests and documented cost checks.