In brief
- Over the twelve months to 13 October 2026, a fashion brand we work with saw 21.3% of the items sold on its own site come back, and 72.3% of those sold on a fashion marketplace of German origin.
- By country, on its site: 20.1% in France, 31% in Germany and Austria, 17% in the United Kingdom, the United States and Italy, 10.5% in Spain.
- The channel therefore matters more than the country: the gap between the site and the marketplace, 51 points, is almost five times the gap between France and Germany, 11 points.
- At a 70% return rate, it takes 3.3 shipments on average for one item to stay with the customer. Only high value-added products can absorb those round trips.
- Our simulator calculates your net margin per item kept, with your own figures.
Return rates depend more on the sales channel than on the country. Over twelve months, a fashion brand we work with saw 21.3% of its items come back on its own site, but 72.3% on a fashion marketplace of German origin. On its site, Germany returns 31% of items, France 20.1% and Spain 10.5%. Before opening a country or a channel, what you need to calculate is the margin per item the customer actually keeps.
How we measured On 13 October 2026, read-only and with the brand’s agreement, we extracted the last twelve months of orders from its shop: items sold and items refunded, by delivery country and by channel, business sales excluded. The published figures we compare them with come from studies we have read. The limits of the measurement are set out below.
What is the return rate by country?
Here are the rates measured on the brand’s site, as items refunded over items sold. Countries are ranked by volume.
| Delivery country | Return rate, by item | Volume over 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| France | 20.1% | About 700 orders |
| Germany | 31.0% | About 400 orders |
| United States | 17.1% | About 160 orders |
| United Kingdom | 17.3% | About 120 orders |
| Spain | 10.5% | About 100 orders |
| Italy | 17.6% | About 80 orders |
| Austria | 31.4% | About 65 orders |
| Belgium | 25.3% | About 65 orders |
| Netherlands | 22.2% | About 60 orders |
| Whole site | 21.3% | About 2,000 orders |
The German-speaking countries stand out clearly: Germany and Austria around 31%, one and a half times France. Southern Europe returns little: 10.5% in Spain, and even less in Portugal, where volume is too low to draw conclusions.
Does the channel matter more than the country?
Yes, by far. On the fashion marketplace, the same brand sees 72.3% of items sold come back, 76% for German and Austrian customers. On its own site, German customers send back 31%. Same country, same brand: the channel multiplies the rate by almost two and a half.
The explanation lies largely in return conditions. The University of Bamberg, in the largest European survey published on the subject, found that in Germany returns are free at 88.7% of retailers, against 52.4% in the rest of the Union, and that paying by invoice, which encourages try-on orders, accounts for 28.8% of payments there against 9.9% elsewhere. A fashion marketplace offering free returns and deferred payment combines both.
Are our figures in line with the market?
| Measure | Our brand | Published figures |
|---|---|---|
| Germany, all channels | 31% on the site, 76% on the marketplace | Country with the highest rates in Europe, almost one parcel in four returned in 2021, mostly in fashion (Bamberg) |
| Online fashion | 21.3% on the site, 72.3% on the marketplace | “At least 50%” among online fashion retailers (bevh, 2023) |
| Processing cost | Not measured | €2.85 per item returned, transport and processing, excluding loss of value (Bamberg, 2021) |
The brand’s site sits well below the published rates for online fashion, the marketplace well above. Our article on the real cost of returns covers the other market benchmarks and the five cost lines of a return.
How many shipments does it take to sell one item?
That is the question the return rate hides. With a rate r, an item kept by the customer requires on average 1 / (1 − r) shipments and r / (1 − r) returns.
| Return rate | Shipments per item kept | Returns per item kept |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 1.11 | 0.11 |
| 20%, our site in France | 1.25 | 0.25 |
| 31%, our site in Germany | 1.45 | 0.45 |
| 50% | 2.00 | 1.00 |
| 72%, our marketplace | 3.57 | 2.57 |
Each shipment costs a delivery, each return a transport, an inspection and sometimes a loss of value, and advertising has been paid for every order, kept or not. These costs are roughly fixed per parcel, whatever the price of the item.
Why only high value-added products hold up
Take an item sold for €89 including VAT, costing €22, sold on a marketplace at 20% commission, with €6 shipping, €6 return shipping, €3 processing and 10% advertising. These are example values, not the brand’s. Our simulator gives, for that same item:
- at a 30% return rate, a net margin of €11.34 per item kept, and a maximum discount of 24.8% before selling at a loss;
- at a 50% return rate, a loss of €1.47 per item kept;
- at a 70% return rate, a loss of €31.36, and it would need to sell for at least €177 including VAT to break even.
The lesson is direct: on a channel with many returns, the fixed costs per shipment multiply, and only products whose absolute margin absorbs them stay profitable. A high value-added item can withstand three round trips; a low-priced item, almost never. Before putting a whole catalogue on a marketplace, sort the products by net margin per item kept, not by revenue.
Calculate my net margin per item kept with the simulator
The limits of our measurement
- Items refunded include orders refunded before shipping: the return rate in the strict sense is a little lower.
- Orders from the last few weeks have not completed their return period: a slight downward bias.
- Outside France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, volumes range from a few dozen to a hundred or so orders: indications, not stable averages.
- This is one brand, in fashion. The level of the rates depends on the sector; what transfers is the comparison between channels and between countries.
What should you do with these figures?
- Measure your rate by channel and by country, by item, over twelve months. An overall average hides everything.
- Calculate the net margin per item kept for your main products on each channel, with the simulator.
- Sort your catalogue: products that are profitable on your site are not necessarily profitable on a marketplace with a high return rate.
- Set the maximum discount before the sales, channel by channel: it is not the same at 20% and at 70% returns.
- Work on the causes: size guide, photos, description of the material, as our article on the real cost of returns explains.
What this says about the bigger picture
A marketplace brings volume, but it also brings its return habits, which the brand does not control. The right trade-off is not between site and marketplace, but product by product: what can withstand three round trips goes on the marketplace, the rest sells where customers keep what they buy.
That calculation, channel by channel and product by product, is what we do through our e-commerce and marketplaces expertise.
Sources
Pages opened on 13 October 2026.
- Dotsland measurement: order database of a fashion brand client, twelve months to 13 October 2026, read-only extraction with its agreement.
- University of Bamberg, Forschungsgruppe Retourenmanagement, “Deutschland ist Retouren-Europameister”, press release of 7 September 2022 (European Return-o-Meter, 411 retailers) (in German). View
- bevh, Retourenkompendium, 2nd edition, January 2023 (in German). View
FAQ
What is the e-commerce return rate by country?
Over the twelve months to 13 October 2026, a fashion brand we work with measured on its site 20.1% of items returned in France, 31% in Germany and Austria, around 17% in the United Kingdom, the United States and Italy, and 10.5% in Spain. The University of Bamberg ranks Germany as the country with the highest return rates in Europe.
Are returns more frequent on a marketplace?
In our measurement, yes, very clearly: 72.3% of items sold on a fashion marketplace of German origin came back, against 21.3% on the brand’s own site. Free returns and deferred payment, two practices very widespread in Germany, encourage try-on orders.
How many shipments does it take to sell one item?
With a return rate r, 1 / (1 − r) shipments on average: 1.25 at 20%, 2 at 50%, 3.57 at 72%. Each extra shipment adds a delivery, a return and processing.
Which products should go on a marketplace with a high return rate?
Those whose absolute margin absorbs several round trips, so generally high value-added products. Calculate the net margin per item kept for each product with the channel’s return rate before listing it there.
Can Dotsland help?
Yes. We measure your return rates by channel and by country and rebuild the margin per item kept across your catalogue. Get in touch.