Your organization has a set of package templates which the customer (and ReturnPilot) can use to determine how the line items will be sent to you:

• Polymailer - 8in (L) x 8in (W) x 1in, up to 1lb.
• Small Box - 8in (L) x 8in (W) x 4in, up to 3lbs.
• Medium Box - 12in (L) x 9in (W) x 6in, up to 15lbs.
• Large Box - 18in (L) x 14in (W) x 12in (H), up to 30lbs.
• Extra Large Box - 30in (L) x 20in (W) x 16in (H), up to 45lbs.

Customizing your templates

For most organizations, these standard sizes are ideal and you shouldn't need to modify them, however you are free to do so if required.

If you intend to modify them, then please note the following:

• You have a maximum of five templates.
• You can disable templates, but at least three must be enabled.
• Always ensure that enabled templates are ordered by size / weight.

How are these templates used?

When your customers return order line items to you, two things happen:

1. The recommended number and type of packages are preselected based on the dimensions and weight of the order line items.
2. The customer has the option of selecting a different configuration of packages based on the materials that they possess.

This setup provides the necessary flexibility to handle scenarios where the customer doesn't have the ideal number / type of packages.

Package templates are also used when creating shipping labels, as the carrier requires dimensions and weight to calculate the price.

Understanding how this works in practice

It is important to understand that shipping is somewhat of gray area. For example, consider the following hypothetical scenarios:

• A customer doesn't have containers that match your templates.
• A container turns out to be slightly larger than the chosen template.
• Two containers are chosen, but the weight distribution is not even.

As you're probably realizing, this process is not entirely in your control. Therefore, you should consider your templates to be more of a guide for customers than absolute requirements.

ReturnPilot will advise customers to follow your templates as closely as possible, but in reality, the customer can ultimately do what they want to.

What happens if the package doesn't match a template?

In most cases, carriers will still take the shipment, however you may receive an additional surcharge if the package exceeds the dimensions and weight associated with the shipping label.

Depending on your carrier setup, this will either appear on your Shippo invoice, or it will be billed directly by the carrier.

While this might be frustrating, it is unfortunately part of doing business. However, it is worth remembering that most returns are single items in their original packaging, so often this won't be an issue.