- Parcel delivered
- Customer sends it back
- Courier brings it to you
₹175 return shipping, plus packaging
- Parcel sent
- Not delivered
- Courier brings it back
₹0, plus packaging
From one store's payment files, May to October 2026. Your charges may differ.
RTO on Meesho means Return To Origin: the parcel never reached the customer, so the courier brought it back. (Nothing to do with the vehicle RTO office.) A customer return is when the customer got the parcel and sent it back. In the payment file, Live Order Status says Return or RTO.
What a customer return costs
Return shipping (some sellers call it reverse shipping) was ₹175 on about 94% of about 320 returns. A few were less. A return with 2 pieces was ₹350. Products here sold for about ₹300 to ₹900, and the charge was the same at every price.
Meesho's shipping page says the return fee is "based on the weight of the shipment", but it gives no rate card. A heavier product may cost more, so check your own file.
Most returns come before you are paid. Then the sale and the sale return cancel out, and you see −₹175. No forward shipping, TCS or TDS. A return after you were paid looks bigger: you get about ₹492 first, then about ₹667 is taken back later. Net, you still lose ₹175.
Worked example
A ₹540 order returned after you were paid
| Sale taken backWhat the customer paid | −₹540 |
| Forward shipping refunded | ₹45 |
| TCS and TDS given back₹2.57 + ₹0.51 | ₹3.08 |
| Return shipping | −₹175 |
| Taken from a later payment | −₹666.92 |
Example numbers. You were paid ₹491.92 for this order earlier, so overall the return costs ₹175, plus packaging. We saw 12 of these.
What an RTO costs
On all of about 190 RTOs, the sale was taken back and everything else was ₹0: no shipping, no return charge, no TCS or TDS. Meesho's shipping page says the same: "the seller will not be charged any additional fee for shipping".
So an RTO costs you the packaging, and your piece is stuck on the road until it is back and can be sold again.
Exchanges: we saw only 3, so take this as an example, not a rule. The sale stayed, forward shipping, TCS and TDS were charged as for a delivery, and ₹175 return shipping was charged too.
What 100 parcels lose to returns and RTO
Worked example
100 parcels sent: 20 RTO, 10 customer returns
| 10 customer returns10 × ₹175 | −₹1,750 |
| 20 RTO | ₹0 |
| Packaging on the 30 that came back30 × ₹14 | −₹420 |
| What returns and RTO cost you | −₹2,170 |
Example numbers. Shared over the 70 delivered orders, that is about ₹31 each. The pieces go back into stock, so the product cost is not lost unless what comes back is wrong or damaged.
To try your own return and RTO numbers on one product, use the free Meesho profit calculator. To see what this does to your profit, read how to calculate your real profit.
When the returned parcel is wrong: claims
If a return or RTO comes back wrong, damaged or with items missing, you can raise a claim and get part of the money back. How to raise it, what video to record and how the money shows: Meesho claims for wrong or damaged returns.
Check your own file
- Filter Live Order Status to Return and look at Return Shipping Charge (Incl. GST). That is your real return charge.
- Filter to RTO and look at Final Settlement Amount. It should be ₹0. If not, see which column has an amount.
- Add packaging yourself. It is not in any file.
Questions sellers ask
What is RTO in Meesho?
Return To Origin: the parcel was not delivered, and the courier brought it back to you. A customer return is when the customer got it and sent it back.
Does Meesho charge for RTO?
No return fee: every RTO we saw came to ₹0. Meesho's pricing page says "Meesho will not charge a return shipping fee for any RTOs." You still lose the packaging.
What are Meesho return charges for sellers?
₹175 return shipping on about 94% of the returns we saw, whatever the price. Meesho says it goes by weight, so check the Return Shipping Charge column in your own file.
Are Meesho return charges per kg?
Meesho's shipping page says the fee is based on weight but gives no rate card. In the files we saw, products from about ₹300 to ₹900 almost all paid ₹175.
Are there new reverse shipping charges on Meesho?
We found no Meesho notice of a change (checked 14 October 2026). Meesho's shipping page says the return fee is based on weight. In the files we saw, almost every return from May to October 2026 cost ₹175. Check the Return Shipping Charge column in your latest file.
Next step
OrderLens reads your payment files, keeps customer returns and RTO apart, and shows what each one cost you, with your real profit after returns. It's free for now.
See your return costs in OrderLensSources
- A real Meesho seller's payment files and GST reports, May to October 2026 (checked by OrderLens; totals only)
- Meesho supplier shipping page · Meesho
- Meesho supplier pricing page · Meesho