Patent ID: RE42177

Claim:
A method for handling returned merchandise on behalf of a plurality of different merchants, comprising the steps of: (a) enabling a merchant to transmit data to a central database identifying merchandise that might be returned by a customer, said data identifying the merchant and the merchandise, and including contact information for the customer; (b) providing a return shipping label to the customer for use in returning the merchandise, said return label including information referencing at least a portion of the data stored in the central database; (c) entering at least part of the information included on the return shipping label into the central database upon receipt of merchandise returned by the customer, to indicate that the merchandise being returned has been received; (d) assessing a condition of the merchandise that was received and associating a tag with said merchandise indicating a disposition thereof; (e) automatically routing the merchandise to a station for implementing the disposition of the merchandise, as indicated by the tag; and (f) disposing of the merchandise, as indicated by the tag.