Plans: Premium, Enterprise | Platforms: All platforms
Overview
Under Warranty settings in the AfterShip Returns admin, merchants can now leverage the carrier accounts and shipping services originally configured to process the return shipments under Returns shipping. You can use the existing carrier accounts or add new carrier and shipping services to handle your shipping services.
Additionally, merchants can add and manage multiple warehouse locations where the warranty products will be sent back when generating return labels for them. These locations will be dedicatedly used as a Ship_to location for the Warranty returns, allowing merchants the additional capabilities to edit the shipping information to ensure the items are processed correctly.
Once at least one carrier and one return location are configured, merchants can also set up Warranty shipping rules to automate exactly how labels are generated for each claim, including routing returns from different regions to different warehouses and carriers based on conditions like SKU, warranty reason, or claim value. See the Warranty shipping rules section below.
Set up carrier accounts and services
All your carrier accounts and services configured under Returns shipping will be automatically synced to the Warranty settings under the Shipping section.
Go to Warranty > Settings from the side menu in your AfterShip Returns admin.
Under Carrier accounts, you can see all the auto-synced carriers from the Returns shipping. If you wish to add a new carrier or edit the existing ones, you can do that in Returns shipping and the same will be synced back to Warranty settings.
All active carriers for returns will also be automatically enabled for warranty returns label generation.
Set up warranty return locations
Warranty return locations are independent of Returns warehouse locations.
Merchants need to add return locations under the Warranty return locations to generate return labels for products on which the warranty has been claimed so they can be replaced and repaired progressively and efficiently.
You must make one of your locations your default location when multiple locations are configured in warranty settings. This default location is used by the General shipping rule (see below) and is auto-selected when generating return labels for claims that don't match a more specific rule. Merchants can change the Ship_to location to any other location from the Warranty return location list.
For warranty returns label generation, you must configure locations in the Warranty settings first.
Go to Warranty > Settings from the side menu in your AfterShip Returns admin.
Under Warranty return locations, click Add location.
Add the name of the warehouse location.
Add the name and company of the merchant (i.e., you).
Add the address and contact information of the warehouse location. This information will appear on the warranty return labels.
Hit Save.
All configured warehouse locations will be listed under Warranty return locations. To edit, remove, or default any warehouse location from the list, click the {...} icon.
Warranty shipping rules
Warranty shipping rules let you automate how return labels are generated when a warranty claim is approved, deciding the carrier and service, the return location, package details, and additional services (label references, customs, insurance, dangerous-goods info) based on where the customer is returning the item from and the attributes of the claim.
Instead of picking a carrier and location manually for every claim, configure rules once. When a claim is approved, AfterShip automatically finds the rule that best matches the claim and uses it to generate the label.
Prerequisites
Before setting up shipping rules, you must have:
At least one carrier account (synced from Returns shipping settings)
At least one warranty return location (with one marked as Default)
If these aren't configured, the rule editor will be locked and you'll see "Add 1 carrier and 1 location first."
Check more details on how to Set UP Warranty Shipping Carriers and Locations
Two rule building blocks
Go to Warranty > Warranty shipping. You'll see:
General shipping rule: the fallback rule, applied to all claims not covered by a custom rule. Always ships to your
Default warranty return location.Custom shipping rules: rules grouped by zone (a set of countries/regions representing where the customer is returning the item from). Each country can belong to only one zone.
Setting up a zone
1. General shipping rule
The General shipping rule acts as a fallback: It's applied to any warranty claim that isn't covered by a custom shipping rule. Every account has one by default, and it always ships to your Default warranty return location.
Click Edit to configure its carrier, package, and additional options. Because this rule always applies as a last resort, it guarantees a label can be generated for every claim.
2. Custom shipping rules (by zone)
A zone is a group of countries/regions representing where the customer is returning the item from (the "Return from" location).
Click Create rule by zone, name the zone (for internal reference only), and select the countries/regions it should cover, then click Next. Each country can only belong to one zone.
Every zone includes:
A Default rule (required): applied when none of the zone's conditional rules match.
Conditional rules (optional): applied only when their specific conditions are met. Drag to reorder them and set Priority; the rule at the top is evaluated first, and "Lowest" priority is the Default rule.
Configuring a rule
Each rule includes:
Conditions (conditional rules only): match Any or All of the conditions below
Return to: the warranty return location for this rule
Carrier and package: carrier selection + package weight/dimensions
Additional options:
a. Shipping insuranceb. Dangerous goods info
c. Label references (e.g. order number, RMA ID, warranty value, product title, custom text)
d. customs info(purpose, terms of trade, billing party, etc.)
The right-hand Summary panel previews the resulting "When … / Apply …" logic.
Available conditions:
Condition | Matches on |
Warranty item weight | Weight of the claimed item |
Warranty value | Total value of the claimed items |
Warranty reason | Claim reason / sub-reason |
Warranty page | Which warranty page the claim came from |
Original fulfillment location | Warehouse that fulfilled the original order |
SKU | Product SKU |
Vendor | Product vendor |
Product tag | Tags on the product |
Product type | Product category/type |
Order value | Value of the original order |
Order tag | Tags on the original order |
Customer tag | Tags on the customer |
Claim submission date | When the claim was submitted |
Carrier and package options
Auto-select the cheapest carrier: compares real-time rates across connected carriers.
Note: This option doesn't support Shipping insurance or Dangerous goods info.
Use a specific carrier: select a specific Carrier and Service.
Set empty package weight and dimensions (L × W × H).
How a rule is selected
When a warranty claim is approved, AfterShip selects exactly one rule to generate the label, based on the following logic:
Check the return-from location: AfterShip looks at the customer's destination country/state for the return.
Match to a zone: it finds the zone that covers that location.
If no zone matches, the General shipping rule is applied.
Evaluate conditional rules: if a zone matches, its conditional rules are checked top to bottom by priority. The first rule whose conditions are met is applied.
Fall back to the zone's Default rule: if none of the conditional rules match, the zone's Default rule is applied instead.
Whichever rule is selected determines the carrier/service, return location, package details, and additional services used on the generated label.
Generate warranty return label
Once the customer submits a warranty claim request via the warranty page, the merchant can make an informed decision about whether the product needs to be physically returned.
If the customer has to physically return the product and requires a return label, the merchant needs to Approve the claim on the Warranty RMA detail page and select the Add return label option.
Merchants can Generate return label with AfterShip Returns or Update label manually.
If Generate return label with AfterShip Returns is selected, AfterShip automatically applies your configured Warranty shipping rules to determine the carrier, service, and return location:
If the claim's return-from location matches a configured zone, the first matching conditional rule (by priority) in that zone is applied. If no conditional rule matches, the zone's Default rule is applied.
If the return-from location doesn't match any zone, the General shipping rule is applied, which always ships to your default warranty return location.
If you wish to change the carrier, service, or Ship to location before approving, click Edit:
Expand the Ship to section and open the Select address dropdown. This features all your return locations configured in Warranty shipping settings. Select the preferred location where the item will be shipped.
Expand the Carrier and package section and select Use a specific carrier. This dropdown features all your carrier accounts configured in Returns shipping.
This manual edit overrides the rule-based selection for this claim only. The option to edit shipping information is only available before approving the return request. Once the return request is approved without generating the return label, the label generated later will use your configured shipping rules with no option to edit shipping information.
Edit shipping information when label generation fails
Occasionally, return label generation fails due to incomplete or wrong shipping information.
An error message banner will appear on the RMA detail page notifying the merchant about the failure and prompting them to verify the shipping information.
The merchant has the option to Edit the shipping information directly on the Warranty detail page. This allows them to correct any inaccuracies that might have caused the failure and retry generating the return label.
FAQs
1. Which rule applies if a claim matches several rules?
Only one rule ever applies. AfterShip first finds the zone matching the customer's location, then applies the first conditional rule (by priority, top to bottom) whose conditions match. If none match, the zone's default rule applies. If the customer's location isn't in any zone, the General shipping rule applies.
What happens if the customer's country isn't in any zone?
The General shipping rule is used. This is why it always ships to your default return location.
Can I reorder rules?
Yes. Drag conditional rules up or down within a zone to change their priority. Higher rules are evaluated first.
Why can't I edit a rule?
You need at least one carrier and one return location configured first.
For any further questions or help, please contact our chat support team or reach out to us at [email protected].