Returns & Refund Policy
You may return any lot within 30 calendar days of delivery or pickup for a refund of the lot price. You pay the return shipping, and there is no restocking fee. If the problem is ours or the carrier’s, we pay the return shipping too.
This policy is part of our Terms of Service. “We”, “us” and “our” mean Direct Pallet Outlet, 7402 Reindeer Trail, San Antonio, TX 78238.
1Summary
| Topic | Our policy |
|---|---|
| Return window | 30 calendar days from delivery or pickup, for any reason |
| Condition for a return | The complete lot, in the condition you received it, with a Return Authorization from us, shipped within 14 calendar days of the authorization. You may unwrap pallets and open cartons to inspect the lot |
| Restocking fee | None, ever |
| Refund on a 30-day return | full refund of the lot price, less return shipping unless it’s an Eligible Claim |
| Return shipping on a 30-day return | Paid by you. We can book it at our carrier rate and deduct the actual cost from your refund, or you can ship it yourself or bring it back to our warehouse |
| Eligible Claims | Shipping damage, shortage, not as described, non-delivery. We pay the return shipping and refund in full, refund pro rata or send a replacement lot |
| Claim window | 7 calendar days from delivery or pickup. Non-delivery has no 7-day limit |
| How to start | Email sales@directpalletoutlet.com with your order number and, for a claim, photos, the delivery receipt and a description |
| Our response | Every request acknowledged within 2 business days. Claims decided within 5 business days of receiving complete information |
| Refund timing | Within 5 business days of approval. For a 30-day return, within 5 business days of the lot arriving back at our warehouse. For goods we ask back on an approved claim, within 5 business days of the carrier collecting them. Banks may take up to 10 more business days |
| Cancelling an order | Free until the shipping confirmation. For local pickup, free until the 7-day pickup window closes |
| Refused or undeliverable shipments | Lot price refunded less the carrier’s actual return charge. No restocking fee |
| Pickup orders cancelled after the pickup window | Lot price refunded less storage fees. No restocking fee |
| Exchanges | Not offered. Return the lot and place a new order, or ask for a replacement lot on an approved claim |
A business day is Monday to Friday, excluding U.S. federal holidays.
2The 30-day return policy
Liquidation lots are sold as-is, in bulk and untested, and no grade is a promise that any item works. Our 30-day return policy protects you anyway: if a lot is not what you need, for any reason, you may return it.
2.1 What you can return
Any lot, from any listing, bought at checkout or by quote, delivered to you or collected at our warehouse. You do not need to give a reason.
2.2 Conditions
- Within 30 calendar days. We must receive your return request within 30 calendar days of delivery or pickup. The window starts on the date shown on the signed delivery receipt, the carrier’s delivery scan, the pickup receipt or, if your own carrier collected the lot, the day we loaded it. If we delivered to your freight forwarder or to a port, it starts when the forwarder or port signed.
- Complete. The whole lot comes back: every pallet, carton and item you received. You may unwrap pallets and open cartons to inspect the lot. You may not keep, resell, list for sale, use or dispose of any part of it. A lot that has been broken up, mixed with other inventory or partly sold cannot be returned.
- Same condition. Items must be in the condition you received them. Items damaged, used or stripped for parts after delivery are deducted from the refund under section 5.
- Return Authorization. Do not send anything back without a Return Authorization (RA) number from us. We refuse returns that arrive without one.
- Shipped within 14 days. Ship the return, or hand it to the carrier we book, within 14 calendar days of the RA being issued.
- Packed for freight. Items go back on pallets, stacked and stretch-wrapped, with the RA number marked on each pallet. Parcel lots go back in a box, with the RA number on the label.
2.3 What a return costs you
Nothing except the return shipping. There is no restocking fee, no handling fee and no deduction for the free shipping on the original delivery. Section 4 explains the return shipping options and what each costs.
3How to return a lot
- Email us within 30 calendar days of delivery or pickup at sales@directpalletoutlet.com with your order number. You may tell us the reason, but you do not have to.
- We reply within 2 business days with your RA number, the return address, packing instructions and your return shipping options under section 4.
- Choose how to ship it. Tell us whether you want us to book the return, ship it yourself or bring it back. If we book it, we confirm the cost in writing before we book, and you may still choose another option.
- Pack and ship within 14 calendar days of the RA. Keep your carrier’s receipt or bill of lading.
- We inspect the return within 2 business days of its arrival and email you the result and, if anything is missing, the calculation under section 5.
- We refund within 5 business days of the lot arriving at our warehouse. Your bank may take up to 10 more business days to post it.
4Return shipping
Free shipping covers the delivery to you. On a 30-day return that is not an Eligible Claim, you pay to send the lot back. Choose one of three ways:
| Option | How it works | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| We book the return | We arrange pickup with our carrier at our negotiated rate, confirm the cost to you in writing, and deduct that exact amount from your refund | The carrier’s actual cost, with no markup |
| You ship it | You book any carrier you like and send the lot to our warehouse at 7402 Reindeer Trail, San Antonio, TX 78238, with the RA number on each pallet. Insure the shipment; loss or damage on the way back is between you and your carrier | |
| You bring it back | Book an appointment and deliver the lot to our San Antonio warehouse during business hours | Nothing |
On an Eligible Claim, we book and pay for the return freight, and nothing is deducted. Section 9 explains.
Returns from a U.S. territory or another country are at your cost, and duties and taxes you paid are not refunded.
5Inspection and refund amount
We count and inspect every return against the order and, on a manifested lot, against the manifest.
- Complete and in the condition delivered. We refund the full lot price and the sales tax.
- Units missing. We refund in proportion to what comes back. On a manifested lot, the deduction is the missing units’ share of the lot price, calculated by manifested unit count. On an unmanifested lot, it is the missing pallets’ or cartons’ share, by count. We email you the calculation before we refund.
- Damaged after delivery. Items damaged, used or stripped for parts after delivery are treated as missing.
- Not the same goods. A return that contains goods we did not sell you, or that is mostly missing, is refused and sent back to you at your cost, and no refund is due for it.
Every calculation uses the price you paid for the lot, never the estimated retail value. Sales tax is refunded in the same proportion as the lot price. No deduction is ever a restocking fee, and the deductions never exceed the lot price.
6Eligible Claims
When the problem is ours or the carrier’s, you do not have to use the 30-day return policy. You can file an Eligible Claim instead: we pay the return freight, and you choose between a refund and a replacement lot. The four Eligible Claims are below.
6.1 Shipping damage
The lot was damaged in transit on a shipment we arranged: crushed, collapsed, soaked or broken open.
- Damage you can see at delivery must be written on the delivery receipt before you sign.
- Damage you could not see until the pallet was unwrapped can still be claimed within the claim window. Send photos of the packaging and the damaged goods.
- Defects that items already had before shipping are part of the condition grade and are not shipping damage.
6.2 Shortage
- Missing pallets or cartons. You received fewer pallets or cartons than the delivery receipt lists. Write the shortage on the delivery receipt before you sign.
- Manifested lots. More than 5% of the manifested units are missing or are different items from those on the manifest. Send us your count against the manifest. When the difference is above 5%, we refund all of the affected units, not only those above 5%.
- Unmanifested lots. Only missing pallets or cartons can be claimed, because the lot has no item list.
6.3 Not as described
You received the wrong lot, or the lot as a whole does not match its listing.
- Wrong lot. You received a different lot from the one you ordered.
- Wrong category. The lot as a whole does not match the listed category. For example, you ordered electronics and received apparel.
- Wrong condition grade. More than half of the items are in a clearly lower grade than listed. If the listing named no grade, the lot was sold as Customer Returns. For example, a lot listed as New / Overstock is made up mostly of used or damaged items.
- Other listing statements. The lot as a whole does not match another specific statement in its listing, such as a stated date range or a statement that the items were tested.
- Photos. Photos are representative unless the listing states that they show the specific lot, so a difference from a photo alone is not a claim.
6.4 Non-delivery
A shipment we arranged is lost. That is the case when the carrier confirms the loss, or when the shipment has not been delivered or located within 10 business days after we open a trace.
Ask us to open a trace if tracking shows no movement for 5 business days, or if the order is more than 5 business days past the total delivery time in our Shipping Policy. The 7-day claim window does not apply to an order that never arrived.
7The claim window
You have 7 calendar days from delivery or pickup to report shipping damage, a shortage or a lot that is not as described. The window starts on the date shown on the signed delivery receipt, the carrier’s delivery scan or the pickup receipt. If we delivered to your freight forwarder or to a port, it starts when the forwarder or port signed. Non-delivery has no 7-day limit.
The claim window is shorter than the return window because carriers require concealed damage and shortages to be reported within 5 business days of delivery, and because the condition of a lot at delivery can only be confirmed soon after it arrives. If the claim window has closed, you can still return the lot under the 30-day return policy in section 2; you then pay the return shipping under section 4.
8How to file a claim
- Keep the lot together. Do not resell, list, throw away or mix any part of the lot with other inventory until the claim is settled. Keep the wrap, labels and packaging.
- Email us within the claim window at sales@directpalletoutlet.com. Include your order number; which Eligible Claim applies; photos of each pallet as it arrived, from all four sides, plus the labels and the problem itself; the signed delivery receipt or pickup receipt; for a manifested lot, your count against the manifest; and a short description of what happened.
- We acknowledge your claim within 2 business days. We may ask for more information, or ask to have the lot inspected by us or by the carrier.
- We decide within 5 business days of receiving complete information, and we tell you by email whether the claim is approved.
For shipments we arranged, we deal with the carrier. You do not need to file a claim with the carrier yourself. If a claim is not approved, you may still return the lot under the 30-day return policy, as long as the 30-day window has not closed.
9What you receive on an approved claim
| Situation | Remedy |
|---|---|
| Wrong lot, non-delivery, a lot that is a total loss, or a lot that as a whole is not as described | Full refund of the lot price, the sales tax and any shipping you paid on a quoted order |
| Part of the lot is damaged, missing or different from the manifest | Pro-rated refund for the affected part, and you keep the rest |
| You would rather have goods than money | A replacement lot, if a comparable one is available |
How a pro-rated refund is calculated
We divide the price you paid for the lot by the number of pallets, or by the number of manifested units, and multiply by the number affected. Where only part of an unmanifested pallet is damaged, the refund is the share of that pallet’s price that matches the damaged share of its contents, as your photos show. The calculation always uses the price you paid, never the estimated retail value. Sales tax is refunded in the same proportion as the lot price. Shipping on a quoted order is refunded in proportion only when entire pallets are missing or returned. Shipping within the 50 states was free, so there is nothing to refund for it.
No restocking fee. We never charge a restocking fee, on a claim or on any other refund.
Returning goods
We tell you whether we need the goods back.
- Do not send anything back without our written Return Authorization.
- If we need the goods back, we book the carrier within 5 business days of approving the claim, and we pay the return freight. Returns go to our warehouse at 7402 Reindeer Trail, San Antonio, TX 78238.
- Have the goods on their pallets, wrapped and ready for the carrier on the agreed day.
- The goods must be the same goods you received, in the condition you received them.
- If we do not need the goods back, we tell you in writing and you may keep or dispose of them.
10How refunds are paid
- Refunds go back by the method you paid with: card refunds to the card, and transfer or app refunds to the bank account or payment app the payment came from.
- When no goods come back to us, we issue the refund within 5 business days of approving it.
- On a 30-day return, we issue the refund within 5 business days of the lot arriving back at our warehouse.
- When we ask for goods back on an approved claim, we issue the refund within 5 business days of the carrier collecting them from you.
- Your bank or payment app may take up to 10 more business days to post the refund.
- If you have opened a payment dispute on the same order, we pause the refund until the payment provider decides, as our Payment Policy explains.
11Cancelling an order
- Before shipment. You may cancel free of charge at any time before we send the shipping confirmation. Email or call us with your order number. We refund you in full within 5 business days of the cancellation.
- Local pickup orders. You may cancel free of charge until the 7-day pickup window closes. After that, section 12 applies.
- After the shipping confirmation. An order that has been handed to the carrier cannot be cancelled. Once it is delivered, you may return it under the 30-day return policy in section 2. If you refuse the delivery instead, section 12 applies.
- If we are late. If we cannot ship within the handling time in our Shipping Policy, you may cancel for a full refund at any time before the order ships.
Cancellation by us. We may cancel an order, and we then refund you in full, when:
- The lot is no longer available or was damaged before it shipped
- The lot was listed at a wrong price because of an obvious error
- We cannot verify the payment or the order, or we reasonably suspect fraud, a breach of our Terms of Service or misuse of the site
- We cannot lawfully or physically ship the lot to your address
We may also cancel a pickup order that is still uncollected 21 calendar days after the ready notice. Section 12 sets the refund in that case.
12Refused, undeliverable and uncollected orders
This section applies when there is no Eligible Claim. There is no restocking fee in any of these cases. Refusing a delivery is still the most expensive way to return a lot, because a carrier’s return charge is usually higher than the return shipping we can book for you under section 4.
| Situation | Refund |
|---|---|
| You refuse a delivery for a reason that is not an Eligible Claim | Lot price, less the carrier’s actual return charge |
| The carrier sends a shipment back to us because it could not complete or schedule the delivery | Lot price, less the carrier’s actual return charge |
| A quoted shipment to a U.S. territory or another country is refused by customs, or abandoned because duties were not paid | If the lot comes back to us, the lot price less the carrier’s actual return charge. The shipping you paid and any duties are not refunded. If it does not come back, no refund |
| A pickup order is cancelled after the 7-day pickup window closes, by you at any time or by us once 21 calendar days have passed since the ready notice | Lot price, less the storage fees that have built up at $10 per pallet per day from day 8 |
These rules apply to every row:
- Sales tax is refunded in the same proportion as the lot price.
- The deductions never exceed the lot price.
- We issue the refund within 5 business days of the lot arriving back at our warehouse or, for a pickup order, of the cancellation.
If you refuse a delivery because of an Eligible Claim, such as the wrong lot or severe damage, nothing is deducted. Call us from the dock at (210) 268-5542 so we can confirm with the driver.
13Exchanges
We do not offer exchanges. Return the lot under section 2 and place a new order, or, on an approved claim, ask us for a replacement lot.
14What is not an Eligible Claim
These are part of buying liquidation merchandise and are not Eligible Claims. A lot with any of them can still be returned under the 30-day return policy in section 2.
- Individual items that do not work or are used, damaged, incomplete or missing accessories or packaging, in a lot graded Customer Returns or Salvage
- Isolated defective or damaged items in a lot of any grade. The grade describes the lot as a whole
- Worn, opened, stickered or relabeled packaging
- A manifest difference of 5% or less. Up to 5% of the manifested units may be missing or different from the manifest
- The mix of items, brands, sizes or models in an unmanifested lot
- A difference between the lot and a representative photo
- Short-dated or past-date items, unless the listing stated a date range
- Resale results, including any gap between estimated retail value and what items sell for, and marketplace restrictions on reselling
- A manufacturer’s refusal to honor a warranty
- Loss or damage in transit when you used your own carrier. That claim is against your carrier
- Damage, a shortage or a not-as-described problem reported after the claim window has closed
A lot that has been resold, listed for sale, thrown away or mixed with other inventory cannot be claimed or returned.
15Your legal rights
This policy does not limit any right you have under a law that cannot be waived by agreement. Our Warranty Policy explains the condition in which lots are sold.
16Contact us
Direct Pallet Outlet
Phone
Hours (Central)
Mon–Fri 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Sat 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday