High Publisher Refunds and Reserves from Book Returns

$10,000-$20,000 per month in delayed financial reconciliation; conservative estimate assuming 3-5 large library returns per month at average $4,000 impact each • $15,000-$30,000 per month during peak season (3-4 months); 20-25% net loss on $100k+ in school returns; + $3/unit destruction when books aren't resold • $15,000-$35,000 per 1,000-unit library order at 20-25% baseline loss; additional $3/unit destruction/processing fee when books are pulped instead of resold

Email threads with publishers; spreadsheet tracking of return shipments; manual phone calls to coordinate returns; paper packing slips; WhatsApp group messages between fulfillment specialist and library liaison; memory-based tracking of which titles were approved for return vs. credit • Fulfillment Specialist maintains return lists in shared Google Drive; school administrator communicates returns via email; manual tracking of who authorized what return; phone follow-ups to confirm shipment status; PDF invoices cross-referenced manually with credit memos; waiting weeks for publisher to issue credit note • Inventory Manager tracks corporate returns in separate Excel tab; no automatic link to which royalty period the original sale fell under; manual lookback to find corresponding author advance recoupment