Choose the receiving setup, including an antwoordnummer
PostNL offers an antwoordnummer return arrangement. Treat it as an account-based receiving setup to confirm with the merchant, rather than substituting an ordinary warehouse address. Put the authorised receiving details, account holder and label issuer into the operating brief. For a Dutch hub receiving goods from abroad, assess the customer’s actual origin separately. A local Dutch hand-in process should not become the default instruction for every overseas customer. Match the transport reference to the expected order before anything is sent.
Make the customer’s printing task unambiguous
DPD’s digital return process allows its Parcel Point to print the customer’s QR label. Build the customer message around the option actually issued. State what must be packed, which code is the transport code, and which point or booked collection should be used. If a portal first approves the request, follow that approval with the usable hand-in instructions. For a replacement label, preserve the RMA link and tell the customer which reference supersedes the earlier one.
Design reconciliation around the available delivery events
PostNL warns that antwoordnummer returns may lack an individual delivery scan because they are delivered in bulk. Agree the alternative receipt check before launch: customer hand-in evidence, tracking reference, receiving batch and physical parcel identification. Avoid promising a per-parcel event that the chosen setup does not provide. At the hub, distinguish a received carton from a reconciled item list. Unmatched references and partial arrivals should stay identifiable until the merchant supplies a decision or missing information.
Products for returns from Netherlands
These products document the customer’s return origin. The receiving country, merchant account and exact hand-in method must also fit the route. Network coverage alone does not confirm a bookable return.
Shop Return / Collection request
- Receiving destination
- Netherlands
- Documented methods
- Drop-off point · Home / mailbox collection · No home printer · Returns portal
Internationale retouren
- Receiving destination
- Netherlands
- Documented methods
- Drop-off point · Locker / self-service · No home printer · Returns portal
DHL Retoure / Retoure International
- Receiving destination
- Germany
- Documented methods
- Drop-off point · Returns portal
ShopReturnService
- Receiving destination
- Confirm for the route
- Documented methods
- Drop-off point
PostNord Return
- Receiving destination
- Confirm for the route
- Documented methods
- Drop-off point
Before you issue labels
- Confirm the receiving arrangement and postcode, including any authorised antwoordnummer details.
- State who issues the label/code and which hand-in or collection instructions apply.
- Agree how bulk arrival, individual parcels and order references will be reconciled.
- Set the receiving report, inspection brief and authority for the next stock movement.
Local return questions
Is an antwoordnummer enough to choose a warehouse?
Agree the merchant’s authorised receiving setup first. Record which location will physically receive the goods and how references reach its team. A customer-facing return identifier should not be used as a substitute for the warehouse handover instructions.
Can a DPD QR code be used at any locker?
Follow the channel named in the actual return instructions. Before moving to an automated point or collection, confirm the preparation required for that option rather than transferring the shop instruction unchanged.
Does a missing delivery event prove a parcel is lost?
First check the label and receiving arrangement used. Compare available carrier events with the expected receiving batch, the merchant’s references and physical arrival records. Ask the responsible party to investigate a specific mismatch; do not infer item receipt or loss from one absent status alone.
Official material behind this guide
- PostNL: Grip op je retourenReviewed · October 30, 2026
- PostNL: Alles over je pakket retour sturenReviewed · October 30, 2026
- DPD Netherlands: Return shipmentReviewed · October 30, 2026
- PostNL: Retouropties met een antwoordnummerReviewed · October 30, 2026