ABSTRACT Purpose of this paper The purpose of this paper is twofold, to explore what causes returns in distant selling through examining return reason codes and their distribution. Further to investigate, how and if Returns Management, especially return avoidance and gatekeeping can be applied to a mail order / e-commerce organisation. Design/methodology/approach A single organization case study, designed with both quantitative and qualitative strategies, was used to explore the relatively unobserved area of consumer returns. The results have been evaluated and discussed with different managers from the company under study, to substantiate authenticity and trustworthiness. Findings The paper presents interesting insight into the field of consumer returns in a distant setting. It shows that a considerable amount of returns are size and fit related as one might expect. However it also presents interesting results that a quite large percentage of returns are dependent on consumers i.e. not collecting deliveries etc. Research limitations/implications The presented study provides a starting-point for further research in the mail order/e-commerce business. Practical implications When deciding a strategy for how to handle the problems of returns it is of outmost importance to consider why customers are returning. The returns avoidance process is perhaps the most efficient and effective way of reducing return costs, understanding customer requirements are an important ingredient in this. What is original/value of paper Most studies within the field of returns focus on products or the efficient handling of returns. This study focuses on understanding what causes returns through examining order and returns data, especially return reason codes.