Peer-to-Peer Eligibility
Peer-to-peer (P2P) eligibility is a per-product setting that controls whether a returning customer can choose the peer-to-peer option — shipping their item directly to the next buyer — when they start a return. This article explains what the setting controls, how eligibility is decided, and what to expect once an item is listed for peer-to-peer.
What Peer-to-Peer Eligibility Controls
Each product is either eligible or not eligible for peer-to-peer. The setting determines the options a customer sees when they return that product.
| Setting | What It Means |
| Eligible (Yes) | The customer can choose peer-to-peer when returning this product. If they opt in, they ship the item directly to the next buyer instead of back to your warehouse, and Cahoot offers them a cashback incentive to encourage the choice. |
| Not Eligible (No) | The customer cannot choose peer-to-peer. Every return of this product is handled as a standard return to your warehouse. |
Here's what the peer-to-peer option looks like to your customer in the returns portal. This offer only appears for products you've made eligible:
How Eligibility Is Decided
Peer-to-peer eligibility is configured per product. During onboarding, your onboarding specialist works with you to decide which products should be eligible — it isn't automatically applied to your entire catalog.
Things to consider when choosing eligible products:
- Not every product is a good fit. You may prefer that certain items — for example, final-sale, hygiene-sensitive, or brand-sensitive products — always return to your warehouse rather than being resold.
- High-return products are often the best candidates. Products that are returned frequently tend to resell quickly through peer-to-peer, which benefits both you and your customers (see the next section for why).
To change which products are eligible after you're live, contact your onboarding specialist or Submit Ticket.
What to Expect After an Item Is Listed for Peer-to-Peer
When a customer chooses peer-to-peer and the item is listed as Like New on your storefront, it stays listed until another shopper buys it. A few points about timing are worth understanding, since they influence which products make good peer-to-peer candidates.
Timing to be aware of:
- Hold time. The returning customer keeps the item until another shopper purchases the listing. Depending on demand for that product, this can take time.
- Unlisting. The resale listing can be removed at any time. Unlisting the item converts the pending peer-to-peer return into a standard return to your warehouse.
- Expiration. If no shopper buys the item within a set period, the return automatically falls back to a standard return to your warehouse — so the customer is never expected to hold the item indefinitely.
This is why high-return-volume products make the strongest peer-to-peer candidates: they tend to sell through quickly, so the Like New listing is purchased and matched to the return faster, and the returning customer holds the item for less time.
Related
Peer-to-peer eligibility controls whether a customer can opt into peer-to-peer. Which conditions are listed for resale, and at what discount, is governed separately by condition grades. See How Condition Grades Work.
Need Help?
For questions about peer-to-peer eligibility, Submit Ticket.