Tools

Two minutes, two calculators, real numbers

Both tools use the published scheme rates rather than opinions. The calculator lets you adjust your own cost assumptions so the output reflects your store, not an average one.

Tool 1

Return point calculator

Uses the published handling fees. Costs are estimates you can adjust — change them to match your own supplier quotes.

Roughly 1–3% of in-scope drinks volume comes back. Start with a guess.

Return point type
Grant eligible?

£6,000 over three years. Applies to RVM installs only.

Adjust cost assumptions
£
£
£

Manual points only. Set to zero for an RVM.

Tool 2

Exemption checker

Based on your sales area and location type, this tells you which exemption route applies — if any.

Your retail footprint — shop floor plus customer areas, not the whole building.

Location type
Any of these apply?
Where these numbers come from

The handling fee rates — 3p for manual return points, 5p for the first 225,000 automatic returns and 1.3p above that — are the published scheme rates. The cost assumptions on the calculator (machine cost, space value, labour) are editable defaults, not scheme figures. Replace them with your own supplier quotes and the output becomes genuinely useful.

This is a planning model, not financial advice

It does not model VAT, producer fees passed through in trade terms, shrinkage, deposit float or the effect of returns on your wider footfall. Use it to compare options and sanity-check your assumptions — then validate properly before you sign anything.

Confirm with the official source

Exemption criteria and grant eligibility are approved by the scheme administrator, not by this tool. Always confirm your position with Exchange for Change before making a commitment.