Your remote workforce is growing. Your equipment retrieval process is not. Here’s how companies are solving the “please return your laptop” problem—and which solutions actually work.
A recent thread in r/ITManagers captures a challenge that’s becoming increasingly common: a company planning to hire more remote workers, an IT manager tasked with figuring out asset retrieval, and a lot of uncertainty about what actually works.
The OP’s situation is familiar: half their team is in-house (easy—laptops ship to the office), but they’re expanding remote hiring and suddenly “it’s a huge shipping and tracking mess.”
Sound familiar?
At Rayda, we handle device retrieval for companies across 170+ countries, so we’ve seen every approach—the ones that work, the ones that don’t, and the ones that work until you have employees in Brazil. Let’s break down the options.
Table of Contents
WThe Core Question: What’s Actually Worth Retrieving?
Before you solve the retrieval problem, you need to answer a more fundamental question: what do you actually want back?
The consensus from IT managers is surprisingly consistent:
Always retrieve:
- Laptops (obvious—highest value, biggest security risk)
- Chargers and docks (useless without the laptop anyway)
- Company phones (if issued)
Usually write off:
- Monitors (expensive to ship, easily damaged, cheap to replace)
- Keyboards and mice (nobody wants your former employee’s crusty keyboard)
- Headsets (same hygiene concerns)
- Cables and adapters (not worth the postage)
One IT manager running a 1,300+ person remote workforce put it bluntly: “We only require laptops to be returned. They can use the code for peripherals if they choose.”
Another managing 850 remote employees: “Just give up on monitors. It’s more efficient to just let them have them than it is to try and get those shipped back… I get new 24″ from Dell for $110 and we’ve just about written this cost off.”
The math is simple: if it costs $40 to ship a $110 monitor that might arrive broken because the employee packed it wrong, you’ve lost money on retrieval.
Decision framework:
- Device value > $200 and low damage risk → Retrieve
- Device value < $100 or high damage risk → Write off
- Device has security implications → Always retrieve regardless of value
The DIY Approach: Prepaid Boxes and Shipping Labels
The most common approach for US-based companies is straightforward:
- Send a prepaid shipping box with return label
- Include a checklist of what needs to be returned
- Give clear instructions (nearest FedEx/UPS location)
- Follow up if not returned within X days
- Escalate to HR if needed
How companies execute this:
FedEx Pack & Ship: Multiple IT managers recommend having employees drop off equipment at FedEx and letting FedEx handle the packing. One noted: “We had FedEx pack it up and ship it back to us on the company account. The employee didn’t have to worry about locating shipping materials or getting reimbursed for any shipping costs, and we didn’t have to worry about whether the employee would pack things up correctly.”
UPS with QR Codes: Similar approach—generate a QR code, employee shows up at UPS, drops off equipment. No printing labels, no finding boxes.
Prepaid Boxes via Amazon: Some companies ship laptop boxes from Amazon with prepaid return labels already inside. When offboarding happens, the employee just uses what they received originally.
The pros:
- Low cost per retrieval (just shipping fees)
- Works well for US-based employees
- Simple to set up
The cons:
- Requires employee cooperation (and motivation)
- Tracking is manual and messy
- Return rates hover around 70-85%
- International shipping is a nightmare
- You’re still managing the whole process
The Real Return Rate Problem
Let’s talk numbers that most companies don’t want to admit.
One IT manager with 850 remote employees shared: “We do everything we can short of legal proceedings to recover stuff but we still lose about 15%/year.”
A warehousing service user reported: “The return rate is greater than 70%.”
That means 15-30% of equipment just… doesn’t come back. Ever.
Why employees don’t return equipment:
- Friction – They have to find a box, pack it, drive to a shipping location, wait in line
- No consequences – Most companies can’t/won’t pursue legal action over a laptop
- Confusion – Unclear instructions, lost labels, wrong address
- Delay – They meant to do it, then forgot, then it became awkward
- Intentional – Some people just keep the laptop (less common than you’d think)
What actually improves return rates:
- Make it stupid easy – QR codes beat printed labels. Pickup beats drop-off.
- Follow up quickly – The longer you wait, the less likely they’ll return it
- Lock the device – MDM lock creates urgency. Suddenly that laptop they were “going to return tomorrow” becomes useless.
- Set expectations upfront – Include return requirements in hiring paperwork
- Escalate to HR – Having HR send the follow-up emails carries more weight than IT
Third-Party Retrieval Services
Several vendors now specialize in the “get the laptop back” problem. Here’s what’s mentioned most in IT circles:
Allwhere
The platform the original poster ended up choosing. They handle device procurement and retrieval in one platform. Pricing is à la carte (no contracts). Popular with mid-size companies looking for a full lifecycle solution.
Retriever / HelloRetriever
Focused specifically on asset returns. They send prepaid boxes and handle logistics. One IT manager noted they use them upon termination: “Send users a prepaid laptop shipping box… through HelloRetriever.com.” Pricing around $100 per retrieval.
Revivn
Similar to Retriever—handles return logistics and can integrate with HRIS/IdP to trigger automatically upon termination. Also around $100 per retrieval.
ReadyCloud Asset Returns
Generates QR codes for employees, tracks returns through a portal, sends automatic reminders. Integrates with UPS for packing and shipping.
Warehousing Services
Some companies use third-party warehouses that handle both deployment and returns. Laptops go out from the warehouse, come back to the warehouse, get wiped/reset, and go back out to the next employee.
The pros of third-party services:
- Higher return rates (automation + follow-up)
- Less IT staff time
- Professional tracking and reporting
- Can integrate with HRIS for automatic triggering
The cons:
- Cost adds up ($75-150 per retrieval)
- Most are US-focused
- International capabilities vary wildly
- You’re adding another vendor to manage
The International Problem
Here’s where things get complicated.
All those nice solutions—prepaid FedEx boxes, UPS QR codes, $100 retrieval services—they assume your employees are in the United States.
What happens when your developer in São Paulo leaves the company?
One commenter noted: “For remote positions local laws can apply, a basic example but we can not ship laptops to India, they need to be locally purchased.”
If you can’t ship laptops TO India, you definitely can’t ship them FROM India without navigating export paperwork, customs, and costs that exceed the laptop’s value.
The international retrieval reality:
- US/Canada: Prepaid shipping works fine
- Western Europe: Mostly works, some customs friction with UK post-Brexit
- India: Legally complex, often requires local resale or destruction
- Latin America: Customs going both directions is painful (see: every Brazil story ever)
- Africa: Limited carrier support, unreliable logistics infrastructure
- Southeast Asia: Varies wildly by country
Most US-centric retrieval services simply don’t operate internationally. They’ll handle your employees in Texas and California, but your team member in the Philippines? That’s on you.
The Full-Lifecycle Approach
Here’s what the most sophisticated IT teams are doing: they’re not treating deployment and retrieval as separate problems.
The fragmented approach:
- Buy laptops from Dell
- Ship via FedEx
- Track in a spreadsheet
- Retrieve via a separate service
- Store… somewhere
- Redeploy by starting over
The integrated approach:
- Single platform handles procurement
- Devices deploy from local inventory (faster, no customs)
- Tracking is automatic from day one
- Retrieval triggers automatically from HRIS
- Devices return to local warehouse
- Wiped devices redeploy to next hire in the same region
The second approach has better return rates because the retrieval process is designed into the system from the beginning—not bolted on as an afterthought.
It also solves the international problem because devices stay in-region. Your laptop in Colombia was sourced in Colombia, deploys to your Colombian employee, gets retrieved locally when they leave, and redeploys to your next Colombian hire. No cross-border shipping at all.
What This Looks Like With Rayda
Full transparency: Rayda offers exactly this kind of full-lifecycle solution, and we’re particularly strong in the markets where other solutions struggle.
How retrieval works with Rayda:
- Automatic trigger – When offboarding happens in your HRIS, we’re notified
- Local pickup – We arrange collection from the employee’s location (not a drop-off they have to make time for)
- Professional handling – Device is securely transported to our local facility
- Wipe and inspect – We handle data destruction and assess device condition
- Redeploy or retire – Device goes back into your available inventory or gets recycled
Where we’re different:
We operate across 170+ countries with actual local presence—not just carrier partnerships. That means we can retrieve equipment in:
- Brazil (yes, really)
- Argentina
- Colombia
- Nigeria
- Kenya
- Philippines
- India
- And 160+ other countries
When your employee in Lagos leaves the company, we don’t tell you to “figure out international shipping.” We send someone to pick up the laptop.
Quick Comparison: Your Options
| Approach | Best For | Cost | US Return Rate | International? |
| DIY (prepaid boxes) | Small teams, US-only | Low (~$20-40/return) | 70-85% | ❌ Painful |
| Retrieval service (Retriever, etc.) | Mid-size, US-focused | Medium (~$100/return) | 85-90% | ⚠️ Limited |
| Full-lifecycle (Rayda, Allwhere) | Growing, distributed teams | Varies | 90%+ | ✅ Yes |
What to Ask Any Vendor
If you’re evaluating retrieval solutions, here are the questions that matter:
Coverage:
- Which countries do you actually operate in? (Not “ship to”—operate in)
- What’s your process for [specific country where you have employees]?
- Do you have local presence or just carrier partnerships?
Process:
- Is retrieval pickup or drop-off? (Pickup = higher return rates)
- How do you integrate with our HRIS/MDM?
- What’s the timeline from termination to device in hand?
Cost:
- What’s the per-retrieval cost?
- Are there minimums or contracts?
- What’s included vs. additional fees?
Tracking:
- Can we see real-time status of all retrievals?
- What reporting do you provide?
- How do you handle non-responsive employees?
Redeployment:
- What happens to retrieved devices?
- Can they be wiped and redeployed?
- Do you offer local storage/warehousing?
The Bottom Line
Remote asset retrieval isn’t a solved problem—but it’s a solvable one.
If you’re US-only and small: DIY with prepaid boxes and FedEx/UPS can work. Budget 15-30% loss rate and make peace with it.
If you’re US-only and growing: Services like Retriever or Allwhere can improve return rates and reduce IT workload. Cost is ~$100 per retrieval.
If you’re international: You need a partner with actual local operations, not just “we can ship there.” This is where most solutions fall short.
At Rayda, we handle the entire device lifecycle—procurement, deployment, tracking, retrieval, and redeployment—across 170+ countries. If your remote workforce spans multiple continents, especially in regions like Latin America, Africa, or Southeast Asia, we’re built for exactly that.
Book a demo and we’ll show you how retrieval works in whatever countries you’re operating in.
Scaling remote hiring this year? Let’s talk about making equipment retrieval one less thing you have to figure out.
