The quote sheet said $3.15 per unit — landed, packaged, ready to sell. On paper, that is a 68% gross margin at a $9.99 retail price, the kind of number that gets a buyer promoted. Eight weeks after launch, the same SKU is generating a 23% return rate, a growing pile of one-star reviews that all say “dead after three days,” and a formal request from a national market surveillance authority asking for the technical file. The margin never existed. It was borrowed, and the interest came due in the returns department.
