METHOD AND APPARATUS CONFIRMING RETURN AND/OR PICK-UP OF VALUABLE ITEMS

An RFID tag associated with an item (e.g., by being affixed thereto) eligible for return to a supplier is scanned to obtain item identification information. Thereafter, a notification message indicating that the item is available for pick-up is transmitted, for example to a supplier of the item. The notification message may be transmitted as any or all of: a facsimile message, a telephone message, a pager message, a voice synthesized message, an e-mail message, or an electronic message. Preferably, the notification message is automatically transmitted by a computer system, and may include at least a portion of the item identification information. Upon receipt of the notification message, an account may be credited to reflect return of the item.