Return made by salesman on a shoestring (7)
I believe the answer is:
replace
'return' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'salesman on a shoestring' is the wordplay.
'salesman' becomes 'rep' (I've seen this before).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'a shoestring' becomes 'lace' (I've seen this before).
'rep'+'lace'='REPLACE'
'made by' is the link.
(Other definitions for replace that I've seen before include "Substitute for (someone)" , "Substitute, supplant" , "Put back in original position" , "Put back or substitute" , "Provide a substitute for" .)