Do you know what Amazon seller return policy is? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.
If you’re a seller on Amazon, you want to ensure that you understand the platform’s return policy. According to Amazon, you need to match their policy, making it crucial you know what’s expected of you.
This article will go over what’s covered, claims on the policy, and more, so keep reading. You’ll learn exactly what’s expected of you as a seller, which is essential to running your business. Let’s get started!
What’s Covered in Amazon’s Seller Return Policy
First, you must know what’s in Amazon’s seller return policy. You don’t have to handle the customer returns yourself, as FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) takes care of it for you.
Sellers don’t have control over what they can accept for a return with this in place.
Most items are covered under the policy for 30 days. Although, Amazon does make some exceptions and accepts specific orders outside that time frame. When a return goes through, Amazon sends you an email informing you that the return was deducted from your seller’s account.
As an Amazon seller, you must adhere to the return policy strictly. Any item has a 30-day return period for the customer to initiate the process.
However, some beauty products, food, and piercing jewelry can’t be returned. Baby goods do have a longer return window of 90 days.
Overall, the Amazon seller return policy is the same as the standard return policy. Customers make claims through Amazon, but it’s still good for you to respond to them and do your best to correct the issues with the order.
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What Claims Can Customers Make
Customers can make a return claim on any item except the following:
- Grocery and food products
- Health and beauty items
- Open software
- Piercing jewelry that they used
- Gift cards (in most circumstances)
- Online subscriptions that they accessed
- Prepaid game cards
- PCs, laptops, and Kindles 30 days after delivery
- Any hazardous materials
- A product that doesn’t have a UPC or serial number
Customers can make return and refund claims on any item, not on that list. Those other goods fall under Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee, allowing them to assist customers with their returns from third-party sellers. However, the customer will need to reach out to you first and file a claim.
You’ll want to handle the claim as soon as possible since you don’t have much time to respond before Amazon handles it. Depending on what happened, this could have a negative impact on your seller account.
Third-Party Sellers With Their Own Return Policies
Some Amazon sellers will have their own return policies, although they can’t be very different from the FBA.
Amazon requires that you match their policy or take it even further, but you can’t do less than their basic requirements.
That means third-party sellers on the site need to acknowledge the 30-day return period, as well as the items that customers can make claims on.
Plus, returns go back to the address o your seller account, not to an Amazon warehouse, when you don’t use the FBA policy.
That said, you still don’t have to worry about giving the customers a return label, as Amazon will always do that for you. When Amazon receives a return that isn’t covered, or they’re unsure if you can accept it, they’ll send the return request to you.
If you receive an item damaged outside the 30-day return period, you can charge the customer a restocking fee to help with costs. Although, you can’t charge them if it’s in new condition or the customer returned it promptly.
Communicating With the Customer
Sometimes, items can get damaged in the mail or have defects from the factory. You must communicate with the customer when they reach out to you.
Amazon users need to reach out to third-party sellers before using the A-to-Z guarantee, allowing them to get a return or refund.
You receive messages from customers through the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service. You need to respond within two business days via email. Take the time to answer customer questions and discuss their options for a return or a refund.
Communication is essential for anyone running a business, including a third-party seller on Amazon. You’ll want to take the customer’s concerns seriously and assist wherever possible. In doing so, you’ll follow Amazon’s return policies with ease.
It also helps lessen the chance that the customer leaves negative feedback on your account when you talk with them.
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Checking the Reason for the Return
Of course, you’ll want to know why the customer returned the item to prevent this from happening again. You can follow these steps to check for yourself:
- Go to Seller Central on Amazon and log in
- Go to Reports, then to Fulfillment, then open Customer Concessions
- Open Returns
- Set the report to check back to the date the item was returned by the customer
- Read the reason given for the return in the report
If the reason for the return doesn’t show up, you’ll want to reach out to Seller Central and ask why the customer returned the order.
You should also open a ticket with Seller Central if the item doesn’t appear defective, but the customer reported it. You should especially do this if the item isn’t open.
That said, you should take responsibility as a seller if the item is actually defective. It’s rare for customers to abuse the return policy. Still, it can happen, so you should also review why they left for the returns.
Final Thoughts
To summarize, Amazon sellers are expected by the platform to follow their policy exactly when it comes to returns.
You can always go above and beyond with your seller policy, but you can’t do less than the site’s standard return policy.
That means accepting returns that arrive within 30-days for most items. Some items aren’t covered by the policy, so you’ll need to know what customers can make claims on.
Overall, it’s a good idea to communicate with your customers and correct issues with their orders whenever possible.
References
https://www.junglescout.com/blog/amazon-return-policy-for-sellers/
https://yoursellingguide.com/2022/02/10/amazon-fba-return-policy-fees/