Will Amazon start charging a "return processing fee" on June 1? Basically, it is calculated in a similar way to disposal and recall fees, with tiered pricing starting at $1.78.

First, provide some basic information. In the store backend, search for "return processing fee" on the top help page or search for "Returns processing fee" on the English interface to find detailed help information. Sellers can check and verify it by themselves.
 
To sum up, the key points are:

1. For clothing and shoes and hats categories, a return processing fee is charged for each return, which started as early as February 5. Sellers in this category should have been sad a long time ago.
   

2. For other categories, the return processing fee is only charged for the returns with a return rate above a given threshold, not all returns.
   

3. Return handling fee by weight and volume
   The calculation is basically similar to the disposal and recall fee calculation method, with tiered pricing starting at $1.78.

   
   

I was originally indifferent to this news. What can I do if I know it or not? I can only lie down and accept it. I can't refuse it. Moreover, for sellers, this fee can be completely avoided. It seems easy to say. Just try to reduce the return rate to below the threshold level. Looking back, Amazon uses punitive fees to force sellers to improve user experience and cut a small cut at the same time. This formula is so familiar and it doesn't seem strange at all.
 
The return rate of the categories I work in is neither high nor low, and it has been fluctuating around the threshold all year round, so it seems that I can't make much profit. I have been insisting on lowering the return rate, and I have done almost everything I can. Now that Amazon has whipped me again, I can't make any more efforts.

But recently, when I was chatting over tea, I heard a few bosses approach me mysteriously and asked, "Hey, have you heard that they will charge a return processing fee?" Their eyes seemed to have changed, and they were much more serious than when discussing the time for warehousing configuration. Instead, I lost confidence. Am I too slow? It shouldn't seem like a small matter, but it will be painful to deduct money.

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Anonymous user

Agree with: Little Horse Wants to Cross the River, Liuyao, JINICHI, Wuhu Takes Off, It's Sunny Again Today More»

The high return rate is mainly determined by the platform's return policy. After rounds of survival of the fittest, most of the products sold by sellers will not have obvious quality defects, so the room for optimization is actually very limited. Whether it is standard products or non-standard products, I have never heard of any mature sellers who have reduced the return rate qualitatively after optimization. They have come up with this or that tool for sellers to use and say that sellers can find the reasons to reduce the return rate. This is just scratching the surface.

Most of the return rates are due to subjective reasons of buyers because the platform's return policy is too convenient (including the fact that because of the convenient return policy, no matter how well the listing details page displays the points that buyers want to pay attention to, buyers are just too lazy to look at them). Therefore, this is nothing more than the platform cutting leeks, letting sellers share the cost of the buyer experience promised by the platform, and making the platform's financial statements look good. If the platform really wants to reduce the return rate, please adjust the return policy rules. Otherwise, it will always be a false proposition of cutting leeks, so don't always put up such a memorial.

Calm Office Worker • United States • 2024-05-17 10:20

Indeed, every time I see that the reasons for return are mentioned in the five points of the main picture, I feel helpless. Hahaha

Anonymous user

Agree with: Mujuanxishanyu, Xiaocaicaicai, Yigedabuliu, Changshan Xiaofeilong, GloriaLopez more »

Amazon just wants to collect more money. It is nonsense to say that it is doing this to reduce the return rate. It is meaningless to compare the return rates of major categories, and the return rates of products in different price ranges and with different positioning vary greatly. The average value has no reference value, and the threshold is basically set at the limit, which means that your average return rate is this, but it is impossible for you to have a constant average return rate every month. There are always a few months with high return rates.

In short, you have to pay this little money. Don't ask, it's just to help you improve the quality of your products. The problem is, isn't this funny? We sellers don't know how to reduce the return rate, right? We are stupid and don't know how to use the money we have. We don't know how much our profits can be increased if we can solve the return rate. Don't ask, I collect money from you and you have to thank me for helping you improve the quality of your products.

Hayakawa Hayakawa Aki

It is true that I don’t feel anything because clothing has always charged return processing fees. When I saw the news, I felt nothing. Reducing the return rate itself is something worth optimizing in the long term. Moreover, a large part of clothing is seasonal products. There is a huge difference in traffic before and after the off-season and peak season, which will also lead to a high return rate and a decrease in the profit margin of that month.

Reduce return rate:
1. Improve the quality of the link itself - true description close to the product - with pictures and text
2. Improve conversion - high denominator and low numerator
3. Increase organic traffic - low TACOS - low overall traffic

Anonymous user

Agree from: rainco, Changshan Xiaofeilong, ZGYjuaner123, lunanolan, Piaoba

Of course, any normal boss would react strongly. The return processing fee is much more than the warehousing configuration fee. It's not just a little bit, it's several times. A return processing fee of four or five US dollars is almost equivalent to the FBA delivery fee, and major competitors have not raised prices. A few points of profit will be deducted here. Tell me, as a boss, how can you not feel the pain?

bemorelikewater • Shenzhen • 2024-05-17 15:39

No, only the excess amount will be charged, not all returns.

lunanolan • Huizhou • 2024-05-17 17:05

@bemorelikewater: But the fee is several times higher than the storage configuration fee. So, it may be more expensive than the storage configuration fee.

Anonymous user

If the return processing fee exceeds the threshold, is it charged for the entire store, a single link, or a single ASIN? How is the overall return rate of multi-variant links calculated if it exceeds the threshold? The return processing fee for different size variants may be different.

Anonymous user • Guangzhou • 2024-05-18 11:40

Amazon has opened a page that shows the return rate of store products. For details, please check the help document, which will guide you to the return rate page; or you can directly find FBA Returns under the FBA Inventory page in the background. This page has detailed return rate statistics for each ASIN. According to the official explanation, the data on this page shall prevail.

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What they are actually afraid of is the high return rate label displayed at the front desk.

Hexagon Warrior 0208 • United States • 2024-05-17 11:12

I even opened a case to ask customer service, and they said that the high return rate label has no effect on conversion rate. And they don’t know what the return rate must be to have a return rate label… I’m really confused.

yizhiliangzhi123 • Shenzhen • 2024-05-17 15:29

@六角形勇士0208: How can it not have an impact? As a buyer, I have to think carefully before buying, not to mention the customer. Because the customer service doesn't know anything.

WeAreFamilys • Xiamen • 2024-05-17 17:56

@六角形勇士0208: Among all products with a return rate higher than the category average, the bottom 25% of products will be labeled "high return rate". This means that not all products with a return rate higher than the average will be labeled, but only those with a particularly high return rate.