Forced free returns? Amazon US releases announcement

Amazon US recently issued an announcement requiring self-delivery sellers to provide free return services for all self-delivery orders starting from October 28!

Previously, the European site had issued a similar policy, requiring sellers in the fashion category (including clothing, shoes, jewelry, watches, etc.) to provide free return services for self-delivery orders. However, the new policy of the US site has no requirements on categories and products, and directly requires sellers to bear the self-delivery return costs and provide buyers with free return services.

To encourage sellers to actively provide free return services, Amazon also has a free return logo on the product detail page and the online return center for the seller's products, so buyers can clearly see this service when browsing products.

Amazon also emphasized that if sellers purchase these products with free return services, Amazon will not charge customers for shipping costs regardless of the reason for the return, even if the refund is caused by the buyer. In the free return service, the system will provide buyers with a prepaid return label by default, and buyers can directly use the label to return the product, and the shipping cost will be automatically deducted from the seller's account.

There is a problem here. In fact, some categories can be automatically exempted from the prepaid return label policy. Although Amazon did not mention it in the free return announcement, these categories exempted from prepaid labels can theoretically also be exempted from this free refund. Including customized plan products, handicrafts, adult products, certified second-hand watches, etc. These categories are not large in size, and it can be said that more than 80% to 90% of sellers cannot be exempted.

This is no small matter. Requiring so many self-delivery sellers to provide free returns all at once is a policy that involves real money. Will Amazon really cut it down?

When we implemented mandatory free returns on the European site, we mentioned that this policy might be extended to the US site. However, the US site did not mention any category restrictions in its announcement. If it is a policy targeting all categories, the impact will still be relatively large. Some sellers are using self-delivery, low-profit methods, and customized products that cannot withstand a large number of returns and refunds.

In fact, there are traces of these categories requiring free returns on the European site. Amazon has been collecting a return processing fee, which is specifically for these categories. If the amount collected is the same as the shipping fee incurred during delivery, it is actually equivalent to the seller bearing the shipping fee, which is very similar to the mandatory free return policy, requiring the seller to bear the return costs. However, the return processing fee is for FBA products, while the mandatory free return is for self-delivered products. So from the content point of view, this announcement by the United States does not restrict product categories, and it is likely that it cannot be enforced, and the sellers are too resentful.

And judging from the content and wording of the announcement, it doesn’t seem like a mandatory measure. If there is no time node set, the wording of this announcement is more like a suggestion, telling everyone that free returns have many benefits and everyone should set them up. But the problem is that it is strange to have a time node, a suggestion should not have an effective time. So considering that Amazon has also set a time point for this policy, I suggest that everyone should not rush to take measures, and wait until the date to see how Amazon implements it, and then decide whether to transform or set up free returns.