In the process of Amazon sellers choosing to do FBA, in addition to problems such as operation and product selection, refunds and returns in peak season logistics are also a problem that many sellers need to face. When encountering buyers returning goods, sellers do not need to panic, and should actively handle it according to the specific situation to reduce their own losses.
1. The buyer has not received the goods
When the buyer initiates a return, he has not received the goods. If the goods have not been sent by the freight forwarder, the seller can try to intercept the goods and then refund the buyer in full.
If the goods have been sent and cannot be intercepted, the seller can negotiate with the buyer and explain to the buyer that the goods have been sent. The buyer is expected to see if he likes it after receiving the goods before deciding whether to return it. At this time, if the buyer insists on returning the goods, the seller can negotiate with the buyer based on the cost of his own goods to only refund part of the payment, and give the goods to the buyer, so as to reduce the seller’s own losses.
If the buyer does not agree to return the goods but only refund part of the payment, the seller can refund the full amount to the buyer based on the value of the goods. If the value of the goods is not high, the seller can directly send the goods to the buyer and ask the buyer to leave a good review; if the value of the goods is high, the seller can handle it according to the normal return procedure.
2. Goods returned to FBA
For return issues caused by FBA, the goods will be returned to the FBA warehouse and FBA will do the follow-up processing.
Amazon evaluates the returned goods to determine whether the goods are “saleable”. If the status of the evaluated goods is sellable, the goods will be put back into the seller’s own sellable inventory; if the status of the evaluated returned goods is “unsaleable”, the goods have been damaged or defective, and the Amazon platform will evaluate the cause of the damage to the goods based on the actual situation, and use this to judge whether the seller meets the compensation requirements.
Once the returned goods do not match or are in a different condition from the initially released goods, the goods will be judged as “unsaleable”, including goods that are defective, damaged, lack required labels, are prohibited goods, or are otherwise unsuitable for sale, as well as dangerous goods that may pose a threat to the health and life safety of personnel in Amazon’s operations center.
For returned goods that are judged to be “unsaleable”, the Amazon platform will require sellers to hand over the goods to the removal order within 30 days after the returned goods arrive at the Amazon operations center. Sellers can also choose to dispose of these unsaleable stocks.
If the goods have safety hazards, health hazards or liability risks, the seller needs to dispose of them. Returned goods that need to be disposed of immediately include inventory that is regulated as dangerous goods, broken glass, opened personal care and health products, consumer goods, goods with a shelf life, bedding, and maternal and child products.
3. Amazon’s compensation to sellers after buyers return goods
For goods stored in FBA, if they are lost or damaged during Amazon’s management, Amazon will pay the seller relevant compensation for the refund generated by the logistics order; if the amount of compensation for the goods cannot be calculated in detail, Amazon will generally use the default compensation of specific categories to compensate the seller.
If the seller has refunded the relevant payment to the buyer, but the returned goods are not returned to the Amazon operation center in time within 45 days after the refund, in this case Amazon will charge the buyer relevant fees to compensate the seller; if the buyer successfully returns the goods to the Amazon operation center within the prescribed 45 days, Amazon evaluates the goods as saleable, the goods will be put back into the seller’s inventory, and Amazon will not make any compensation; if the return is unsaleable and the attributable party is Amazon, Amazon will provide compensation to the seller, but will not add the goods back to the seller’s inventory. However, Amazon will not pay any compensation to the seller for any refunds issued directly to the buyer.