Amazon UK previously announced that from the 5th of September 2018 they would begin offering customers free returns on all purchases in the Jewellery, Watches and Luggage categories. This obviously has implications for merchants who trade in these categories.
Amazon has now informed sellers that the returns changes will go ahead for Jewellery and Watches but will be delayed until further notice for the Luggage category. Generally ‘delayed until further notice’ on Amazon means indefinitely and it’s now possible that the policy will never apply to luggage.
This means that if you sell Jewellery or Watches then Amazon will allow customers to return items for free but it also means that you may incur additional costs if you use FBA to manage your stock and process your orders.
FBA returns processing fees
From the 5th of September 2018, the FBA returns processing fee will be applied to customer returns in the Jewellery and Watches categories.
What customers will see
Amazon offers free returns on some items and will display a “Free returns” message next to the price to confirm that the item qualifies for free returns. Generally, free returns will apply when an item was sold or dispatched by Amazon and was originally delivered to an address in the UK and is being returned from within the UK.
Generally, Amazon does not offer free returns when an item is sold and dispatched by a third party seller on Amazon’s Marketplace platform. In this case, it will be down to the merchant to set their own returns policies. It is only when the item is fulfilled by Amazon through FBA that they will display and offer a free return to customers.!