Manage returns
To ensure a consistent experience for buyers, you must match or exceed Amazon's return policies.
For more information about Fashion Items, go to About Free Returns on Fashion Items.
Return process
Step 1: Return authorisation
To ensure operational efficiency and a consistent customer experience, Amazon will automatically authorise in-policy return requests on your behalf. To identify automatically authorised return requests via the ‘Auto-authorised’ flag, go to Orders on Seller Central and select Manage Returns.
Any return requests that do not meet Amazon’s Return Policy will not receive an automated return authorisation. Note that several categories and subcategories are exempt from automatic return authorisations and that return requests of such items will be sent to you for manual review. This includes:
- Handmade
- Amazon Custom
- Hazardous goods
- Product categories Grocery and Wine
- Product categories Video, Video Games, Software and DVD
- Product subcategories ‘Flowers & Bouquets’ and ‘Fresh Cut Flowers’
- Hygienic items from product categories Baby, Beauty, Health & Personal Care, Personal Care Appliances
Make sure that you respond to pending return requests within 24 hours. For more information on how to manually review and process such return requests, go to Process Return Requests.
To monitor returns, go to Manage Returns or download a Return Report. To download a return report, go toOrders > Manage Returns > View reports. Additionally, Amazon will send you an email when a buyer creates a return request.
Step 2: Return shipping labels
When a return request is approved, Amazon sends a return shipping label to the buyer with your UK default return address. In case sellers have a UK default return address, this return label will be prepaid. All return requests that fall outside of Amazon return policy or are exempt will require manual review and authorisation, where you can provide the buyer a merchant pre-paid return label by uploading a custom pre-paid label. For more information on uploading custom labels, go to Upload a pre-paid return label and Pre-paid return label requirements.
Return labels displays your return address. Make sure it is up to date. To update your default return address, go to Set your default return address.
Step 3: Issuing a refund
You must issue a refund to the buyer within two working days of receiving a return.
For more information on how to refund orders, go to Refund orders. We encourage you to wait until you receive a returned item before issuing a refund so that you can evaluate its condition. If you would like to issue a concession in addition to or instead of refunding order amounts, go to Issuing concessions.
International returns
If you are located outside the country you are selling in, you must do one of the following:
- Provide buyers with a merchant pre-paid return label, where you are responsible for the return shipping cost. This cannot be deducted from the buyer’s refund or
- Offer a refund without requesting return. To reduce manual effort, you can automate Returnless Refunds. For more details, go to Returnless refunds or
- Provide buyers with a UK return address. For example, if your listing is on Amazon.co.uk, the return address must be within the United Kingdom. If you want to provide a UK return address but are located outside the UK, our international returns provider on Solution Provider Network will help.
Prepaid return label programme for Seller Fulfilled orders
Amazon Prepaid Return Label feature is enabled for all selling partners with a UK default return address. This means that all buyer initiated returns requested via Online Return Centre (ORC) that fall within the scope of the Amazon Return policy will be automatically authorised and will have a tracked Prepaid Return label issued via Buy Shipping Services, provided there is coverage by any of the third-party shipping service providers that support returns through Buy Shipping Services. Currently, Hermes and Royal Mail are the integrated third party carriers that support APRL returns within UK. By using Buy Shipping services through APRL, you agree to the service providers’ terms and conditions, in addition to Amazon’s Buy Shipping Services terms and conditions:
The carrier rates for customer returns pre-negotiated for this service by Amazon are available on Shipping costs for seller fulfilled returns.
The requirement to issue a refund within two working days of receipt of a return remains unchanged. For more information, go to Manage refunds. For a full list of customer-fault and seller-fault reason codes, go to Return Reason codes for Prepaid Returns.
All customer return requests that fall outside the scope of the Amazon Return policy or are exempt from this feature will be sent to you for manual review and authorisation.
To learn more about the feature, go to Prepaid returns for seller-fulfilled orders.
Cancelled returns
If a buyer contacts you directly to cancel a return request, ask them to cancel it through their Amazon account. You will get an email when buyers cancel pending requests.
Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) orders
Amazon manages returns and refunds of orders delivered through FBA. To learn how Amazon manages returns, go to FBA customer returns policy.
