Amazon’s new regulations: sellers need to pay for the return shipping fees of fashion products
Amazon announced that from October 26, 2021, sellers are prohibited from refunding after deducting the amount of consumer returns. That is to say, when buyers return fashion products, Amazon requires sellers to pay the return shipping fee.
The new regulations are limited to products under the fashion categories such as clothing, shoes, jewelry, watches and other self-delivered goods by the seller. Self-delivery sellers must provide consumers with at least no less than the return treatment that FBA sellers may provide. In addition, the new rules only For American consumers.
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Amazon said that it is using actions to give consumers feedback. The new return rules that will come into effect are to further improve the shopping experience of Amazon consumers, to be precise, the return experience. Fashion products, including apparel, have always been Amazon’s shortcomings. The big reason is that consumers do not pay for the return policy given by Amazon. Previously, fashion products that followed the FBA model have undergone drastic changes and become the vanguard of providing free return and exchange services. The self-delivery model also follows the trend, which has a lot to do with the coming of the peak season. There will be a large influx of orders during Black Friday, Internet One, and Christmas. Even if it is not Amazon’s “ace category”, Amazon also hopes to “come to the door” before the peak season, carry on with the past, and create new successes.
How will the new regulations be implemented?
Consumers need to apply through the online return center (ORC), and all return requests within the scope of Amazon’s return policy will be automatically approved. Consumers will receive a prepaid return label (US only) issued by Amazon’s Buy Shipping Services on behalf of the seller. Once the consumer ships the goods, Amazon will directly charge the return label from the seller’s account.
The current shipping costs for return labels can be found in ORC, which also includes information on international sellers who do not have a US address.
How will Amazon sellers be affected?
Amazon’s move is tantamount to increasing the cost burden of sellers. The peak season is approaching step by step. Sellers need to reassess the current listing return policy, product pricing and inventory within a limited time to ensure that all information about the product is uploaded. It is accurate and minimizes the probability of paying for consumers’ trial and error.
The return policy has become a key factor in determining whether consumers decide to buy. Amazon puts a package of trial and error costs on sellers in order to lock in more repeat customers and at the same time provide policy inclination for short-term fashion categories. For support, Amazon also said that bad listings that deliberately provide false information to compromise the customer experience will also be eliminated in the near future.
Amazon’s equal treatment of self-delivery sellers and FBA sellers has made the sense of crisis in the hearts of sellers intensified again. Many sellers have left messages on the forum and said that perhaps all this is just the beginning.