Amazon tracks any returns you get and are always looking at the Order Defect Rate (ODR). A seller wants to have an ODR under 1% on their account health; this is vital for sellers. In historic retail, being under 1% on problems is virtually unheard of; it is an incredible demand on sellers.

Amazon sellers are incredible and tend to rise to the occasion.

Amazon has a 30 day return policy; sellers can alter this for any item they sell on their Amazon platform. Sellers should allow customers to return items for free because it helps to keep customers happy and minimizes negative feedback on your account.

Always practice good customer service.

Provide all customers with a prepaid label or a full refund, especially if they left negative feedback or a complaint. You want to show Amazon that you resolved any issue immediately; make it as friction free as possible. You want to give customers nothing to complain about, even if they bought, used and destroyed the product. The goal is to keep up your account health.

Essentially, you are always planning for your Plan of Action in advance. If you get suspended, you want to be able to show Amazon that you tried to keep the consumer happy.

You should never rely on Amazon’s warehouse staff to make decisions regarding your business.

If you are an FBA seller, we always encourage that you opt out of the Amazon repackaging service, which is located in “Settings” on Seller Central. This will prevent any returns for defective or broken items. The reason that this is so important is because when a consumer receives a product, opens it, uses it, and then sends it back, there is no one at Amazon’s warehouse who is going to make a good call for your business and say, ‘No, this should not go out to another consumer.’

Also, other sellers selling the same product may not have the same quality control as you do and their products can go out, get sent back to inventory and, because of Amazon’s commingling system, our seller can get dinged with a return from another seller. So, across the board, Amazon sellers should opt out of Commingling and Repackaging.

Sellers need to know this information in order to operate their business long term. If you have any questions about customer returns as a third party Amazon seller, call us for a FREE consultation at 1-877-9-SELLER or email us at CJ@AmazonSellersLawyer.com.