Quick answer. On Amazon, the buyer’s right to return is set by Amazon’s returns policy, not by your own terms. Amazon says most items can be returned within 30 days of the estimated delivery date, it automatically authorizes in-policy US return requests, and you cannot charge a restocking fee on an item returned in original condition within the return policy. You can charge up to 20% of the item price for a change-of-mind return outside the window, and up to 25%, 50% or 100% when the item comes back used, damaged, opened in certain media categories, empty or swapped, per Amazon’s published table. Items non-returnable by law and dangerous goods go through exemptions and manual review, not ignored requests. Miss the 48-hour response or the refund deadline and Amazon can grant an A-to-z claim against you, which counts toward your Order Defect Rate.

Most sellers learn the return rules the hard way. A buyer opens a return on a product the seller considered final sale, Amazon authorizes it before anyone looks, the item comes back worn, and the seller refunds half because that feels fair. A week later there is an A-to-z claim, a debit and a defect on the Account Health page. The seller applied store rules to a marketplace that runs on Amazon’s.

This article covers seller-fulfilled orders, where the seller makes the return decisions. Amazon processes Fulfillment by Amazon returns under its FBA policies.

This article is educational information, not legal advice. Consumer protection rules vary by state and product, so confirm any legal question with a qualified attorney.

Whose return policy applies on Amazon

Amazon’s help page on managing seller-fulfilled returns says selling partners must adhere to Amazon’s Return and Refund policies notwithstanding any individual terms they set in the Your Information and Policies section. If your profile says “no returns on opened items” and Amazon’s policy allows the return, Amazon’s policy wins.

The baseline window

Amazon says most items can be returned for a refund or replacement within 30 days of the estimated delivery date, and that the window varies by category. Amazon points sellers to the buyer-facing Amazon.com Returns Policy page for longer windows, so confirm your category there before you set expectations with a buyer.

Automatic and manual authorization

Amazon automatically authorizes US return requests that fall within the policy, including seller-fulfilled items exempt from prepaid returns, so most in-policy returns need no approval from you. Requests that are out of policy, or in a category exempt from automatic authorization such as some dangerous goods, come to you for manual authorization, and Amazon says you must respond within 24 hours.

After authorization

The buyer then has 15 days after the return window closes to send the item back. Once it arrives, you should refund within two business days of receipt. If you do not, Amazon may refund on your behalf and charge your account.

Which products Amazon treats as non-returnable or exempt

Amazon’s seller pages use narrower categories than “non-returnable”, and each one changes a different part of the return flow.

Non-returnable by law, and dangerous goods

Amazon’s prepaid returns page lists “items that are non-returnable by law and dangerous goods” among categories automatically exempt from prepaid return labels. The buyer-facing list of non-returnable products is on the Amazon.com Returns Policy page, linked from Amazon’s seller help, so check the current list there and not one copied from an old post. The exemption keeps these returns out of the standard label flow. It does not let you ignore a buyer who received a defective or wrong item, because the A-to-z Guarantee covers the condition of what you shipped whatever the product’s return status.

Exempt from prepaid labels

US sellers are enrolled automatically in prepaid returns for seller-fulfilled orders. Amazon exempts these categories from prepaid labels with no request needed. They are Handmade, certified preowned watches, non-physical items such as warranties, digital software and digital coupons, items non-returnable by law and dangerous goods, and extra-large or heavy items.

An exemption from prepaid labels is not an exemption from returns. Amazon still authorizes in-policy returns on exempt SKUs. The exemption changes who provides the label, not whether the buyer may return the product. For exempt SKUs you provide the label through Manage Seller Fulfilled Returns, and Amazon recommends that it include tracking.

Items that never get a prepaid label

Amazon’s page on ineligible items lists the cases where no prepaid label is issued for an auto-authorized return. The customer or the seller’s return address is outside the US, the package weighs more than 150 lb, exceeds 108 inches in length, or exceeds 165 inches in length plus girth (length plus 2 times width plus 2 times height), or the item is one of some dangerous goods. Within the contiguous 48 states, Amazon still issues labels for items containing lithium ion (UN3481) or metal (UN3091) batteries.

In these cases Amazon gives the buyer your address without postage and notifies you in Manage Seller Fulfilled Returns to complete a manual review. You contact the customer, coordinate the return and refund if appropriate, or issue your own prepaid label.

Related guide. Amazon Restricted Products.

If this is already affecting your Amazon account, our Amazon suspension team can review the notice and prepare the response with you.

How sellers set return attributes in Seller Central

Return behavior is controlled from a few settings. Most return problems we see trace back to one of them being set wrong, set years ago or never set.

Return address

Amazon requires a US domestic default return address for prepaid returns and allows multiple US addresses. Its prepaid returns page warns that if returns cannot be delivered because of an outdated or incorrect address you provided, the items will be deemed abandoned, Amazon may dispose of them and retain any proceeds, and continued use of a bad address may result in you no longer being able to sell on Amazon. This usually breaks during a warehouse move.

Weight and dimensions

Amazon calculates return shipping from the weight and size you maintain, and charges your account for the label once the buyer sends the product. Wrong dimensions overcharge you on every return or push a package into the no-label category without anyone noticing. If you opted into free returns or sell fashion items, you cannot deduct return shipping on in-policy returns.

Manage return templates

Under Return settings, Manage return templates holds SKU-level return attributes.

• Prepaid label exemption template. List SKUs, choose a reason code, save the Prepaid exemptions tab as a tab-delimited text file and upload it for the correct store. Amazon says changes take effect within a few hours, SKUs stay on default returns while a request is pending, and a rejected SKU remains subject to prepaid returns. A status report shows the result.
• Returnless resolution template. Add or remove SKUs from returnless resolutions with a reason code, uploaded the same way, with its own status report.

The upload fails if you save the wrong tab, and an item in the ineligible category gets no prepaid label whether the SKU is opted in or out.

Returnless resolution rules

The Resolutions tab in Return settings lets you create a named rule with a price range, and optionally product categories and return reasons. Amazon says a new rule applies to orders from that time forward, and orders placed while a rule was active keep it even after you edit or delete the rule.

When restocking fees are allowed, and how much

Amazon’s guidelines for restocking fees are short and often misread. You may not charge a restocking fee on items returned in original condition and within the return policy. A fee is a percentage of the item’s price, not including shipping, based on the item’s condition on return, and applies only to returned items. Amazon adds that you are not required to accept returns beyond the return window.

Amazon defines a change of mind as an accidental order, a better price available, or no longer needed or wanted. For new desktops, laptops, tablets and other electronics, excluding televisions, Amazon Renewed products and Apple brand products, an item counts as in original condition when the box is unopened with the seal intact.

A worked example

Take a hypothetical $120 countertop appliance shipped for $9. The buyer orders by accident, uses it twice and returns it inside the window with a scuffed base and a missing measuring cup. That is a change-of-mind non-media return that arrived not in original condition and missing parts, so the table allows up to 50% of the item price. Shipping is excluded, so the base is $120, not $129, and the maximum fee is $60. Had it come back sealed, no fee would be allowed.

Change one fact. The buyer says the cup was missing on arrival. Now it may be an item materially different from what was ordered, which allows no fee. Your evidence of what you shipped decides the fee.

How to charge it

Go to Orders, then Manage Seller Fulfilled Returns, search the order ID, click Issue refund in the Action column to open the guided refund workflow, then choose Charge restocking fee. Amazon says the workflow helps calculate the fee and that fees should be charged fairly with clear documentation. In practice that means dated photos of the item as received, the packaging, the return label and anything missing, taken before the item is restocked.

The wrong-item rule

When a buyer returns a different item, Amazon says to contact the buyer, tell them they returned the wrong item, ask whether they want it sent back, and offer to accept the correct item for a refund. You are not obligated to pay shipping to send the wrong item back, and Amazon suggests agreeing who pays first. It also says to consider giving the benefit of the doubt if the buyer says they received the wrong item. Only if no resolution follows may you charge up to 100%. If Amazon already refunded, a SAFE-T reimbursement claim may apply.

Returnless refunds, and when they make sense

A returnless resolution is a refund or replacement where the buyer keeps the original product. Amazon says eligible buyers get it as soon as they submit the request, with no manual processing. You set it by rule (price range, optional categories and return reasons) or by SKU through the template. Use it when label cost and handling approach the item’s value and the item cannot be resold after return.

The replacement trap

Amazon warns not to offer a returnless replacement through Buyer-Seller Messaging after the buyer places a replacement request, because this may trigger an auto-charge on the buyer’s account for not returning the original. Use the rules or the template instead.

Sellers shipping from outside the US

If you fulfill US orders from abroad without a default US return address, Amazon automatically refunds eligible returns valued at or under $25 without requiring the item back. Above $25, Amazon recommends a seller-prepaid label within 48 hours or a returnless refund. With neither, Amazon may refund on your behalf and charge your account.

What sellers cannot refuse

Refuse any of the cases below and a return dispute becomes an account problem.

An in-policy return

In-policy US returns are authorized automatically. You can inspect what comes back and apply the fee table, but you cannot block the return because your own terms say so.

A return Amazon decides was materially different

If you refuse a return and Amazon determines the item is materially different, Amazon says you may be held responsible for any A-to-z claim or chargeback filed. If your listing overstated something, the fee table will not help you.

A response to the buyer

For out-of-policy requests you can accept or deny, but Amazon says a denial needs a detailed response through Buyer-Seller Messaging, and its A-to-z page says that if you do not authorize a request you must still tell the customer why. Amazon treats silence as a failure to respond, not a refusal.

A full refund on an order you could not ship

Outside Amazon’s rules, the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule (16 CFR Part 435) covers delays and cancellations, not general return policies. Within its scope, a prompt refund generally means seven working days for cash, check, money order or third-party credit, or one billing cycle where the seller is the creditor. A full cancellation gets the full amount including shipping, and credit vouchers do not count as a refund.

How return mistakes become A-to-z claims

The A-to-z Guarantee covers timely delivery and the condition of items once received. Our guide to A-to-z Guarantee claims covers the full process.

When a buyer becomes eligible to file

Amazon says you must authorize or respond to a return request within 48 hours with a valid domestic return address, a prepaid label or a returnless resolution. The buyer becomes eligible to claim if you did not, if you closed the request or authorized it with a prepaid label that had invalid tracking, or if you authorized it with an international return address and no prepaid label or returnless resolution.

When Amazon grants the claim automatically

These grant circumstances on Amazon’s list are tied to returns.

• No authorization or response to the product-related return request within 48 hours.
• An international return address authorized without a prepaid label or a returnless refund within 2 days.
• No refund within 5 days of receiving an item returned on a prepaid label.
• A prepaid-label return lost in transit.
• A return undeliverable or sent back because of an outdated or incorrect return address you provided.

There are two refund clocks. The returns page says two business days from receipt, and the A-to-z page grants the claim at 5 days. Work to the shorter one, because by the longer one you already have a defect.

Refunding after a claim does not undo it

Once a claim is filed you can refund and the claim closes, but Amazon says this still impacts your ODR. If Amazon asks for information, you have 72 hours to respond or it may grant the claim. Only a claim the customer withdraws closes with no ODR impact. If a claim is granted, you have 30 calendar days to appeal with new information, and after that any negative ODR impact cannot be reversed. Our explainer on how Order Defect Rate is graded shows how these defects add up.

Related guide. How to Keep Up With Amazon Policy Changes Before They Become Violations.

Where return mistakes show up on account health

Order Defect Rate

Granted A-to-z claims and chargebacks are order defects, and you monitor ODR on the Account Health page. Unanswered return messages also tend to produce negative feedback, the third defect type. Our guide on Amazon feedback covers that side.

Account Health Rating and repeat violations

Amazon’s Account Health Rating runs from 0 to 1,000 based on policy adherence and selling activity over the last 180 days. 200 to 1,000 is Healthy, 100 to 199 is At Risk, and 99 or lower is Unhealthy, meaning eligible for deactivation or already deactivated. Points are lost for new violations and regained when they are addressed. Repeat violations of the same policy carry rising point values, and Amazon says the maximum repeats for a single policy in 180 days can be as low as two for higher severity violations.

Confirm on your own Account Health page, and in Amazon’s list of policies included in the rating, which return-related issues appear as policy violations and at what severity. A listed violation costs points until you address it.

How to verify your return setup and exposure

Find out what is happening before you change a setting.

Break the numbers down, then date the cause

Pull 90 days of returns and claims and sort the claims by type, ASIN and date. A problem spread across the catalog points to a process, such as nobody watching the returns page, weekly refund batches or a dead return address. A problem concentrated on two or three ASINs points to the product or listing, such as an overstated detail page, a changed batch or dimensions that push an item out of prepaid labels. For each return-driven claim, record when the request arrived, when you responded, when the item was received and when you refunded. If the gaps line up with a staff absence, a move or a settings change, you have found the cause.

Fixing it when a return problem has already cost you

Follow the structure Amazon asks for in any performance case. State what caused it, what you have already done, and what will stop it recurring.

Which recovery route fits which refund

Amazon’s returns page lists four routes when a refund issued on your behalf seems unjustified. A refund from an A-to-z claim goes through the A-to-z appeal. A refund Amazon issued on a US domestic return through refund at first scan, customer service, or automatically because you did not refund within 48 hours of receiving the return goes through a SAFE-T reimbursement claim. A chargeback goes through the chargeback response. Carrier damage in transit goes through the optional coverage for loss or damage process. For buyer-damaged returns, Amazon caps reimbursement at 50% of the order value and asks for photos linking the return to the purchased product. For a return lost or damaged in transit, you file directly with the carrier, UPS through UPS Preferred Claims and USPS through its website or by mail.

Writing the plan of action

If it reaches a plan of action, stay specific. The root cause is what in your returns process failed, when and why. The corrective actions are refunds issued, addresses fixed and fees reversed, with dates. The preventive controls say who owns the returns page, how often it is checked, what triggers escalation and where it is logged. Attach only genuine records that show what you say they show. If a record does not exist, say what you did instead, and never create one after the fact. Our guide to writing a plan of action walks through the structure.

Common mistakes that turn returns into defects

• No daily owner for returns. Manual authorizations run on 24 hours and return requests on 48, so a weekly check guarantees misses.
• Refunding in weekly batches. Amazon expects two business days and grants claims at 5 days on prepaid returns.
• A stale return address. Undeliverable returns are treated as abandoned and the resulting claims are granted.
• Fees on shipping, or fees on pristine returns. The fee is a percentage of item price only, and none is allowed on in-policy returns in original condition.
• Fees with no photos. Without documentation, a buyer dispute is hard to answer.
• Treating a label exemption as a returns exemption. In-policy returns are still authorized.

Related guide. Amazon FBA Mistakes and Their Bitter Consequences.

A weekly returns routine that keeps claims off the account

Every business day

• Clear manual authorizations within 24 hours and pending requests within 48 in Manage Seller Fulfilled Returns.
• Inspect and photograph items received, and refund the same or next business day with the correct fee, if any.
• Answer every return message, including denials, with a clear reason.

Every week

• Check the Return report for received-not-refunded items and return reasons by ASIN.
• Review Manage A-to-z claims and diary appeal deadlines.
• Check Account Health for ODR movement and listed violations.

Every month and after any change

• Confirm return addresses, exemptions and returnless rules against the status reports.
• Spot-check weight and dimensions on top SKUs, and compare return label charges with your returnless thresholds.
• Recheck the Amazon.com Returns Policy page for changed windows or non-returnable items.

If you want an outside team running these checks with you, our Amazon account health maintenance service is built around them. For the wider rulebook, see Amazon policies sellers should know about.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make my products non-returnable on Amazon?

Not through your own policy. Amazon says sellers must follow its return and refund policies notwithstanding their own terms. Items non-returnable by law and dangerous goods are handled through exemptions and manual review.

How long do buyers have to return items on Amazon?

Amazon says most items within 30 days of the estimated delivery date, varying by category. After authorization the buyer has 15 days after the window closes to ship it back.

What is the maximum restocking fee on Amazon?

It depends on the case. Up to 20% for a change-of-mind return in original condition outside the window, up to 25% or 50% for used or damaged returns, and up to 100% for opened software or video games, empty boxes, or a wrong item after the contact steps.

How fast must I respond to a return request?

Within 48 hours, with 24 hours as Amazon’s best practice, and within 24 hours for manual authorization requests. Missing 48 hours makes the buyer eligible to claim and can lead to an automatic grant.

How quickly must I refund after receiving a return?

Amazon’s returns page says within two business days of receipt. Its A-to-z page grants a claim automatically if you have not refunded within 5 days of receiving a prepaid-label return.

Does refunding after a claim remove the defect?

No. Amazon says a refund after a claim is filed still impacts ODR. Only a claim the customer withdraws has no impact.

How long do I have to appeal a granted A-to-z claim?

Amazon says 30 calendar days, after which the claim closes and its ODR impact cannot be reversed.

Get Help With Returns, Claims and Account Health

If return handling has already produced claims, a defect spike or an account health warning, the fix starts with an accurate breakdown and records that prove what you changed. You can submit your case for a review of your notice and account data, or book a consultation to go through your returns setup with our team.

This article is for general educational purposes and reflects Amazon and government pages reviewed at the time of writing. Amazon’s return windows, fee guidelines and claim rules change, so confirm current details on Amazon’s own pages, and consult a qualified attorney about any legal question. Got Suspended? does not guarantee any outcome.

You can also see all our marketplace suspension services.

Sources

• Amazon Seller Central: Manage seller-fulfilled returns
• Amazon Seller Central: Guidelines for charging restocking fees
• Amazon Seller Central: Prepaid returns for seller-fulfilled orders
• Amazon Seller Central: Request exemption from prepaid returns for seller-fulfilled orders
• Amazon Seller Central: Ineligible items for prepaid returns
• Amazon Seller Central: Returnless resolutions
• Amazon Seller Central: Amazon’s A-to-z Guarantee claims
• Amazon Seller Central: Account Health Rating program policy
• Federal Trade Commission: Business Guide to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
• eCFR: 16 CFR Part 435, Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise