Sellers’ High Return Rates in 2021 Due to Amazon’s New Extended Holiday Return Policy
Amazon sellers, get ready to handle returns like never before.
First, Amazon has extended the time for consumers to return products. So, it’s not just going to be the products that were purchased right before Christmas, it goes all the way back to October. Be prepared for returns coming back three, four months later than when they were purchased. This has never before happened. Be prepared to deal with more returns than ever, because their period of time is larger than ever before.
Number two, be very careful of third party vendors that you might be using to help you manage your returns. You are responsible for everything any vendor has to do when it comes to your account, you’re responsible for all of it. So, make sure you are vetting them super carefully. Make sure you’re watching whatever the third party software is doing for you in terms of managing your returns.
Number three, never ever forget Amazon’s focus on the consumer. It doesn’t matter whether the consumer is returning a product for a good cause, bad cause, or no cause. You have to treat every single return as if it is valid. It is okay to take a bit of a loss in January on returns as long as you keep your account open for the rest of 2021. So, be 100% prepared to take it on the chin, refund quickly, refund often, keep the consumers happy, because a return is much better than a complaint from a consumer when it comes to Amazon.
Drop shippers, this last factor is for you. If you’re doing drop shipping and the returns are one period of time from where you were sourcing your products, yet Amazon has extended that time beyond that, you need to be prepared for a problem. I do not recommend the drop shipping business model except to learn how to sell on Amazon.
Even though I know there are tens of thousands of sellers doing it tremendously well and making millions of dollars, it is a dangerous business. When it comes to high return rates in particular, your source return policy may be one period of time and the Amazon return policy a whole lot longer.