Sellers being charged initial shipping on buyer faulted returns?
Official Stated Policy?
Does anyone know where I can read the official amazon policy that details that FBM sellers are responsible for paying the shipping charges to the customer on buyer faulted returns?
We use to get back both shipping charges on a buyer faulted return.
Now even when we are granted a safe-t claim we only receive the return shipping fee, not the shipping to the customer.
Also, is it just me or does it feel like they force you to file a claim for the whole amount or just the return shipping when you pick “I was over charged for the label” when you just want both shipping charges back?
In the past we have picked “other” (but there isn’t a way to clarify how much your asking for back, they always just fill in that your claim is for the full amount) which is not the amount we are really asking for. We usually ask for both shipping charges, sometimes it works, sometimes it backfires and sometimes they still only give the return shipping.
Any tips to actually get back both shipping charges back?
Most sellers have bills from amazon for hundreds or thousands of dollars a month from the 25-35 percent fees they charge. Is it really worth it to Amazon not to give us back the 3-5 dollars back on the shipping to the customer and charge the customer when it is customer faulted?
I find that by the time I’ve wasted time with an appeal and wasted the time of an amazon employee working on the safety claim appeal, taking photos for no good reason to try to get 3-5 dollars.
Are amazon margins so thin this is a big deal to them?
The only plus is the Amazon fees were all wiped out back to zero on the last one we had. One could argue that amazon has to cover these credit card processing fees on a refund as well and maybe that is how they justify not reimbursing the shipping cost to the customer.
However if you have your own site you can charge a restocking fee.
However Amazon has made it clear, Amazon’s Customers are Amazon’s customers not ours.
Meaning Amazon get the yearly subscription fee and other benefits of owning the customer information.
As a business not really interested in supporting buyers that make mistakes in purchasing. I’m fine with amazon doing it for their customers but feel like it should come out of Amazons pocket not ours.
You could also just state that this is just a business cost when working with Amazon.
But again does Amazon have the respect to put this anywhere in policy?
When you first sign up with an account or existing sellers; where it applies fairly to everyone across the board?
Of course you could argue that if they put it in policy, this doesn’t give them the flexibility to make the right decisions on individual cases, where the shipping costs are much higher than 3 to 5 dollars.
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Yes, it is under Amazon’s policy page, Refund at First Scan (RFS) for seller-fulfilled returns, the outbound shipping amount is refunded to the customer, irrespective of fault.
If you charged outbound shipping and the return is buyer-faulted you would need to open a Safe-T claim and request for outbound shipping to be reimbursed.
No Amazon is not telling the customer this.
Seller_aV1Bh32hE0KND
The Buyer-faulted return shipping cost should automatically be withheld from the customer’s refund and would appear on the order page. For outbound shipping on (RFS), you have to open a Safe-T claim, and it will only be issued or considered if outbound shipping was charged. It is unfortunately at the Rep discretion, although when requesting outbound shipping quote policy for a better chance of getting it reimbursed.
Reminder all fashion items are free returns and the seller can not recoup shipping.
Issue a partial refund
*Optional: If you would like to reimburse the buyer for Outbound shipping, select the box to Refund for outbound shipping. (Quote this in your Safe-T claim)
Refund at First Scan (RFS) for seller-fulfilled returns
Return shipping costs are determined by Amazon’s return and refund policies. Under this policy, return shipping fee (equivalent to the prepaid label cost) is not deducted from refund issued for items eligible for free and non-Prime order returns that buyers select ‘seller fault’ as the reason for return. For all other return reasons, cost of return shipping fee is borne by the buyer.
For all return requests where a RFS is issued and buyer had paid outbound shipping costs, the outbound shipping amount is refunded to the customer, irrespective of fault.
Refunding shipping cost
For example, if you ship an incorrect or damaged product, you cannot deduct the original shipping or return shipping costs from the refund.
(Which means you are allowed to deduct outbound shipping if the opposite is true)
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The Safe-T claim must be used. After a lot of hard work, we have got the process down to 5 minutes to create the effective claim.
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Got the same problem bro
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New but related topic:
I probably won’t try another approach (see BELOW) since the other one worked, but was curious how many people have tried.
I tried to start a new thread cause its kind of a weird approach to dealing with the problem before it even arises, instead of dealing with it after the fact, but Blake at Amazon shut me down cause he felt like it wasn’t a new topic, even though it seems like a totally different topic to me.
Has anyone ever tried only refunding the cost of the initial shipping to the customer before amazon automatically refunds on first buyer return scan?
And then send a message to the customer saying they will get another refund less all shipping and amazon fees after we get the item back?
That way it gets the customer to think if they keep it at a small discount?
or
Once you get it back you can refund the rest less all shipping and amazon fees?
Is this a possible way to incentivize the buyer to keep the item? and at the same time stay in control of how much you actually refund the customer if they decide to still return it. Or is this a BAD IDEA?
