Amazon Starts Charging Return Fee
For years Amazon has touted the simplicity and worry-free buying experience on its platform. If you buy something, and it turn out you don’t like it, or just changed your mind, then return it. No questions asked.
But those returns are piling up and are becoming an expensive problem for the company. Now in its latest move to deter returns, Amazon has started charging customers a $1 fee if they return items to a UPS store when there is a Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh grocery store or Kohl’s closer to their delivery address.
Amazon owns Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh store, and has a partnership deal with Kohl’s.
Recently Amazon also started flagging “frequently returned” products on its website. Amazon is adding the badge to product listings on items with “significantly higher return rates for their product category”.
Returns are a big problem for the whole retail industry. Customers sent back around 17% of the total merchandise they purchased in 2022, totaling $816 billion, according to data from the National Retail Federation. On top of that, retailers have to cover costly shipping fees and then have to mark down returned goods to sell them.
HT: The Information
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I wish they gave me the option to return to a Whole Foods or Kohl’s. We moved a year ago – apparently just far enough away from the Kohl’s to be eligible for returns there. Now my only option is UPS returns. Both Whole Foods & Kohl’s are within a reasonable range for me to run weekly errands – but Amazon doesn’t think so. 🙁
I rarely take Amazon’s side on anything (former FBA seller here). However, I don’t mind what they’re doing to keep return costs down. Even their amazingly cheap shipping contracts have no doubt taken a hit in the last couple of years. As for the “frequently returned” warning, I’d find that helpful. I wouldn’t immediately bypass the item, but I’d pay more attention to the description and reviews. My sister has a hilarious habit of buying holiday decor like a dozen small flags or pinwheels or gravestones that have turned out to be 1 inch instead of 12 inches. It’s too easy to miss product details when shopping in the app v. on a big ol’ browser.
@Beachmouse – that is SUPER annoying.
That is highly annoying. While Whole Foods is closer to my home than a UPS store, it also involves $6 in toll bridge charges to get there and back.
It sounds like $1 is a much better option then.