Amazon is extending its experiment in which it provided buyers the option of selecting UPS when sending returns back to sellers. Initially the temporary policy was to run from September 5 through October 2, 2022. On Wednesday, it announced it was extending the test through November 1, 2022.
The policy applies to items below 15 ounces and 130 inches in girth under the Amazon Prepaid Returns Label (APRL) program.
Amazon had promised to reimburse sellers the difference in cost between UPS and USPS shipping labels for those returns.
As we had reported at the time of the announcement in August, sellers wondered how they would know the difference between the UPS rate charged and what the cost would have been if returned via USPS. And they said they thought Amazon should automate the process rather than expecting sellers to do the calculation and request a refund.
In today’s announcement, Amazon said it heard the feedback. “Based on your feedback, we’ll automatically reimburse all eligible returns by December 1, 2022. If you have not submitted a claim yet, there is no need to do so and we will automatically refund you by December 1, 2022.”
Yesterday I just happened to return a small package of o-rings that were the wrong size. Amazon said use a QR code at the UPS store, and they would handle it from there. Only took a couple of minutes and I was out the door with receipt. The refund was in my Amazon account this afternoon.
Now only if feeBay could create ANYTHING that worked as smoothly as this did!