Amazon announced a new program designed to help foreign sellers deal with returns. In a nutshell: “If you don’t have a US return address, the Returns Provider program can connect you with service providers to manage your returns.”
According to Amazon’s return policy, “Third-party sellers must either provide a return address within the United States, provide a prepaid return label, or offer a full refund without requesting the item be returned.”
Because the cost of postage for returning items to international addresses is prohibitive, Amazon is making it easier for foreign sellers to accept returns in the US by matching them with a provider who can process their returns (though it’s not clear that would necessarily be a less expensive alternative).
Amazon cited the benefits of the new Returns Provider program in its announcement to international sellers:
“Using the program simplifies domestic returns, allows you to recoup return costs, and ensures a seamless customer returns experience. Once enrolled in the program, you can receive Prepaid returns for seller-fulfilled orders with the provider’s domestic warehouse address, enabling you to further streamline customer returns.”
The Returns Provider program will launch to a limited number of international sellers on February 16, 2022, and to all sellers by March 2022.
One seller commenting on the announcement post seemed miffed that eBay was offering to “further assist international sellers on the US platform.”
