How to Analyze FBA Return Reasons and Improve Performance

Amazon famously offers a lenient FBA return policy. It is part of the positive customer experience Amazon strives to deliver – but unfortunately it can quickly eat into a seller’s profit margin. After all, the cost of the return (or in many cases, refund without a return) comes directly from the seller, not Amazon.

eCommerce returns average between 5% and 15%, depending on the category. In 2024, Amazon introduced an additional fee for products with a return rate higher than their category average. Understanding which of your products gets returned most frequently and why customers are returning them can help you make adjustments to reduce your overall FBA return rate and improve your profitability.

Analyze FBA Return Reasons

Regularly reviewing your FBA returns by reason, disposition (condition), and product makes it easier to identify profit-killers and understand how returns impact your business. This is particularly important after major sales events such as Prime Day and Q4.

You can see a list of returned purchases in the FBA Returns reports in Seller Central. Our SellerPulse software includes a more detailed FBA returns report that includes returns over time by ASIN, reason, and disposition. It offers a word cloud of top words from customer comments and a weekly email summarizing your total refunds and return rate by ASIN. Monitor FBA return reasons and other trends from your inbox and drill down as needed to inform your overall FBA strategy.

FBA Return Disposition

When an item is returned to Amazon, it assesses the disposition of the item and processes it based on the assessed condition. If the item is defective, damaged, or customer damaged, Amazon deems it unsellable. You must submit a removal order or enable the option to automatically remove unsellable inventory.

If Amazon provides a refund without requiring the customer to return the product, the refund will not appear in the FBA Customer Returns report. You’ll need to view the refund amount in the Payments Dashboard. Track reimbursements for any eligible customer refunds in the Reimbursements report.

Here are the FBA return dispositions Amazon provides:

SELLABLE: Item returned to stock, available for purchase.

DAMAGED/CARRIER DAMAGED: Amazon takes responsibility for the damage and compensates you according to the FBA inventory reimbursement policy.

CUSTOMER DAMAGED: Unit returned in unsellable condition. The item itself may not be damaged (e.g. external packaging may have been opened), but it can’t be sold in this condition. The customer receives a refund, and the unit stays in your inventory as unsellable.

DEFECTIVE: Unit returned in unsellable condition; either obviously damaged or the customer stated that there is a problem. Again, the customer receives a refund, and the unit stays in your inventory as unsellable.

EXPIRED: Units within about 50 days of the expiration date may be deemed unsellable and eventually removed for disposal by Amazon. If they have not been disposed of, you can choose to have expired units returned to you.

Next up, we’ll take a look at return reasons.

FBA Customer Return Reasons

Amazon provides several FBA return reasons for customers to select from when completing their return. Understanding why customers are returning your products can help you identify potential product quality issues and other problems.

ORDERED_WRONG_ITEM
FOUND_BETTER_PRICE
OTHER
NO_REASON_GIVEN
QUALITY_UNACCEPTABLE: Product performance or quality doesn’t meet customer expectations.
NOT_COMPATIBLE: Product isn’t compatible with an existing system.
DAMAGED BY FC: Product became damaged or defective after arrival.
MISSED_ESTIMATED_DELIVERY: Item took too long to arrive.
MISSING_PARTS: Shipment was missing items or accessories.
DAMAGED_BY_CARRIER
SWITCHEROO: Amazon sent the wrong item.
DEFECTIVE
EXTRA_ITEM: An extra item was included in the shipment.
UNWANTED_ITEM
WARRANTY: Item was defective after arrival, under warranty.
UNAUTHORIZED_PURCHASE: This could indicate fraud.
UNDELIVERABLE_INSUFFICIENT_ADDRESS
UNDELIVERABLE_FAILED_DELIVERY_ATTEMPTS
UNDELIVERABLE_REFUSED
UNDELIVERABLE_UNKNOWN
UNDELIVERABLE_UNCLAIMED
APPAREL_TOO_SMALL
APPAREL_TOO_LARGE
APPAREL_STYLE: Customer didn’t like the style of the apparel.
MISORDERED: Customer ordered wrong style, size, or color.
NOT_AS_DESCRIBED: Item doesn’t match description.
JEWELRY_TOO_SMALL
JEWELRY_TOO_LARGE
JEWELRY_BATTERY: Battery is dead.
JEWELRY_NO_DOCS: Missing manual or warranty.
JEWELRY_BAD_CLASP: Broken clasp.
JEWELRY_LOOSE_STONE: Missing or loose stone.
JEWELRY_NO_CERT: Jewelry missing a promised certification.

While analyzing your FBA returns is helpful, one of your main objectives should be to reduce returns in the first place, especially since Amazon now tacks on an additional fee if your product has a higher return rate than others in the category.

Reduce Your Amazon Return Rate

Your Amazon product detail page is critical to the buyer experience with your product. Misleading or missing information can lead to more returns, negative reviews, or feedback from unhappy buyers. Make sure your listing content is strong with clear titles, helpful images, and content that provides shoppers with the details they need to make a purchase. Look at your previous negative Amazon reviews and seller feedback to identify any trends. Are there questions you can answer in your listing description or images?

For example, apparel and shoes often experience a high return rate due to fit issues. Providing detailed size guides and images of the product from different angles can help shoppers better understand how the item might fit them, which could, in turn, reduce your return rate.

As always, focus on the overall customer experience. Provide professional and helpful customer service as needed to ensure that the buyer has a good experience with purchasing from you on Amazon.

If your product frequently arrives damaged, rethink your packaging. Test your packaging to learn how to protect your items cost-effectively, or talk to your manufacturer about other packaging options. You could also consider enrolling in the Amazon Ships in Product Packaging (SIPP) program to reduce packaging and overall costs.

If product quality is an issue, look to your Amazon reviews to get an idea of what needs improvement. For products with a high return rate and low margin, consider whether it’s worthwhile to continue selling. It may be time to focus on another item.

Identify Amazon Return Trends with SellerPulse

Monitoring trends with the FBA Returns report in SellerPulse allows you to filter returns by ASIN and see a word cloud of the most common customer comments. This information can help you decide whether to restock or stop selling a specific product.