Should You Use FBA Returnless Resolutions?

For eCommerce businesses, returns are one of the worst parts of the job. They're costly, labor intensive, and basically unavoidable. Customers don't like dealing with the hassles, and business owners hate having to face the extra shipping costs on top of losing the sale.

Amazon, in its ongoing quest to make online shopping as seamless and pain-free as possible, has introduced a potential solution for FBA returns: returnless resolutions. Depending on who you ask, returnless resolutions are either a great way to minimize all the difficulties of returns or a way to take advantage of sellers. Here's what you need to know to decide for yourself.

What Does FBA Returnless Resolution Mean?

A returnless resolution occurs when a buyer initiates a return, but the seller opts to let them keep the item and get a refund without sending anything back. The idea is that the customer doesn't have to deal with the hassle of shipping the item back, and the seller doesn't have to pay for return shipping.

How FBA Returnless Resolutions Work

For most FBA returns, customers are expected to return the item for a refund. Returnless resolutions allow you to opt out of that process for qualifying products. If you choose to participate, Amazon will let customers know they can hang onto the item and still get a refund.

A few fast facts about how returnless resolutions work:

It's opt-in only. If you don't want to participate, you can still require returns for all refunds for your products.
Only some products are eligible. Amazon doesn't allow returnless resolutions for certain product categories, such as dangerous goods, gift cards, heavy and bulk items, and items with an average sale price over $75.
You can choose the criteria. Participating in returnless resolutions doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can decide which products qualify for returnless resolutions by SKU or criteria like item value or return reason.
No additional fees are involved. Participating in the returnless resolution program will not cost you anything extra in fees.

Benefits of Enrolling in Returnless Resolutions

Now that you know the basics of how the program works, you may be wondering the eternal human question: what's in it for me? Sellers may want to enroll in returnless resolutions for some or all of their products for a few main reasons:

Save on shipping costs. Shipping costs are the main reason returns are so costly for sellers. Returnless resolutions cut them out of the process.
Improve the customer experience. Returns are a hassle for customers too. Especially when the return is due to a problem with the product, having to jump through hoops to get a refund makes an already bad experience worse. Getting a refund without the extra work can improve their feelings about your brand.
Reduce negative reviews. Whether it's fair or not, a difficult return process can lead unhappy customers to vent their feelings in a review. Easy access to a refund could have the opposite impact and even earn you a positive review.
Amazon limits opportunities for abuse. Amazon limits which customers get the option based on their history. In other words, if a customer has shown signs of abusing the returns process in the past, they won't get the chance at a returnless refund, so you don't have to worry as much about dishonest customers taking advantage.

Download this free ChatGPT prompt to analyze Amazon returns data for your ASINs, including sentiment analysis, key findings, and opportunities for improvement.

Issues to Be Aware of with Returnless Resolutions

While the benefits are real, sellers have good reason to be cautious about participating in the program. Some issues to keep in mind include:

Making refunds too easy can make them more common. The work of returning a product provides friction, which makes customers more likely to weigh the option carefully. Many won’t want to deal with the hassle if the product's fine, but they changed their mind. But if they think they can get a refund without any effort? There's no reason not to take that step.
There's potential for customer abuse. While Amazon limits which customers get the option of returnless refunds, that doesn't remove all potential for abuse. If customers figure out it's a common option, some will take advantage and be rewarded for making impulse buys, changing their mind after the item arrives, or more straightforwardly committing fraud.
You lose the possibility of resale. A product that's returned could potentially be resold. One that stays with the customer can't.
Returnless refunds still count against your return numbers. Each returnless resolution will still be counted as a return in calculating the ASIN's return rate.

How to Enable Returnless Resolutions

If you've weighed the pros and cons and are ready to enroll, here's how to do so:

Go to the Fulfillment by Amazon settings page, navigate to the FBA returns evaluations & ownership settings option, look for Returnless Resolutions, and then select Edit.
If you'd like to enroll all your ASINs in the returnless resolutions program, simply choose Enable returnless resolutions for all ASINs, then click Update. And you're done!
If you only want to apply the option to some products, choose Enable returnless resolutions for selected ASINs. You can then upload a file with all the ASINs you want included in the program, then click Update.

Minimize the Pain of FBA Returns

Returnless resolutions won't seem like a good option for all Amazon sellers. But if the cost and hassle of dealing with returns is a problem you'd like to be rid of, it may be worth it for you.

For all sellers though, the best way to avoid the pain of returns is to take the steps you can to reduce your return rate. You can't avoid returns completely, but by doing all you can to offer accurate listings, great products, and solid customer service, you can bring the numbers down considerably.

Regularly evaluating your FBA return reasons can help you identify product issues and opportunities. Check out the FBA Returns report in SellerPulse by eComEngine to easily filter returns by reason, product, customer sentiment, and more.