Amazon Charging for Return Shipping via UPS now?

[Captain FIRE]

Got some Christmas presents we are returning (duplicates and presents my kids won't play with).  Givers are all aware and ok with the return.  I punched in the information to return all but one on 12/28, but have not yet dropped them off.  The last one I did today, as I needed the order number from the giver (couldn't find the gift receipt).  I noticed with that one a $6 fee to return to UPS, which I don't remember seeing on the others.

Have others noticed this charge?  Is this a 2022 cut off change I missed with the others?  I'm not keen to drive through 7 of traffic to miles to drop it off at the one free location in my city, particularly during the Omnicron as I suspect they are more crowded than my empty UPS store down the street.  I also would need to box and label it.

[cool7hand]

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[seattlecyclone]

Makes sense. Shipping is expensive. If you don't explicitly charge for it you have to bake it into the price of the goods you sell. This inherently subsidizes your fickle customers who return stuff at the expense of those who know what they want and plan to keep it.

[PMG]

In my experience it depends on the reason why you are returning the item.  You might cancel the return and select a different reason and be given a free option. Ie, free return for item being defective. Paid return if you just don’t want it anymore.

[Villanelle]

Is it possible that the purchase wasn't a Prime item?  Sometimes if you buy from a specific seller, not through Amazon (not sure where they "fufilled by Amazon" things fall), there policies are different and may not include free shipping or free returns. 

[charis]

In my experience it depends on the reason why you are returning the item.  You might cancel the return and select a different reason and be given a free option. Ie, free return for item being defective. Paid return if you just don’t want it anymore.

This

[afox]

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stop doing this. just click the "notify" button at the bottom of the thread.

[jpdx]

For returns, I usually opt to take it to the UPS store down the street. No box or shipping label required, and it's free. I think the idea is the UPS Store can combine multiple returns from different customers into one shipment, thus keeping costs lower. If you opt to ship your return in your own individual box, that costs extra.

[Weisass]

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stop doing this. just click the "notify" button at the bottom of the thread.

Lol I will admit it took me a while to figure this out. *the more you know*

[Michael in ABQ]

In my experience it depends on the reason why you are returning the item.  You might cancel the return and select a different reason and be given a free option. Ie, free return for item being defective. Paid return if you just don’t want it anymore.

Just keep in mind that most of what is sold on Amazon is sold by third-party sellers, not Amazon itself. Most of these are small businesses and when you pick a return code like "late delivery" when an item arrived on time, the seller gets to eat that cost. I sell on Amazon and had a customer try to get free return shipping by claiming it was delivered late - when it was delivered 4 days after they ordered, and 5 days before the required delivery date. Ultimately Amazon ruled in my favor and I got the return shipping cost of $3.66 refunded to me. But it was not really worth my time to spend 15-20 minutes proving that the buyer was a liar who was trying to save a few bucks. It was the principal of the matter in that case as it was so blatant.


I run another ecommerce business and we don't offer free return shipping unless it something where we messed up, i.e. sent the wrong item. If a customer changes their mind or made a mistake, it's on them to ship it back. Just as Target or Walmart aren't going to credit you the cost of gas to drive back to the store to return an item.

[Dicey]

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stop doing this. just click the "notify" button at the bottom of the thread.

I've been around here a hell of a lot longer and I say do it all you want, @cool7hand.

Anybody who has an issue can ping a moderator.

[PMG]

Good points @Michael in ABQ   

[Captain FIRE]

For returns, I usually opt to take it to the UPS store down the street. No box or shipping label required, and it's free. I think the idea is the UPS Store can combine multiple returns from different customers into one shipment, thus keeping costs lower. If you opt to ship your return in your own individual box, that costs extra.

Yes that’s what I usually do but this time was offered it at a $6 charge.

[cool7hand]

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stop doing this. just click the "notify" button at the bottom of the thread.

I've been around here a hell of a lot longer and I say do it all you want, @cool7hand.

Anybody who has an issue can ping a moderator.

Thanks for all the input!

[Captain FIRE]

For returns, I usually opt to take it to the UPS store down the street. No box or shipping label required, and it's free. I think the idea is the UPS Store can combine multiple returns from different customers into one shipment, thus keeping costs lower. If you opt to ship your return in your own individual box, that costs extra.

Yeah that's what I used to do to.  But it's not an option here.

[jinga nation]

Noticed recently that Amazon doesn't let me return items to a UPS store if there's a Whole Foods or Kohl's store within a couple of miles of the UPS store. UPS store is simply not an option during the return process, unless I pick a different zip code where neither Whole Foods nor Kohl's exist.

[Assetup]

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stop doing this. just click the "notify" button at the bottom of the thread.

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[AardvarkPuppies]

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stop doing this. just click the "notify" button at the bottom of the thread.

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