You may know to change your clocks to accommodate Daylight Saving Time, but it is also important to update your computers and servers that handle your seller account information. If you use any automation on your machines, not updating the time can hinder your ability to use it.
As previous posts covered, sellers can always issue partial or full refunds for order costs, but the Amazon system also allows sellers to compensate buyers for order issues as an alternative to or in addition to refunding order amounts. These buyer credits which exceed the order total are called concessions. There are situations where you may want to issue funds to the buyer beyond the cost of the item(s) and shipping amount. For example, if a buyer receives a defective item and you want to compensate them for return shipping along with the order refund, you could issue a concession.
Concessions can be issued as partial refunds, with partial refunds, or along with full refunds. There are limits on the total amount sellers may provide to buyers when they issue order refunds and concessions. An order refund can't exceed the total amount originally paid by the buyer, however, the amount allowed in concessions may exceed the total cost of the order itself. Amazon displays the concession maximum for each item in an order using a formula that calculates the higher of the following two numbers:
Limit 1: 50% of the sum of original buyer-paid shipping plus product priceTo issue a concession:
When a buyer wants to return an order, you will want to know what the policies are. The following are a few frequently asked questions Seller Support receives, and answers to help you navigate the refund process.
Q: Do I have to refund this order?
A: If it is within 30 days of the order, then yes, you must accept a return and issue a refund.
Q: Who pays for return shipping of an order?
A: This is completely left up to you, the seller. Returns and refunds provide an opportunity to have your customer service shine. If you choose to pay for the return shipping, you can either provide a pre-paid shipping label to the buyer, or you can initiate a concession through the order management page in your seller account. For your own protection, be sure to process all financial transactions with buyers through Marketplace Payments.
Q: The buyer initiated an A-to-z Guarantee claim (or a chargeback with their credit card company). Should I still refund?
A: Follow the instructions provided to you by the A-to-z Guarantee claim team or the chargeback team. Ultimately, we want buyers to be happy, but we also want to make sure duplicate refunds are not initiated. Please keep the A-to-z Guarantee claim team or the chargeback team informed of any actions you plan to take, and send them any questions you have regarding the claim or chargeback.
Q: Do I refund before or after I receive the returned order?
A: When to refund is left up to you. We have found that some sellers like to refund a portion in good faith and the rest after the item is returned to them. Others wait until the item is returned. If you refund an order before you receive the return, there is nothing Amazon can do to make the buyer return the item. So decide when to issue the refund based on the particular situation.
Have more questions?
The exact and up-to-date policy is written out in the Participation Agreement, also known as the "Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement" which was agreed to when you signed up for selling on Amazon.com. You can find the document by searching for "agreement" in your seller account Help.
When you want to issue a refund for an order there are several options: full refund, partial refund, and refund concessions.
Which one you choose depends on why you are refunding and how much you want to refund.
To start any kind of refund, the order must have already had the shipment confirmed. If it is not confirmed and you will not ship the item, you can cancel the order and the buyer will not be charged, therefore no refund will be necessary. If the order was confirmed you can proceed with these steps:1. Log in to your seller accountTo proceed with a Full refund, once you have followed the first three steps above, you would use the default page that comes up when you click "Refund order."
2. Go to your orders section and bring up the details of the specific order you want to refund
3. Click the "Refund order" button on the Order Details page
4. Choose the reason for the refund
You will see several options in the drop-down, choose the most appropriate one.
5. Write a note to the buyer in the "Memo to buyer" field
While this is optional, a personally written note provides a good customer experience
6. Click the "Submit Full Refund" button
By following those steps you will have refunded the item and shipping amount.
To proceed with a Partial refund, once you have followed the first three steps above, follow these steps:4. Click the Partial Refund tab, which is under the order ID
5. If the item is listed by name only, click the check box for the item being refunded on the right hand side; if the item details are displayed, proceed to the next step
6. Select the "Reason for refund" from the drop-down
7. Enter the "Amount to refund" for the Product or the Shipping or both
8. Write a note to the buyer in the "Memo to buyer" field
While this is optional, a personally written note provides a good customer experience
9. Click the "Submit Partial Refund" button
You do not need to enter any information in the two concession fields for either type of refund if you do not want to. A concession is an amount you can refund aside from or in addition to refunding basic order costs. More information about concessions can be found in the Help section in your seller account by searching on the word "concession."
~Aleece
There are a few things that you can do when contacting Seller Support that will help us answer your questions more quickly.
July 10-13, Seattle Airport Marriott
This year, we'll be focusing on how to think creatively to thrive and succeed in challenging economic times. If you are a media seller, we'll help you navigate the often tricky path to broadening your product offerings, showing you the way to "think outside the books." If you already offer non-media, we'll be inviting inventory-type specific specialists from Amazon to the Conference so that you can get some of your questions answered in person.
Although the normal Conference attendee fee is $325 per person, if you click on http://scoe.biz/REFERRAL.html between now and June 15th, you can attend for the reduced fee of $250 per attendee. We know that you will find great value in this conference, and will want to return again in upcoming years.
sellersconference@comcast.net
Thinking about upgrading to a Pro Merchant subscription on Amazon?
If you're an Amazon Marketplace Seller you might want to consider upgrading to a Pro Merchant subscription.
Here are just a few of the benefits you receive by upgrading:
You're probably wondering if this is right for you?
Well, watch as our fictional hero, Mike Seller, evaluates the features of a Pro Merchant subscription and walks through the process of deciding if he should upgrade his account.
If you still have more questions about whether or not you should upgrade to a Pro Merchant subscription, please visit the Pro Merchant FAQ page.
Happy Selling!
Jay
