The Real Situation of Amazon Returns – Return, Process, Liquidate or Resell?

Tobin Moore, CEO of returns solutions provider Optoro, said items purchased online are at least three times more likely to be returned than those purchased in stores, while third-party sellers on Amazon told CNBC that about a third of returned items end up being thrown away .

Meredith Diggs , consumer marketing manager for Liquidation Services , said consumers' e-commerce shopping habits are such that they will order the same item in three different sizes to see which one fits, and then they will return the other two, not realizing that the other two will not return to the retailer's shelves in most cases.

"If it's new, Amazon will allow the product to be resold on the listing as new, but it really needs to be in pristine condition , which is rare , even if the customer hasn't used the product at all," said the person in charge.

When an item doesn’t sell like new, Amazon gives sellers four options for how to handle returns: each with a fee , return to seller , processing , liquidation , or (currently by invitation only) fulfillment by Amazon for grading and resale.

Amazon has a number of programs designed to do just that.

Since 2019, its FBA donation program has allowed sellers to automatically give eligible excess inventory and returns to charities through a nonprofit network called Good360. Amazon says more than 67 million items have been donated so far .

Amazon also announced two new relocation programs last year. The first is liquidation , where Amazon now offers sellers an option instead of disposal.

Amazon and other major retailers work with liquidation marketplaces like Liquidity Services and B-Stock Solutions, which auction unwanted inventory to resellers by the pallet or even the truckload. If your product is able to be liquidated, you can recoup about 5% of your sales price .

Amazon is offering another option for some sellers, but it will be by invitation only until later this year.

Under the FBA Grade and Resale Program, Amazon grades items as new, very good, good or acceptable and then resells them in special areas of its website. These sections include Warehouse Deals for used items, Amazon Renewed for refurbished items, Amazon Outlet for over-the-counter items, and a daily deals site called Woot !

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