Haven’t seen mention of this here. Policy update. Suffice it to say, this “improvement” for sellers is one more way Amazon seems to be helping themselves.
As a bookseller, I could stomach paying for returns in all cases (excepting obvious books swap situations) if Amazon didn’t insist on using UPS and charging $20-25 each time, instead of using the USPS bpm or media rate it originally went out on.
Although they do extend the seller’s processing time from two days to four - as if that extra time will help us.
Extra time for processing returns is only useful to a business that buries all of its problems in its return policy AFTER the sale. “If you have any problem, just return it. No questions asked.”
For a business that actually addresses such issues BEFORE the sale, such as accurately describing the product, or packaging it well, this extra time is pointless.
IOW, Amazon is making it easier for 3P sellers to adopt the Amazon way of dealing with unhappy customers - just return for a full refund and then go bleep yourself.
This policy is going to be a nightmare. As a seller with high end, high priced goods we end up with a large number of fraud returns. empty packages, etc. We usually let amazon refund after their 48 hour rule, then file a claim.
Up to now, we would file a safe-t claim and usually win, and then amazon deals with any customer fall out and refunds us. Because the refund is coming from amazon, and the customer was already made whole when Amazon refunded them originally, any re-charge comes from Amazon and it ends up being between Amazon and the customer to fight it out.
Now, when following their restocking fee system (we have tested this out earlier in the year to see how it works), Amazon just points the finger at us and basically says we dont know why they arent refunding you, our beloved customer, but the sellers are the villains. Go get them!
Amazon wont step in at all, and most amazon customer service agents have contacted us with their ‘message from amazon’ that the customer can see telling us to refund the customer, and ‘the customer returned this order already, why havent you refunded them yet! do it now or else!’
This is just basically a way for amazon to get out of paying for the claims when the customers are insistent that they returned an item, and to put the blame on sellers and make customers hate us for their own mistakes and fraud when we dont refund them for an empty box.
With the safe-t claim system, amazon at least was a mediator when the customer was being fraudulent in their actions, and would eventually cut customers off when they cost Amazon too much. With the restocking fees, Amazon isnt cutting off fraud customers because its not costing them anything.
Implicit in your statement, and not explicit in the announcement, is that SAFE-T is basically being eliminated. This is 100% Amazon: make things worse but provide a safety net, then later remove the net.
In our experience, Amazon is too inconsistent in their automated refunds for us to safely SAFE-T. I’ve waited up to weeks for Amazon to refund, before throwing in the towel, and I’ve been hit with A2Z’s for not refunding in time while waiting for Amazon to refund. Contacting support to expedite does nothing.
After years and years on this platform, I still can’t distinguish Amazon being unaware of how their over-silo’d business (inter)operates, and straight up hostility towards their sellers. I think this kind of thing (e.g. plausible deniability) is what Amazon does best.
Sadly, that is becoming beyond our control -
Amazon AI changing our product descriptions
Bullet points and descriptions carefully crafted to give the buyer the most complete product information possible have been disappearing in favor of AI assumptions which I find to be lacking and sometimes outright wrong.
‘Not as described’ accusations are sometimes found to be somewhat true when I check the listing, because the buyer did not have the benefit of the original bullets/descriptions that are now gone.
Some years ago (don’t remember how many, but I bet @Dogtamer does), we had to shorten titles (because the keyword-cramming got ridiculous) and I moved some important aspects such as size and color out of the titles to bullet points instead. Now those hide behind a ‘more info’ link on the web and a long scroll down on the app last I checked. The marketing functionality has been pretty much engineered out. To be replace by $$$ Advertising.
Maybe it’s the mentality of the bookselling origin* - the site catalog is like the former library card catalogs, just the dry documentation. Marketing: features, fit, reasons to buy, should be prominent on a ‘marketplace’.
No offense to booksellers intended here, only to the original bookselling marketplace. It really does remind me of all the little cards in the many wood drawers that told you the title, author, library location but not much about the contents of the book.
My SAFE-T claim reimbursements have been dismal. Way less than the 50%. They are using language that the reimbursement amount is based on the extent of damage and only extreme damage warrants a 50% reimbursement.
A damaged product is un-sellable in all cases I’ve filed, I’m out all the cost, shipping, etc. no matter how badly they wrecked my product.
Could this new policy give us more control over recouping the 50% restocking we should be entitled to?
I theorized this on here weeks ago…that they were doing this because they no longer want to be paying out Safe T claims on this stuff. They want the seller to do the voluntary refund and assume the risk if you deduct for a valid reason as opposed to Amazon refunding and them assuming the risk of you filing a Safe T claim.
Another doozy to complement the above policy:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/c1eae42b-ead4-4c63-a007-aefbca44a867
Effective February 8, 2026, all US sellers must use the Amazon Prepaid Return Label (APRL) program for customer returns regardless of item value. This change eliminates the previous high-value exemption to create a more consistent return experience for faster refund processing and reduced customer service requirements.
The APRL program automatically provides customers with prepaid return shipping labels through Buy Shipping Services. This streamlined process reduces the refund cycle time from 14 to 7 days and eliminates the need for buyer-seller messaging.
Existing category exemptions will continue to apply, including Handmade, certified preowned watches, non-physical items, dangerous goods, and extra-large or heavy items. Additionally, items that are ineligible for prepaid return labels will remain exempt from this requirement.
We understand you may have concerns about high-value returns. When we issue a refund to a buyer and you believe it wasn’t your fault, you can file a claim for reimbursement through the Seller Assurance for E-Commerce Transactions (SAFE-T) program.
None taken. 
So I assume we will not be able to message buyers about returns? Sometimes I message them that I am sending a replacement and to please dispose of a broken item, so I don’t have to buy a label for the return of damaged goods.
It’s not often but some items are more fragile and rough treatment by carriers can cause breakage. If it’s one of those, I don’t question the buyer’s claims and send out a replacement asap.
Except that if they continue the refund on first scan, we will still have to file claims.
I did not expect that your link led to the forum, please give a heads up on that next time. Some of us are avoiding the forum, I quit to avoid doxing when it transformed; when I followed your link it did not ask me to join like it has before, but went right to the page and showed my seller name at the top of the page. Since I did not engage or post, I should ok?
No idea on that front. I too have abstained from liking/commenting/or otherwise interacting with the NSFE on principle since its inception. But do lurk there from time to time. I don’t know if I’ve been doxed or not either.
Sorry, didn’t realize it wasn’t obvious from the URL where it was going. I’ll try to make it more obvious going fwd.
Thank you!
If you use a private browser page for SAS and are not signed into your Amazon seller account, then you can lurk on NSFE safely if links here lead you there.
I’m signed in to my seller account and not using a private browser page. I do open a private page if I go there intentionally, which is rare.
I used to get prompted to sign up, but that didn’t happen tonight.
This is what you see if you are not signed in to your Amazon account …
This is what you see if you are signed in to your Amazon account …
Either way … if you don’t post or click like / dislike, then you will not be doxed. To post or click like / dislike, you have to be signed in.
If you hover over the link, the address shows up in the bottom left corner of your browser window / tab. We tend to look at it that way before we click (on any site).
Good tip, good practice. I will try to remember to watch for it.
Did something change? I am nearly always logged in to my account but until the other day, have seen the invitation to join the forum when landing on a forum page and have backed out without joining. It seems something has changed and I am already logged in to the forum even though I have never signed up for it.
We believe, that if you are signed into your seller account, then you would be signed into the forum if you are using the same browser. Once we are signed into our seller account, we are signed into NSFE. We can’t say if that is new as it has always been that way for us … but we were a beta tester for NSFE so we have seen things that other who were not a beta tester have not.
We tend to use different browsers and some private browser windows to log into different sites. Example … we do not log into Google gmail in the same browser that we use for Amazon seller central and/or for access to SAS. They are all opened in separate browsers (with some being private browser windows).
