Selling on Amazon: Have to abide by Amazon's return policies?

[pinkoos]

I'm looking into selling stuff on Amazon rather than Craigslist b/c CL has just become a pain to deal with (I won't go into the specifics here).

Anyway, in researching Amazon's seller site, it seems that the seller has to abide by Amazon's return policies which kinda seems like a pain.

I can't find anywhere where the seller can state that there are no refunds/returns as you can do with your eBay listings or, obviously, on CL.

So, for example, if I want to sell an item for which Amazon normally offers a 30 day return policy, I would have to honor that same policy as a marketplace seller. It seems the buyer could return the item for ANY reason (ie, change mind, buyer's remorse, etc.) and the seller would have to honor the return.

Is this correct? Anybody have experience selling on Amazon and/or dealing with returns on Amazon as a marketplace seller?

Thanks.

[graylocks]

i've sold a few books on Amazon and this has not come up. however, as a buyer i will say that i buy with confidence from ALL sellers on amazon because i know Amazon has my back on anything i purchase through them.

[clay]

yeah, that's one of the downsides as a seller on Amazon. I just had a software product that was returned opened (sold as brand new, sealed). I decided to do a 50% refund, since I could resell immediately and recoup my loss.

The good news is that as long as I've accurately described the items and shipped quickly, I have had fewer issues selling on Amazon than anywhere else. I think my recent return may have been my only return in more than 100 transactions in the past year.

[Michael]

I deliberately underdescribe the condition of items so that buyers are pleasantly surprised. I've not had any returns and have gotten some good feedback. But, when I started selling on Amazon, I was very aware of the potential for returns. I've sold 30-40 things and I haven't had any returns to this point.

[NewtonMP2100]

.....you can always just BIDE your time.......

[pinkoos]

Thanks for the replies. I guess you get the advantage of going through Amazon but the disadvantage of going through Amazon!

[space-time]

yes, you have to accept returns.

for direct sales, I had 3 people requesting returns, and only one actually returned the item for an even exchange.

The other two, even though I approved the return, they never returned the items.

for amazon fulfilled sales (a whole different game) you have no control, Amazon ships your inventory, amazon takes returns, amazon issues refunds, you even have to pay for the items to ship them back from amazon to you if tou want them back, of they can destry it for you.

Good luck.

[olnacl]

In several years selling on Amazon (granted, not too many items) I've only had to refund one purchase. It was clearly the customer's error as the item was correctly and completely described, so it was a disappointment. I charged a restocking fee that covered the shipping, so it was not really a problem.

OTOH, I've sold many items for far more than I would have got for them on CL (I don't do eBay) with no problems. As mentioned above, describe accurately, price reasonably and enjoy the lack of hassles.