How to see and track your Amazon returns in Seller Central.
Tracking your Amazon returns
One of the cool parts of the Amazon Seller Central interface that most sellers don’t know about is the page you can go to to see your returns. As you monitor sales, you’ll also be noticing deductions from your upcoming disbursement that are made for returned inventory.
It’s easy to review the details of what was returned, when, why, if you were reimbursed, and more.
Where to see your Amazon returns
Go here:
Reports > Fulfillment > Returns
What you’ll find there is a list of everything that was returned within the date parameters you set, up to the last year (default is everything in the last 24 hours), as well as the reason for the return.
Why would you want to see your Amazon returns?
Amazon makes mistakes. The way it supposed to work is that anything returned to Amazon that is still sellable goes right back into your inventory. Anything “defective” is stored as “unfulfillable” and just sites there until you create a removal or disposal order.
If an item is put back in your inventory, you should receive a credit for the return. If it is defective, you just get the item back. If you notice neither of these things have happened, you should ask Amazon to investigate. Open a claim with Seller Support and ask them to tell you either where your item is, or why you haven’t been given credit for the return.
Not long ago I noticed at $100 textbook had been returned, the money deducted from my account, but the book was nowhere to be seen. I caught it 3 months later, and Amazon refunded my the money. Had I not caught it, this would have been a $100 blunder.
Don’t want automate the monitoring of returns?
There are several tools out there that automate the process of reviewing your Amazon returns, and alerting you to any issues with you being reimbursed. These should pay for themselves.
There are new tools coming out all the time (and I haven’t personally tested any myself), so I’ll hold off on endorsing any specific tool. Run “Amazon refunds and reimbursement software” through Google and see what you find.
-Peter Valley
Thanks for the heads up. I have a few returns but never really noticed if I received a credit or not. If the item comes back defective do I get a credit as well? Or do they just give the item back to me?