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Amazon Remission

In retail, “remission” refers to the return of goods to the manufacturer. In Germany, the right to remission is even legally enshrined for books, newspapers, and magazines. The right of remission serves to ensure a wide range of offerings, as without such a right, the entire sales risk would fall on the retail sector. The result would be a significantly reduced selection on the shelves. In the context of Amazon, “remission” also refers to the return of goods, but usually within the framework of Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).

What is an Amazon remittance?

Sellers participating in the FBA program delegate their fulfillment to Amazon. This means that the e-commerce giant takes care of storing the products, assembling orders, shipping them, as well as customer service and any returns. To do this, the seller sends their goods to an Amazon logistics center. A remission of these stored items usually makes sense when they have not been sold after a certain period. A remission may also be advisable for defective, unsellable products, possibly including disposal.

After 365 days of storage time, Amazon charges long-term storage fees of 170 euros per cubic meter. Typically, selling with such high storage costs is no longer worthwhile, which is why sellers can place a remission order in the Seller Central of their Amazon account. The company then sends the goods back or disposes of them if desired.

How can Amazon sellers initiate a remittance?

In Seller Central, Amazon provides various reports, including “Remission Recommended.” This report indicates which inventory may incur long-term fees during the next inventory check. Typically, this report includes units that have been in a warehouse for more than 270 days. To avoid this, Amazon sellers can request a remission.

How do you return your goods from the Amazon FBA warehouse?

Under “Inventory” > “Inventory with Fulfillment by Amazon,” there is the function “Create Remission Order” in the upper dropdown area. There, sellers can add or remove products and adjust the quantity.

A maximum of 150 products are allowed per remission order, and all products in an order must either be returned or disposed of. If some products are to be disposed of while others are to be returned, or if more than 150 products are to be remitted, multiple orders must be created. Products are typically remitted wrapped in plastic.

What are the fees for an Amazon remittance?

Of course, each remission order with Amazon incurs additional costs. These can be found in the current FBA fee overview under point 3.1. All fees are stated exclusive of VAT and other taxes.

Source: Amazon

The fees that actually apply for an Amazon remission depend on various factors such as the destination address, as well as the weight and dimensions (standard size/oversize) of a product. For the local return of a standard-sized product weighing between 501 and 1000 grams, for example, a fee of 0.45 euros per unit is charged. For an oversize product of the same weight, the fee is set at 1.00 euro.

Additionally, Amazon charges different costs for cross-border remissions based on various zones. Returns to Zone 1 are cheaper than those to Zone 2. The fees start at 0.65 euros. However, if it is a return of inventory under the pan-European shipping to the address of a seller’s primary shop, Amazon only charges the local fees for this remission, even if the inventory was located abroad.

The fees for the disposal of units are in a similar range to those for a return and range from 0.25 euros to 3.00 euros for very large, heavy units.

Can sellers send remittances back to Amazon?

Returned products, known as remittances, can be sent back to a logistics center by sellers. However, it should be considered that an Amazon remission is usually carried out to avoid long-term storage fees. It is important to determine whether it is worthwhile to keep the product in the inventory or if it has become a slow mover or is no longer sellable.

In any case, sellers should first check whether the products are possibly defective or damaged and collect some returns before restocking their Amazon remittance to save on shipping costs.