There’s a highly useful new update for Amazon FBA sellers lately—the “Partial Refund” feature officially announced by Amazon on September 29. But how exactly does this feature help sellers solve their pain points? Let’s break it down.
First, let’s clarify what this feature is: Simply put, in the past, when a buyer requested a return, sellers had two options: either ask the buyer to return the item before issuing a refund, or offer a “refund-only” (which only applied to items under $75). Now, there’s a third choice—sellers can issue a “partial refund” to buyers without requiring them to return the item.
The feature also has a broad reach: it’s available on the US site plus five European countries (the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain). For products, it excludes hazardous materials and hygiene products, but otherwise covers nearly all return-eligible items.
The next key point is the flexibility this feature offers sellers: Sellers can set the refund percentage themselves, adjusting it anywhere from 0% to 100%. The setup is flexible too—you can enable the feature for all your store’s products uniformly, or set custom rules for individual ASINs.
Take an example: If you sell small appliances priced at several hundred dollars, and a buyer occasionally says an item “has a small scratch but still works fine,” you used to face a dilemma: either let them return it (which meant paying high shipping and handling fees) or issue a full refund (which ate into your profits). Now, you can offer a 20% partial refund. The buyer keeps the item without complaints, and you avoid costly return expenses—isn’t that a win-win?
There’s also a thoughtful detail: the system helps sellers filter eligible buyers. Not all buyers who request returns will see the “partial refund” option. The system selects “compliant users” based on their historical behavior—for instance, serial return abusers may not get this option. This acts as a shield for sellers, blocking users who abuse the return policy and preventing large-scale or frequent malicious refund requests.
Now, let’s talk about its core value: cutting costs, especially for high-priced items. Any FBA seller knows how high the hidden costs of returns can be: shipping fees for buyers to send items back, labor costs for warehouses to process returns, and even “removal fees” if returned items pile up. For high-priced goods—like a piece of furniture costing over $1,000—shipping and storage damage from one return can even exceed the item’s profit margin.
With partial refunds, small issues can be resolved with a minor refund, and items don’t need to be sent back to the warehouse—eliminating all those costs. What’s more, Amazon has clearly stated that “the sales commission policy remains unchanged,” so sellers don’t have to worry about their commission structure being affected. This stability is a big plus.
Even more importantly, this feature isn’t standalone—it complements Amazon’s existing “refund-only” option (for items under \(75). For example, if your store sells both \)20 small accessories (eligible for “refund-only”) and $300 electronics (eligible for “partial refund”), you can now design tailored return solutions for products at different price points. This makes return management far more flexible.
To sum up: The “Partial Refund” feature is essentially a cost-saving tool that Amazon has handed to FBA sellers. It doesn’t add commission burdens, reduces return volumes through flexible refunds, and filters out malicious users. It’s especially ideal for FBA sellers operating on US/European sites and focusing on high-priced products. We recommend trying it out on the Seller Central soon—adjust the refund percentage based on your product profits and return rates, and it might save you a lot of hassle!
Do you think this new feature will be useful for you? Feel free to share your usage plans in the comments section!
