Amazon, Walmart and 6 More Retailers That Offer ‘Returnless Returns’
Written by
Daria Uhlig
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Angela Corry
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Returns are a fact of life for shoppers and retailers, and nowhere is that more true than with online shopping. Online shoppers are more than 2.5 times as likely as in-store shoppers to return items they purchased, according to Capital One Shopping Research. To help manage the volume, some online retailers are offering “returnless returns” on select items.
A returnless return issues a refund or replacement for a purchase you don’t want, without requiring you to return the item to the store. These policies aren’t new, but they’ve mostly stayed under the radar.
In a June 2022 interview with CNN, Steve Rop, chief operating officer at goTRG, a company that processes returns for major retailers, said that several goTRG clients were considering implementing “keep it” policies. However, Amazon had been offering returnless returns for several years.
The ecommerce giant is highly selective about what returns it allows customers to keep — and which customers are given that option. Sequence, an ecommerce platform recently acquired by an Amazon logistics company called AMZ Prep, notes on its website that Amazon only allows customers to keep unopened and undamaged products with a return policy of 30 days or less, sold or fulfilled by Amazon.com. Amazon is planning to add a new section on Amazon.com that will feature direct-from-China products that also will be eligible for returnless returns, AP reported.
You won’t know what products are eligible until you begin a return. And you might find that returnless return availability is inconsistent even among like products. That’s because sellers who participate in Amazon’s order fulfillment program can select which, if any, of their products or categories of products to include.
Walmart has a similar policy. While it doesn’t mention returnless returns on its website, it does acknowledge that Marketplace sellers might have return policies that differ from Walmart’s own. Walmart has allowed those sellers to offer returnless returns since January, according to AP.
Because retailers don’t promote their “keep it” policies for fear of abuse, you won’t find them listed in any of the sites’ return policies. However, AP reported that the following retailers also offer returnless returns:
- Target
- Overstock
- Wayfair
- Temu
- Shein
- Chewy
For these retailers and their customers, returnless returns are win-win. The retailers save shipping and restocking expenses and build good will with their customers. And at the very least, consumers save trips to the post office or return center — but some also wind up with free merchandise they can keep, gift or sell.
Frequent customers with little or no history of returning opened merchandise are the best candidates for returnless returns, according to ReturnZap, developer of an app that helps Shopify store owners process returns. The products most likely to qualify for returnless returns are those that are inexpensive or heavy, or that can’t be resold after they’ve been opened.
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