Originally posted 10/04/19
We’ve all gotten a gift over the holidays that we didn’t like. Of course, it’s easy to grin and say, “Thank you”, when you know you’ll get a refund on the unwanted bounty of the season.
Returning that lime-green polyester jumpsuit might be good news for the unfortunate gift recipient, but all too often it’s bad news for your business.
Refund expenses can have a significant impact on your bottom line, particularly over the peak holiday season. They are even more significant for merchants across industry verticals with high return rates, such as clothing and accessories.
There are typically two processing fees during a payment transaction, a fixed authorization fee, and a variable processing fee. Refund fees add up quickly when your payment processor doesn’t refund the variable processing fee – typically, a percentage of the overall payment.
When it comes to Amazon Pay, merchants are always refunded the variable processing fee – whether the customer made a $1,000 or $1 purchase. We only retain the 30¢ authorization fee in a refund scenario.
As part of commitment to put our customers first, we’re helping merchants make returns easy for their customers. We’re also dedicated to ensuring that our merchants are not penalized for either full or partial refund situations.
That’s what we like to call a win-win-win scenario – good for your customers, good for your bottom line, and good for Amazon Pay merchants.