Amazon's December 18 FBM Returns Change: What to Check If Your Returns Go to a Third-Party Warehouse
If you ship Amazon orders yourself from a US warehouse, a notice about returns may already be in your inbox. It says that from December 18, 2026, almost every US return on a seller-fulfilled order will need a prepaid return label.
One caution first. The change comes from an email Amazon sent to sellers, reported by several trade publications. As of November 7, Amazon's public help pages don't mention it yet. Treat the notice in your own Seller Central account as the final word.
What is already in force
Amazon's help pages describe the current program:
US sellers are enrolled automatically in prepaid returns for seller-fulfilled orders. Amazon issues the return label through Buy Shipping and charges your seller account.
Since February 8, 2026, all US seller-fulfilled returns go through the Amazon Prepaid Return Label program, and the old high-value exemption is gone.
Categories exempt today: Amazon Handmade, certified pre-owned watches, non-physical items, items that can't be returned by law and dangerous goods, and extra-large or heavy items.
What the December notice changes
As reported from Amazon's email:
Address-only returns, where the buyer pays postage, no longer satisfy the rule. Heavy and bulky items are excluded for now.
You have seven calendar days from the return request, not from the item's arrival, to upload or authorize a prepaid label in Manage Seller-Fulfilled Returns, or to refund in full without asking for the item back.
If you do neither, Amazon may refund the buyer, deduct the amount from your account, and let the buyer keep the item.
Labels sent through buyer messages reportedly don't count.
The notice doesn't define "heavy and bulky" or say when that exclusion ends. It also doesn't say whether an automatic refund can be recovered through a SAFE-T claim. Don't plan around either.
Our view: for most sellers the label rule itself is a small step, because most US returns already use Amazon labels. The deadline is the real change. Two less glamorous settings matter just as much: your return address and your package data.
Three things that go wrong with warehouse fulfillment
Your return address. Amazon's help page is blunt. If a return can't be delivered because your return address is invalid or wrong, the item is treated as abandoned, Amazon may dispose of it and withhold the proceeds, and repeated problems can affect your selling privileges. Addresses often go stale after a warehouse move or a change of provider. Check yours now.
Your weights and dimensions. Return postage is calculated from the package data in your listings. USPS charges by actual weight and zone. UPS charges by the greater of actual or dimensional weight (length × width × height ÷ 139), plus a fuel surcharge the help page puts at usually 13% to 15%. Carrier adjustments can post two to three weeks later. Understate the package and your returns cost more than you budgeted.
Where your return address is. Zones run to your return address. If it is on the West Coast, a return from the East Coast crosses the country. Amazon lets you set more than one US return address, so if a large share of your orders ship east, run the numbers on a second address.
Set a price line before the clock starts
You pay for the label. On a low-priced item, return postage can approach or exceed what the item is worth, and a refund without a return may be cheaper. Decide a price line for each SKU ahead of time: below it, refund and let the buyer keep the item; above it, send a label and get the item back. Decisions made in advance are easy to execute inside seven days.
A checklist before December 18
Check your Seller Central notices and find which SKUs still rely on address-only returns or an exemption.
Confirm your default and additional return addresses are valid, and that the warehouse expects returns there.
Recheck weights and dimensions, especially for light, bulky products.
Set a refund-without-return price line for each SKU.
Have someone check Manage Seller-Fulfilled Returns every day, holidays included. Late December through January is peak return season.
Agree with your warehouse how you will hear about returns and whether items are photographed. Amazon asks for photos linking a returned item to the original when you dispute buyer-caused damage.
Keep records, such as screenshots of label uploads and refunds, in case you need to dispute a deduction.
This article is based on Amazon help pages, a seller forum announcement and trade press reviewed on November 7, 2026. The December 18 details come from reports of Amazon's notice to sellers, and Amazon's help pages had not yet been updated. Follow the notice and help pages in your own account.
Tengloong Warehouse provides storage, order fulfillment, labeling and relabeling, and product repair and refurbishment from the Los Angeles area of California. If you're planning seller-fulfilled shipping from a US warehouse, ask us about the details through our contact page.