Overview

Amazon's German marketplace is making a significant change to its return policy for consumer electronics. The platform is reducing the customer return window from 30 days to 14 days across most consumer electronics categories on Amazon.de. This policy shift affects all sellers operating on the German marketplace, regardless of whether they fulfill orders through FBA or merchant-fulfilled channels, and carries important implications for sellers managing returns, inventory, and customer service in the European market.

What's Changing

• Return window reduced — The standard customer return window for most consumer electronics on Amazon.de is dropping from 30 days to 14 days, counted from the date of product delivery
• Broad category coverage — The change applies across multiple consumer electronics subcategories including PCs, video and DVD products, and related electronics segments
• Channel-neutral enforcement — The new 14-day window applies to all eligible products sold on Amazon.de regardless of the fulfillment channel, meaning both FBA and seller-fulfilled orders are affected
• Automatic detail page updates — Amazon will automatically update the return window information displayed on each affected product's detail page, so sellers do not need to manually adjust listing content
• Some exclusions apply — Certain product types within consumer electronics are excluded from this change and will retain their existing return windows

Transition Period and Timeline

Amazon is implementing a transition period to ease customers into the new policy. Starting from the initial effective date in 2024, there will be an approximately one-month grace period during which customers can still request returns through the online return center using the previous 30-day window. This buffer period is designed to prevent confusion and give buyers time to adjust their expectations around electronics purchases.

During this transition window, return requests submitted under the old 30-day policy remain fully valid and fall within the scope of Amazon's standard return and refund policy. Sellers are required to authorize and process refunds on these returns just as they would under normal circumstances. There should be no change to how sellers handle returns during this interim period — the key difference is simply that the grace period has a defined end date.