Overview

Amazon is reinstating its holiday‑season extended return period for purchases made between November 1 and December 31 2025. The window now runs until January 31 2026 for most items, with Apple‑branded products closing two weeks earlier on January 15 2026. Sellers must anticipate a concentrated surge of returns that will influence inventory levels, cash flow, and operational planning throughout the first quarter of 2026.

Key Points

• Extended deadline — Items bought during the holiday window can be sent back until the end of January 2026, regardless of when they were delivered.
• Apple exception — Apple devices and accessories must be returned by January 15 2026, giving sellers a shorter processing window for that brand.
• All fulfillment models included — The policy applies to Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA), Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM), and Amazon‑retail orders without any separate opt‑in steps.
• No extra enrollment — Amazon automatically enforces the extension for qualifying categories; sellers do not need to submit a request or adjust settings to trigger it.
• Return eligibility unchanged — Product‑specific return rules (e.g., condition, category restrictions) remain the same; only the calendar cutoff is extended.

How the Extended Returns Window Works

1. Fixed cut‑off date — Amazon replaces the usual “30 days from delivery” rule with a hard deadline of January 31 2026 for all qualifying holiday orders. For example, a toy purchased on November 5 2025 can be returned as late as January 31 2026, giving the buyer almost three months to decide.
2. Apple brand timeline — Apple products follow a separate schedule that ends on January 15 2026. A customer who buys an iPhone on December 20 2025 must initiate the return by the mid‑January date, or the request will be denied.
3. Eligibility criteria stay intact — The extension does not broaden which items are returnable. If a particular category (e.g., hazardous materials) is excluded from returns under normal policy, it remains excluded during the holiday stretch. Sellers should still verify each SKU’s return eligibility before the season starts.