Overview

Amazon UK has rolled out a stricter international returns policy affecting Fulfilled by Merchant sellers who ship orders outside the United Kingdom. Under the updated rules, sellers must now respond to international return requests within three calendar days — a notable reduction from the previous, more lenient timeframe. Falling short of this requirement could damage account health metrics, making immediate compliance essential for any FBM seller involved in cross-border trade.

What's Changing

• Three-day response mandate — FBM sellers must provide return options to international buyers within three calendar days of a return request being submitted.
• Threshold of £20 — The requirement applies specifically to merchant-fulfilled items valued above twenty pounds sterling that are shipped internationally.
• Account health at stake — Missing the response window may trigger negative marks on a seller's account health dashboard, with potential escalation if violations pile up.
• Already in effect — This is not a future deadline. The policy is live now, so sellers need to act immediately.

Who Needs to Pay Attention

The change primarily targets UK-based FBM sellers fulfilling international orders themselves rather than routing them through Fulfilment by Amazon. Sellers relying entirely on FBA for cross-border shipments should not be directly affected, since Amazon manages returns on FBA inventory. That said, sellers running a hybrid model with both FBA and FBM listings should audit which international SKUs are merchant-fulfilled and confirm those comply with the new timeline. Anyone shipping regularly to EU countries or other international destinations from the UK should treat this as a high priority given the volume of cross-border orders in those corridors.

How to Comply

Sellers should start by reviewing their current returns workflow end to end, identifying any step that could push response times beyond three days. Because the policy counts calendar days rather than business days, weekends and bank holidays are included — meaning customer service coverage needs to account for non-working days. Ensuring that return addresses and shipping instructions in Seller Central are accurate and current will also help avoid unnecessary back-and-forth that eats into the response window.