Certain returns of Amazon orders done at UPS stores could come with a new fee.
The Information, a media outlet that follows the tech industry, first reported Monday on the fee, which amounts to $1. Customers incur the new charge when they do Amazon returns at UPS locations that are equally far or farther than a no-charge option available to them, according to the outlet.
"We offer convenient, easy returns to Amazon customers, with one or more options for label-free, box-free returns at no cost," an Amazon spokesperson told FOX Business on Tuesday. "We always offer a free option for customers to return their item – if a customer would prefer to return their item at a UPS Store when there is a free option closer to their delivery address, a very small amount of customers may incur a $1 fee."
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The addition of the fee took place in 2023. It comes after Amazon’s 2022 implementation of a charge for instances of returns via UPS pick-up, according to The Information.
Whole Foods, Kohl’s and Amazon Fresh locations are some places where Amazon’s customers can make returns for free.
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The Information suggested that the e-commerce giant’s application of the new UPS fee could be linked to cost-cutting efforts for returns.
U.S. retailers experienced a 16.5% rate of return for online merchandise in 2022, the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail found in a survey. Comparatively, it was 20.8% the prior year.
Amazon has also been working to bring down its costs as a whole in recent months.
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In early February, Amazon reported that its net sales came in at $149.2 billion for the fourth quarter, a roughly 8.6% increase from the same three-month span in the previous year. Meanwhile, Amazon’s net income, at $278 million, narrowed year over year.
