Edu here. On October 16 Amazon told its sellers that holiday purchases can be returned until January 31. "This policy will apply every year," it added. And at the end of last year the news was full of lists of big stores charging to send things back, like Macy's taking $9.99 out of the refund. So if you run a small brand, the question for this December is probably whether you should charge for returns too. Fair question.
My first instinct was yes. If Macy's and Zara charge for returns, shoppers must be used to it by now, right? But then I looked at how the big stores actually charge and at what people said in our returns study, and now I'd say "maybe, but not the way they do it".
Key Takeaways
- About 72% of retailers charged for at least some returns in 2025, up from 66% a year earlier. Most big stores still keep returns free in store, and a small online brand usually has no store.
- Of the merchants that started charging, 47% got more complaints and 37% said they lost customers because of the fees.
- In our study of 7,500+ comments about returns, most of the anger about fees was about charges people found out about too late.
- When a return was refused, about 64% of the reactions we coded were chargebacks, and those can cost a brand more than the return itself.
What are big retailers charging for returns this year?
Let's start with the window, because that's what shoppers will compare you to. Items bought on Amazon.com between November 1 and December 31, 2026 can be returned until January 31, 2027 (Apple products only until January 15). Amazon also told sellers it's now a yearly rule, according to PPC Land. So for a lot of shoppers, and probably for yours too, late January is now simply when holiday returns end, whatever store they bought from.
Then the fees. Over the last holiday season, TheStreet listed $9.99 taken out of Macy's refunds, $11.99 per mailed return at T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, $8 at JCPenney, $7.50 at J.Crew and $4.95 per item at Zara. The same piece also has the bigger picture, from eMarketer:
In the NRF and Happy Returns 2025 report, as summarized by eMarketer, 72% of retailers charged for at least some returns, up from 66% the year before. Of the merchants that started charging, 47% reported more customer complaints and 37% said they lost customers because of the return fees.
But look at the small print on that list. Most of those fees are for mailed returns, and the free option is to walk into a store: T.J. Maxx's $11.99 goes away if you return in person, and Macy's waives its fee for loyalty members. So the big stores aren't really charging everyone. They charge the people who picked the more expensive way to return. A small DTC brand has no store, so every return is a mailed return, and a fee lands on every customer who sends something back. I think that's the part most of the "everyone charges now" posts miss.
What do shoppers say about return fees?
In August we published a study of 7,500+ comments about returns, from fashion, beauty, outdoor and personal finance communities where people compare notes on fees and refunds. Of the comments about fees, about 37% were about restocking fees (often on items that were never opened) and about 34% were about return shipping taken out of the refund. Another 26% or so said free returns are simply what they expect before they'll buy at all.
What surprised me is that the anger wasn't really about paying, but about finding out late or not having a choice. A small group (about 3%) even said a fee is fine if they know about it before they buy. And this comment explains the "no choice" part better than I can:
"I don't mind having to pay for return shipping but I do mind it being an automatic process/predetermined method deducted from my refund when I KNOW I could have returned it more cheaply using another shipping method.They recently charged me $8 for UPS to return a tiny network adapter. There was no other option available and I know I could have done it via USPS a lot more cheaply.That sticks in my craw."
Surveys from this year point the same way, even if I'd take them as an upper limit (people asked about a future fee usually sound tougher than they act). In a Bizrate survey of 1,010 US adults in March 2026, 72% said a $10 return fee on a $50 sweater would make them abandon the purchase. About half of those (52%) said they'd go straight to a competitor with free returns. And in Loop's 2026 survey of 1,000 recent online returners, 92% said fees affect how they shop in some way.
What happens when a return goes wrong?
As a small brand, I'd think about this part the most. In the study we looked at what people did when a return was refused, delayed for too long or refunded in a way they didn't accept. About 64% of the reactions we coded were chargebacks or card disputes. Only about 12% kept arguing with support and about 10% complained in public, so most of this never shows up in your inbox. It goes to the bank.
A chargeback costs more than the refund would have, because with Stripe, for example, the disputed amount and a dispute fee are both taken from your balance. The fee isn't given back even if you win (outside a few countries), and every dispute also raises your dispute rate with the card network. So refusing a $40 return to save $40 can end with the $40 gone anyway, plus the fee, plus the customer. And people pass the method around like a tip:
"Chase is really good about these disputed claims, I bought a car radio/Navigation system from Alibaba and after the thing broke within the first week and the seller wouldn't help, I disputed the claim with Chase and I had a refund in less than a 2-3 weeks."
Do shoppers read your return policy before they buy?
In Loop's survey, 58% said they often or always check a store's return policy before buying online. In our comments, only about 1% mention checking the policy first, and most people seem to find it during the return. I think both can be true. A survey asks what people usually do, and a comment describes what actually happened to them (one of the reasons I don't fully trust surveys for this kind of question).
But the few who do check are the ones a new brand needs most, because they're deciding whether to try you at all:
"Yeah I wanted to order from them and didn't because of the return policy. Why would I ever take a chance on a new store when I have no idea how the fit and quality is?"
What about gift returns over the holidays?
Here I have less than I hoped. I filtered the study's comments for Christmas and holiday mentions and expected a pile of angry gift returns. Instead, a lot of it was store staff telling stories about people returning dead Christmas trees in January, so I can't say much about how gift recipients feel about fees.
Two things do carry over, I think. People buying for someone else are guessing at a size, and free returns are what make that guess feel safe. Also, once people get used to a generous policy they treat it as part of what they paid for, so tightening it later feels like a broken deal. This comment is about L.L.Bean:
"Every Christmas, if you got clothes, they were from L L Bean. Until about 10 years ago. Between the return policy and general quality of their goods, they're not the same company."
So should a small brand charge for returns?
Maybe, yes, but carefully. In the comments most of the anger was about how fees were charged more than about the fee itself, so the way you charge matters more than the amount. Here's how I'd read the common setups against what shoppers said:
| Setup | What the comments say | My read |
|---|---|---|
| Free returns | About 26% of fee comments treat them as the minimum before buying | Probably needed if fit or finish is hard to judge from a photo |
| Free exchanges, a small fee on refunds | Loop found 87% would take an exchange under the right circumstances | The middle option I'd test first for holiday orders |
| Flat fee shown on the product page and at checkout | A fee people know about is rarely the complaint | Fine, if it really is visible before the card is charged |
| Return shipping deducted, one carrier only | About 34% of fee complaints | Let people pick the cheaper way to send it |
| Restocking fee | About 37% of fee complaints, often called dishonest when the item was never opened | I'd drop it |
| Store credit only | About 68% of complaints about how the refund came back | Make it optional, never the only choice |
For this December specifically, I'd keep it simple. Match the late-January window if you can (Amazon has set that expectation) and make exchanges free. If you charge for refunds, show the exact amount on the product page and in the confirmation email. And if a return turns into an argument anyway, just refund it, because in most cases the refund costs you less than the chargeback that would come after it. The wording matters too, and the study's glossary has the words shoppers use for a good return, like "no hassle returns" and "drop off".
What I don't know
I don't know if a small fee pays off. Sure, the merchants who lost customers probably also saved money on returns, but nobody I found says which side was bigger. And I found nothing at all for a brand under $5M with no store. If you've tested a fee against free returns and kept the numbers, I'd really like to see them. And if you charge one now, do you know how many of your chargebacks started as a return?
What do your customers say about returns?
Insightios researches the conversations where your customers, and your competitors' customers, talk about fit, refunds and what made them stop buying. You get each complaint with the original quotes, so you know which ones to fix first.
Frequently asked questions
Should a small online store charge return fees?
It can, but probably not the way big retailers do. Big stores mostly charge for mailed returns and keep returns free in store, while a small online brand has no store, so a fee hits every return. A safer setup is free exchanges, a small fee on refunds that is shown on the product page before checkout, and refunds to the card rather than store credit only.
How much do big retailers charge for returns?
Over the 2025 holiday season TheStreet listed $9.99 deducted from Macy's refunds (waived for loyalty members), $11.99 per mailed return at T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, $8 at JCPenney, $7.50 at J.Crew and $4.95 per item at Zara. Most of these fees apply to mailed returns, and returning in store is free.
What is Amazon's holiday return policy for 2026?
Items bought on Amazon.com between November 1 and December 31, 2026 can be returned until January 31, 2027, except Apple products, which have until January 15. Amazon told sellers on October 16, 2026 that this policy will apply every year.
Do return fees make customers leave?
Some of them. In the NRF and Happy Returns 2025 report, as summarized by eMarketer, 37% of merchants that started charging for returns said they lost customers because of it. In a 2026 Bizrate survey, 72% of shoppers said a $10 return fee on a $50 purchase would make them abandon it. In customer comments, most of the anger is about fees people found out about too late.
Sources
- PPC Land, Amazon makes its January 31 holiday return deadline an annual rule, October 20, 2026 (reporting Amazon's Seller News post of October 16, 2026). Retrieved 2026-11-10. Article.
- TheStreet (via Yahoo Finance), Best Buy, Macy's, and Kohl's change holiday return policies, December 21, 2025. Includes eMarketer's summary of the NRF and Happy Returns 2025 report. Retrieved 2026-11-10. Article.
- National Retail Federation and Happy Returns, 2025 Retail Returns Landscape, October 15, 2025. Retrieved 2026-11-10. Report page.
- Loop (via PR Newswire), America's changing returns habits are reshaping how consumers shop online, September 10, 2026. Survey by Sapio Research, May to June 2026, 1,000 US consumers who made an online return in the past six months and 200 US retail decision-makers. Retrieved 2026-11-10. Release.
- Bizrate Insights, 2026 Data: Ecommerce Conversion Optimization Drivers, May 7, 2026. Online survey of 1,010 US adults, March 20 to 29, 2026. Retrieved 2026-11-10. Article.
- Stripe Docs, How disputes work. Retrieved 2026-11-10. Documentation.
- Insightios, returns study, August 2026. Retrieved 2026-11-10. Study and methodology. Shares and customer quotes above come from this existing study; no new comments were collected.
