Hi Isabel – I completely agree that removing returns altogether isn’t a viable solution because there are sometimes reasons for legit returns. And while I don’t doubt that Amazon has their own deal with the payment processors and don’t pay nearly $20 per disputed charge (which seems outrageous, especially when the price of the item could be far less and even when a charge is fraudulent, it may have nothing at all to do with the Vendor), there are plenty of things they could do to mitigate people from abusing the system. I mean, even if they removed returns completely, I don’t think that would mean all of those returns would turn to claims of fraud. The people doing the returning are gaming the system, thinking that they found a “legal loophole” that allows them to read for free because they’re allowed to return for any reason. Claiming Fraud is a completely different thing, and I don’t think that if this loophole was closed all those people taking advantage of it would just switch to claiming Fraud. That could lead them to a lot more trouble with their credit card purchaser, they can’t claim Fraud over and over and get away with it…

Amazon could keep returns but just limit them in time or total number, and that would be the easiest fix here. That way people would save their returns for legit reasons, not just to get free books. If someone really needs to make THAT many ebook returns in a given timeframe that the limit blocks them, then that’s something Amazon should investigate because something else is at play there. They’re just taking the lazy approach that makes them seem like a great company to buy from… as a customer. But not so great as a seller.

But, as a merchant (in my day job), I can understand an easy return policy. It might surprise some to learn that when someone disputes a charge, the merchant pays a fee. My company pays $20 per disputed charge. I’m sure Amazon has power to negotiate a lower fee.

But what this means is that when someone says, “I didn’t make that charge, it’s fraud,” the money is removed from the merchants account PLUS an additional $20 is charged. So, let’s say a person buys an ebook at $9.95 and then calls and says it’s fraud, then that $9.95 is deducted, PLUS an additional $20 is deducted from the merchant’s account.

Fraud is one example. Let’s say someone calls their credit card company and claims they were not happy with the product. Boom. Refund. $20 charge.

There’s a whole host of reasons to dispute a charge, but you get the idea.

The merchant can then provide “proof”. So, with fraud, you can show the electronic receipt and usage. With a claim they didn’t receive it, you can try to show proof (can be more difficult with tangible products than electronic products). With a claim the product was not satisfactory, there is little that can be done. My company almost always loses these, not matter how thoroughly the product is used.

Some credit card companies offer this as a benefit. “Not happy with your purchase, let us know.”

What consumers don’t realize is that the merchant is charged a fee. Of course credit card companies are happy to offer this benefit. It’s a revenue source for them. And ultimately who pays? Consumers do, because those fees are factored into cost of doing business and ultimately determine the price of goods.

I would imagine within Amazon there is an entire department dedicated to handling disputes. But one of the best ways to minimize disputes is to have an easy refund policy. If someone goes to CS first, yes, the retailer loses that money, but they aren’t paying that dispute charge.

I would imagine that for a company Amazon’s size, even with negotiated dispute fee rates, we’re talking about a considerable expense.

I am sharing this not to defend Amazon, but just to share my window into merchant/retailer life. There are solid business reasons to offer an easy return policy that have nothing to do with gauging authors.

The bad eggs, the people who try to read for free with these returns, are probably the same ones who would turn around and file a dispute if a refund isn’t granted. Solutions for this issue would include eliminating those merchant fees, or credit rating services factoring in frequent returns, claims of fraud, etc into a credit rating, so consumers would be less likely to make, what I call, a fraudulent dispute.

When sales are low, any returns or reading trends are even more noticeable. The XX-country customer who buys and returns their way through your entire catalog…the book that has 25-50% returns one month (again, when sales are peanuts, every return hurts that much more…).

When I first self-published, back in 2011 (before taking a multiple-year hiatus), returns at Amazon were unheard of. It’s definitely word-of-mouth now. That combined with lack of values, that has led to outright theft of authors’ hard work.

Makes garnering the motivation to write that much more difficult.

What I understand is that Amazon’s policy is on the side of the buyer and less of the authors. Which doesn’t make sense and is counterproductive. It’s like wanting to sell eggs, but killing the chickens in return! I’m glad this issue was reported on social media.

I am analyzing the option of publishing my books on a platform other than Amazon.

Simply put, the policy allows the reader to download an ebook, read it, and return it for a refund, preventing the author from collecting a royalty. As amazingly wrong as it sounds, the same thing can happen to a series! This policy is especially problematic for the independent author who self-publishes.
An avid reader may be able to read a book in a single day or two. Unless the policy changes, the writer is deprived of income even if Amazon changes the policy to limit ‘read and return’ to seven days.
Other outlets have a ‘no return’ or ‘no return once opened’ policy for ebooks. As authors, we allow a ‘look inside’ of our books. Once a reader has used that option and become engaged in the story, there is no reason for a book to be returned.

The Authors Guild is organizing a meeting with Amazon senior staff to discuss this issue. Our plan is to prepare for that meeting by ‘Storming the Castle’ – bombarding Amazon’s email with protests for three days prior to the meeting. We will also storm Mr. Jassy’s (Amazon CEO) Twitter account with the same message. We can also cancel Amazon credit cards in protest and refrain from making any purchases on Amazon during that period.

This is the polite but firm message we plan to send to Amazon:

I am writing to protest Amazon’s current ‘read and return for refund’ book policy.
Let me be clear. When a reader buys a book, the author receives a royalty in payment for their work, as does the publisher. When that book is read and returned, the royalty is deducted from the accounts of both author and publisher. The reader has, in effect, stolen the property of the author.
This policy must be changed! Authors and publishers have the right to reimbursement for their labors. It can take years to write a book and more years to see it in print.
We ask for a non-return policy for all ebooks.

We don’t know how many people this really affected because, outside some authors in a few FB groups, most authors claim they aren’t seeing an uptick in returns or that returns are like they’ve always been. I’m not seeing an uptick at all myself and I don’t think this problem affected as many as people made it seem.

I’d be shocked if Amazon changed its policy. Amazon cares about the customers first. The only solution authors can do if this has gotten so bad it’s hurting their finances is either try to do something that offsets the returns a bit or as some suggested, leave Amazon. But I believe the latter was more spoken out of anger. I’ve not seen anyone leave yet who has advocated it. Some were calling for a mass exodus on FB but that was never going to happen. Authors need Amazon like it or not.

The Authors Guild supposedly got involved and spoke to Amazon but of course, Amazon said they’ve seen no issues. Sadly, unless something becomes an issue for Amazon itself, nothing changes. Maybe it’s a good sign no one is talking about this anymore. Maybe that means the authors seeing this uptick have seen things return back to normal.

But Amazon’s return process is nothing new and has been this way for years and no, I don’t think it will change, at least not now and definitely not because of indies. It would probably take the big publishers making a stink for Amazon to pay real attention.