Amazon Removes the Custom Return Instructions Field From Seller-Fulfilled Return Settings — FBM Sellers Lose the Only Place They Could Tell Buyers to Send Items Back Unused and in Original Packaging
Amazon is retiring the free-text return instructions field that seller-fulfilled merchants used to set condition expectations before a buyer ships an item back. Amazon's notice to sellers reads that starting August 2026, the option to add return instructions in return settings will no longer be available. The field was the one place an FBM seller could say "unused, in original packaging, all accessories included" in the buyer's own return flow — everything else about the return is now automated around it, since prepaid return labels became mandatory in February 2026 and the refund clock runs four calendar days from delivery of the return. Amazon has not published what, if anything, replaces the text; sellers report buyers now receive the label with only Amazon's standard boilerplate.
Key Points
- Amazon's notice states that starting August 2026 the option to add return instructions in return settings is no longer available — the source gives the month, not a specific calendar day
- The field being removed is the custom free-text box in Return Settings that FBM sellers used to state condition requirements: unused, original packaging, all parts and accessories present
- This affects seller-fulfilled (FBM) orders only — FBA returns are handled by Amazon's fulfillment centers and never used this field
- Amazon has not stated whether generic boilerplate replaces the seller's text or whether buyers now see no condition guidance at all; sellers report the latter
- The removal compounds two earlier 2026 returns changes: prepaid return labels became mandatory for nearly all US seller-fulfilled orders on February 8, 2026, and the refund processing window moved to four calendar days on January 26, 2026
- With no way to state condition requirements up front, disputes over used, damaged, or incomplete returns shift downstream to SAFE-T claims, where the burden of proof sits with the seller
What You Should Do Now
- 1Open Return Settings in Seller Central and check whether your custom return instructions text is still present; copy it somewhere before it disappears, since you will need the wording elsewhere
- 2Move condition requirements into the listing itself — bullet points, A+ Content, and product images are the surfaces you still control, and they reach the buyer before the purchase rather than after
- 3Tighten your inbound inspection process for FBM returns: with no up-front instructions and a four-calendar-day refund clock, documenting condition on arrival is what a SAFE-T claim will rest on
- 4Photograph and log the condition of returned units on receipt, before refunding, so a claim for a used or incomplete return has evidence attached
- 5Watch your return-rate and SAFE-T outcomes over the next two months against your pre-August baseline to see whether the removal is actually costing you units, before repricing to absorb the risk