Amazon does a pretty good job of showing you the top-selling items of a product category when you search for something you want to buy. However, if you aren’t satisfied with what those items offer, you may have to dive deep into hundreds of its listings before you finally land on one. You could check an item’s ratings and reviews to see if they’re good enough but even then, some products may not turn out to be what had claimed to be.

To tackle this problem and help you make an informed decision, Amazon has rolled out a “frequently returned item” label that shows up as a warning on products that have a high return rate. In this post, we’ll explain what the “frequently returned item” label is all about and where you can see it on Amazon. 

What is “frequently returned item” on Amazon

When browsing through products on Amazon, you may see a “frequently returned” label on some of the items that appear inside search results. This is part of Amazon’s move to encourage users to stop buying low-quality or misleading products on the platform and check an item’s reviews carefully before making a purchase.

Items that are labeled as “frequently returned” are products that Amazon has found to have a high return rate, meaning they’re returned to the seller more often than other products. This can be helpful for users who tend to purchase items just by looking at a product description and avoid checking its reviews and ratings. Since even reviews on some products can be misleading, a warning label provided by Amazon itself can help you deduce whether a product is legit or misleading. 

While you can return most products sold on Amazon anytime within 30 days of purchase free of charge, this move can save you the time it takes for your order to be delivered and returned. This is equally beneficial for Amazon itself as it can prevent the extra cost of returning sold goods back to the seller every time a return request is submitted. 

Where is the “frequently returned item” label on Amazon

The “frequently returned item” label should appear when you visit a product’s listing on Amazon. Once you open a listing that has high return rates, you should see a yellow banner appear under the “About this item” section where you can see the product’s description. This banner will read “Frequently returned item” and suggest you to check for the item’s reviews before making the purchase. 

At this time, the “frequently returned item” label only appears to be visible for items listed on Amazon’s US portal but we may see this label appear across other regions in the future. You may have to be signed in to your Amazon account in order to see this label on such products. 

Should I buy an item with a “frequently returned” label or not?

Preferably not. Amazon classifies certain products with the “frequently returned item” label because they have high return rates. Such products could have been returned to the sellers for any number of reasons – it could be because the item wasn’t as described, didn’t work well, was not worth the price, wasn’t satisfactory, or was outright misleading. 

While this warning doesn’t stop you from purchasing the said item, the “frequently returned item” label may encourage you to check further about a product’s listing and see the kind of reviews it has received. Before making the purchase, ensure the item is returnable and for how long you can return it once delivered. 

That’s all you need to know about the “frequently returned item” label on Amazon.