Announcement reposted from Amazon:
Starting September 28, 2023, seller-fulfilled items returned using the Prepaid Return Label (APRL) feature are automatically applicable for Refund at First Scan (RFS). Customers using an Amazon Prepaid Return Label on amazon.de will receive a refund immediately after they hand over the return to the carrier and the return label is scanned.
Refund at First Scan eliminates the manual effort needed to process returns in Seller Central, makes it easy to comply with our policies, and helps reduce customer contacts and A-Z claims, which translates into a better customer experience.
Refund at First Scan already applies to FBA returns and to introduce it for seller-fulfilled items will help customers have a consistent returns experience across the website.
Amazon’s return and refund policies will continue to apply to all Refund at First Scan eligible orders. Refund at First Scan will only issue a refund for customer returns which are within the scope of the Amazon’s return and refund policy and for which selling partners are already obliged to issue a refund thereunder. To protect you from abusive customer behavior, we take into account the customer returns history and item value to determine if a return should be excluded from Refund at First Scan.
You’ll be notified via email each time Refund at Scan is issued. Go to notification preferences to ensure your contact information is up-to-date. You also can use the return reports at any time to have an overview of all the returns refunded through Refund at First Scan. If a return isn’t refunded through Refund at first Scan, you’ll still need to issue a refund within two business days of receipt of the return. Otherwise, we may issue a refund on your behalf in line with our return and refund policies.
If a customer returns a damaged, incomplete, or materially different item, you can file a SAFE-T claim to request a reimbursement of the refund issued by Amazon. You will have 60 calendar days to submit a SAFE-T claim. Go to the Reimbursement policy for seller-fulfilled orders with Amazon Prepaid Return Labels page to find out which use cases are eligible for reimbursement via SAFE-T, what restrictions apply, and how to successfully file and manage a claim.
Go to Refund at First Scan for seller-fulfilled returns to learn more and read answers to frequently asked questions.
Given that today Refund at First Scan is only applicable for returns with an Amazon Prepaid Return Label (APRL), you can only opt-out of RFS by opting-out of APRL as well. Note that by opting out, which can be done by contacting Selling Partner Support, you are still required to adhere to the existing returns policy by issuing either your own pre-paid return label or providing a return-less refund for all auto-authorized return requests within Amazon’s returns policy.