Can Sellers Charge a Restocking Fee? 20% and 50% Caps, 2026

Online sellers can charge a restocking fee only where the marketplace allows one, and as of October 2026 the big four differ. eBay allows none, only a deduction of up to 50% for items returned used, altered or damaged. Amazon allows 20% on original-condition returns sent back up to 30 days late and up to 50% on damaged ones, but nothing on a normal in-window return. Walmart Marketplace caps it at 20%, on exempted items only. Etsy leaves it to your shop policy.

eBay, Amazon, Walmart and Etsy restocking fee rules side by side

Every cell comes from the platform's own help pages, listed under Sources at the end, read in October 2026.

Platform	Fee on a change-of-mind return in original condition?	When a fee or deduction is allowed	Published maximum	Return shipping on a change-of-mind return
eBay	No	Item returned used, altered or damaged, for eligible sellers	50% of the refund	Set by the return policy on your listing
Amazon (seller-fulfilled)	No, inside the return window	Returned late, or damaged or materially different	20% up to 30 days late, up to 50% damaged	Customer pays, deducted from the refund
Walmart Marketplace	No	Items set up with a return exemption that come back not in original or sellable condition	20% of the item price	You may not charge customers return shipping
Etsy	Your shop policy decides	Your shop policy decides	None published on the help pages read	Your policy; Etsy's simple template puts it on the buyer

Two patterns run through the three marketplaces that publish rules. First, none of eBay, Amazon or Walmart lets you charge a flat restocking percentage on an ordinary change-of-mind return that comes back in the condition it left. Second, where a fee is allowed it is tied to condition or timing, and the platform, not your listing text, decides whether you qualify. To see what any percentage does to a specific refund, run it through the Restocking Fee Calculator.

What a 10%, 15% or 20% restocking fee does to a $120 return

Take one $120 item that shipped for $8, with a $12 return label. The table shows two common policies: the buyer pays the return label and the $8 outbound shipping is not refunded, or the seller sends a prepaid label and refunds the outbound shipping too.

Policy	Restocking fee	Fee charged	Buyer's refund	Buyer is out of pocket	Seller recovers
Buyer pays $12 label, $8 shipping kept	0%	$0.00	$120.00	$20.00	$0.00
Buyer pays $12 label, $8 shipping kept	10%	$12.00	$108.00	$32.00	$12.00
Buyer pays $12 label, $8 shipping kept	15%	$18.00	$102.00	$38.00	$18.00
Buyer pays $12 label, $8 shipping kept	20%	$24.00	$96.00	$44.00	$24.00
Seller pays $12 label, $8 shipping refunded	0%	$0.00	$128.00	$0.00	-$12.00
Seller pays $12 label, $8 shipping refunded	10%	$12.00	$116.00	$12.00	$0.00
Seller pays $12 label, $8 shipping refunded	15%	$18.00	$110.00	$18.00	$6.00
Seller pays $12 label, $8 shipping refunded	20%	$24.00	$104.00	$24.00	$12.00

"Seller recovers" is the fee collected minus any return label the seller pays for; the $8 of outbound shipping refunded in the second policy shows up in the buyer's refund instead.

The fee is charged on the $120 item only, never on the shipping, so each 5 points of fee moves the refund by $6.00. With a seller-paid label, a 10% fee recovers exactly $0.00: the $12.00 fee and the $12.00 label cancel. Below 10%, a seller paying return postage on this item is losing money on every return before counting the time to inspect and relist it.

Read the buyer column before setting a rate: under a buyer-pays policy a 20% fee leaves the buyer $44.00 short on a $140 outlay, 31.43% of what they paid.

Can you charge a restocking fee on eBay?

No. As of October 2026 eBay's help page for sellers handling returns says you may not use a refund deduction to recoup return postage or restocking costs, or to recoup market losses on an item returned in the same condition. What eBay does allow is a deduction of up to 50% of the refund when an item comes back used, altered or damaged, sized to the loss in value.

eBay grades the return and publishes a range for each grade:

Condition of the return (eBay's grades)	eBay's deduction guidance	Deduction on a $120 refund	Refund to the buyer
Excellent: unused, complete, seals and tags intact	No deduction	$0.00	$120.00
Good: missing original packaging, seal broken, tags unattached	5% to 10%	$6.00 to $12.00	$114.00 to $108.00
Fair: missing parts, signs of wear, installed, tags missing	15% to 30%	$18.00 to $36.00	$102.00 to $84.00
Poor: significant wear, damaged, missing essential parts	35% to 50%	$42.00 to $60.00	$78.00 to $60.00

A buyer who returns a sealed, unused item because they changed their mind gets the full item price back on eBay, whatever your listing says about restocking. A buyer who returns it opened, without the original box, can be charged 5% to 10% under eBay's own grading, and that is the closest eBay comes to a restocking fee.

To take the deduction, open the item in your Returns dashboard, choose Report Problem or Refund Now, enter the reason, pick the percentage, add a comment explaining why the refund is not full, and send the refund. eBay keeps the return open for up to 10 days afterwards in case the buyer asks it to step in. The option disappears once eBay has stepped in, so act on the return yourself.

You also do not always have to accept the return. If your listing says you do not accept returns, eBay's page says you are not required to take back an item the buyer ordered by mistake or changed their mind about. You must accept items that arrived damaged, did not match the listing, or were the wrong item, even with a no-returns policy, and on those you cover the return shipping and refund the original shipping as well. On a change-of-mind return eBay does not require you to refund the buyer's original shipping, but if you offered free shipping you cannot deduct its cost from the refund.

Does eBay refund its selling fees when an item is returned?

Usually yes, but a deduction costs you the credit. On a $120 item with $8 shipping, the eBay Fee Calculator puts the sale at $128.00, with a $17.41 final value fee at 13.6% and the $0.40 per-order fee, $17.81 in total, before sales tax.

eBay's fee-credit page sets out which refunds earn a credit:

What happens on the return	Final value fee credited?	$0.40 per-order fee credited?
Change-of-mind return, fully refunded through eBay's own refund flow	Yes	Yes
Damaged, defective, wrong item or not as described, fully refunded	Yes	No
You deduct from the refund because the item came back used or damaged	No	No
eBay stepped in and closed the case with a refund	No	No
You refunded outside eBay, for example by sending money through PayPal	No	No

So on the $128 sale, a change-of-mind return refunded in full through eBay, original shipping included, hands back the whole $17.81. Take a 10% deduction for a missing box and you collect $12.00 from the buyer but forfeit every cent of fee credit on that order. Before deducting, compare the amount with the credit you would otherwise receive, which on a full refund of this order is $17.81. Partial refunds that do qualify are credited in proportion to the share of the sale refunded, which eBay illustrates with its own worked examples.

For the full fee schedule behind those numbers, see how much eBay takes on every price point.

Does Amazon let sellers charge a restocking fee, and what is the maximum?

Only in limited cases. As of October 2026 Amazon's seller guide to returns says you can apply a restocking fee for damaged or materially different items, or returns not covered by the Amazon Return Policy, so an original-condition return inside the window carries no fee. The amounts are the ones Amazon's Return Policy tells buyers they can be charged: 20% of the item price for a return up to 30 days past the return-by date, and up to 50% for an item that comes back damaged, missing parts or showing obvious signs of use.

On the same $120 item, with shipping set aside:

Seller-fulfilled return on Amazon	Fee in Amazon's Return Policy	Fee on $120	Refund
Inside the window, original condition	None	$0.00	$120.00
Up to 30 days past the return-by date	20%	$24.00	$96.00
Damaged, missing parts or obvious signs of use	Up to 50%	$60.00	$60.00
More than 30 days past the return-by date	100%	$120.00	$0.00

The same policy lists a 100% fee for opened, activated or used software and video games and for opened collectible cards, board games and collectible figurines. Most items on Amazon.com are returnable within 30 days of delivery, so the clock that matters is the return-by date, not the date of sale.

You charge the fee when you issue the refund through Manage Returns in Seller Central. Amazon's guide also says you can apply one when a buyer sends back the wrong item and does not respond to your outreach. The seller-side detail, including what evidence Amazon wants before it accepts a fee, sits on Seller Central's restocking-fee page behind a seller login, so check the percentage Manage Returns offers before you charge, and photograph every return as it arrives.

Return shipping follows the return reason, not your preference. Amazon's guide says customers pay return shipping when they change their mind, with the cost deducted from their refund, while sellers cover it for defective items and shipping errors. Its Return Policy also requires a seller who ships its own orders to offer a US return address, a prepaid return label, or a full refund without asking for the item back. What Amazon keeps of its own referral fee when you refund is set by its fee schedule, not by its return policy; the returns section of how much Amazon takes covers that side, and the Amazon FBA Profit Calculator shows what a sale nets before a return touches it.

Can Walmart Marketplace sellers charge a restocking fee?

Almost never. Walmart's seller-fulfilled returns policy, last updated 31 August 2026, says you may not apply restocking fees to customers except for eligible items set up with return exemptions, and for those items, when they come back not in original or sellable condition, you may apply up to 20% of the item price. You also may not charge customers return shipping on any return.

Return exemptions are not something you switch on yourself. Walmart describes them as typically covering freight-shipped items, multi-box shipments and luxury items, they need Walmart's approval, and Walmart can withdraw them. On an exempted item the customer contacts you directly, and you must provide a return label within 48 hours or Walmart Customer Care may refund the customer on your behalf.

The rest of the policy narrows your room further:

You must accept eligible returns whatever the reason and whatever the condition, subject to exceptions such as Final Sale items.
You must not negotiate, discourage or delay an eligible return.
The minimum return window is 30 days, starting seven days after the ship date.
Most items bought between 1 October and 31 December are returnable until 31 January, so returns on this quarter's sales can keep arriving through January.

On Walmart, then, the return cost you control is not a fee but your pricing. Model what each order leaves you with in the Walmart Fee Calculator and assume restocking income is zero for anything without an approved exemption.

Can Etsy sellers charge a restocking fee?

Etsy leaves the decision to you. Its help pages say accepting returns or exchanges is optional, and sellers outside the EU must set a return policy on every physical listing, even if the policy says you take no returns. A listing without one may appear lower in Etsy search. You can set different policies on different listings.

Etsy's simple return policy template allows returns or exchanges within 30 days of delivery and makes the buyer responsible for return shipping and for any loss in value if the item is not returned in original condition. That loss-in-value line is the template's equivalent of eBay's condition deduction. Etsy's return-policy help page publishes no percentage cap and no restocking-fee setting, so if you want one it belongs in your written listing policy, stated as a percentage and the conditions that trigger it.

For personalized or made-to-order work, a per-listing policy that makes those items non-returnable is simpler than accepting the return and charging for it. Run your margins with the Etsy Fee Calculator before deciding how generous a policy you can afford.

What restocking fee percentage is normal for online sellers?

On the marketplaces, the normal rate is whatever the platform's cap allows, and the published caps are 20% and 50%. The 20% caps apply short of damage: Amazon's to returns up to 30 days past the return-by date, Walmart's to exempted items that come back unsellable. The 50% figures at Amazon and eBay are for damaged items, and eBay's own guidance reserves 35% to 50% for items in poor condition.

No official source publishes an industry average, so measure your own break-even instead. From the $120 table above, a seller-paid $12 label means a 10% fee only gets you back to zero, 15% recovers $6.00, and 20% recovers $12.00. If your return labels cost more relative to price, the fee needed to break even rises with them.

On your own website, outside any marketplace, you write the policy yourself. Consumer law on restocking fees varies by state and country, so confirm the rules for where you and your buyers are with the relevant consumer protection authority before you publish one.

Who pays return shipping when a restocking fee applies?

It depends on the platform and the reason for the return, and on this item the shipping settings matter as much as the fee: under a buyer-pays policy with no outbound refund, $20.00 of shipping is lost on top of the fee. Here is the $120 item at a 15% fee under all four combinations of who pays the $12 label and whether the $8 outbound shipping is refunded:

Return label paid by	$8 outbound shipping refunded?	Fee charged	Buyer's refund	Buyer is out of pocket	Share of buyer's outlay lost	Seller recovers
Buyer	No	$18.00	$102.00	$38.00	27.14%	$18.00
Buyer	Yes	$18.00	$110.00	$30.00	21.43%	$18.00
Seller	No	$18.00	$102.00	$26.00	20.31%	$6.00
Seller	Yes	$18.00	$110.00	$18.00	14.06%	$6.00

Under the same 15% fee the buyer ends up out of pocket anywhere from $18.00 to $38.00, and the seller keeps $6.00 or $18.00, depending only on two shipping settings. Platform by platform:

eBay: on a change-of-mind return your listing's return policy sets who pays, and you may keep the original shipping unless you offered it free. On a damaged, wrong or not-as-described item you pay return shipping and refund the original shipping too.
Amazon: the customer pays on change-of-mind returns, deducted from the refund; you pay for defects and shipping errors.
Walmart: you cannot charge the customer return shipping at all.
Etsy: your policy decides; the simple template puts it on the buyer.

How to write a restocking fee into your return policy

Write it so the platform's rule and your text say the same thing. A fee the marketplace will not let you collect only puts buyers off at checkout, and the return still runs on the platform's terms.

Tie it to condition or timing, never to the return itself. "A deduction of up to 50% applies to items returned used, damaged or missing parts" matches eBay and Amazon. "All returns carry a 15% restocking fee" matches the rules of none of eBay, Amazon or Walmart.
On eBay, use eBay's own grades. Quote the condition bands (5% to 10% for missing packaging, 15% to 30% for missing parts or wear, 35% to 50% for damage) rather than the word "restocking", and photograph items as they arrive back.
On Amazon, name the two triggers. A return up to 30 days past the return-by date, 20%; damaged, missing parts or used, up to 50%. Photograph the item before you grade it in Manage Returns, so the fee has evidence behind it.
On Walmart, get the exemption first. Without an approved return exemption the fee is not available, so do not advertise one.
On Etsy, put it in writing on the listing. State the percentage, the conditions and who pays return postage, and mark personalized items as non-returnable if that is your intent.
Show the buyer the number. "A 15% fee on a $120 item is $18.00" is easier to accept at checkout than a percentage discovered on the refund.

When charging a restocking fee costs you more than it recovers

The eBay credit trap. Deduct anything from an eBay refund and you lose every fee credit on that order. On the $128 sale that is up to $17.81 of credit given up to recover $12.00 for a missing box, so check the credit before you take the deduction.

The prepaid label trap. On a $120 item with a $12 seller-paid label, a 10% fee is paying for postage, not restocking.

The Walmart and Amazon in-window trap. A fee charged on an in-window, original-condition return on Amazon, or on any non-exempted Walmart return, is outside the platform's rules. Walmart's policy states that when a seller does not comply, it reserves the right to refund the customer on the seller's behalf.

What cuts return costs more reliably than a fee: listings accurate enough that fewer items come back as not as described, because on eBay and Amazon those returns are the seller's cost, return shipping included, and pricing a realistic return rate into every unit. The Restocking Fee Calculator shows both sides of any single return, and hidden costs that eat e-commerce profit covers the rest of the leaks around it.

How we calculated this

The $120 return tables come from the site's restocking fee function, the same code as the calculator: item price $120.00, quantity 1, original shipping $8.00, return label $12.00, fee rates of 0%, 10%, 15% and 20%, with the return label paid by the buyer or the seller and the outbound shipping refunded or not. The fee is charged on the item only. "Seller recovers" is the fee minus any return label the seller pays; it excludes the seller's time, any resale markdown and platform fees. The eBay and Amazon deduction rows use the same function with no shipping, at 0% to 100%, so the refund is the $120.00 item price less the deduction. eBay's fees use the site's eBay function at the 13.6% final value rate and $0.40 per-order fee on $120.00 plus $8.00 shipping, before sales tax, which eBay also counts in the sale total. All amounts round to the cent. Platform rules are as published on each platform's help pages in October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Can I add a restocking fee to my eBay return policy?

No. eBay's seller help says a refund deduction may not be used to recoup return postage or restocking costs. You can deduct up to 50% only when an item comes back used, altered or damaged, following eBay's condition grades, and doing so forfeits your fee credits on that order.

What is the maximum restocking fee an Amazon seller can charge?

For an item returned damaged, missing parts or used, up to 50% of the item price under Amazon's Return Policy. An original-condition return up to 30 days past the return-by date carries 20%, and one later than that, or opened software, video games and some collectibles, can carry 100%. A return inside the window in original condition carries no fee.

Can Walmart Marketplace sellers charge return shipping or a restocking fee?

Walmart does not allow sellers to charge customers return shipping. A restocking fee of up to 20% of the item price is allowed only on items with an approved return exemption that come back not in original or sellable condition.

Do I get eBay's fees back if a buyer returns an item?

If you fully refund a change-of-mind return through eBay, the final value fee and the $0.40 per-order fee are both credited. On a damaged or not-as-described return the final value fee is credited but the per-order fee is not. If you deduct from the refund, or eBay steps in, nothing is credited.

Is a 15% restocking fee allowed on Etsy?

Etsy's return-policy help page sets no cap and no restocking-fee option, so any fee has to be written into the listing's return policy before the sale. Etsy's simple template already makes the buyer responsible for any loss in value on items not returned in original condition, which covers most of what a restocking fee is for.

Sources

Checked October 2026. Platform return rules change; confirm on each page before you rely on a figure.

Can online sellers charge a restocking fee? eBay, Amazon, Etsy and Walmart rules