Amazon Sell as Used and Restore to New: Holiday Returns Guide

What Changed on October 21, 2026

Amazon announced the change in an email to FBA sellers in September, which sellers shared word for word on a seller community forum. Amazon described the goal plainly: some returned items "can't be restored to new condition but can still be refurbished and resold as used," which is "an opportunity to generate revenue from inventory that would otherwise be removed or disposed."

Restore to New (formerly Refurbishment)

Amazon restores eligible returned items and relists them as new. According to PrepVia's review of Amazon's help pages, restoration means light work such as re-taping, re-boxing, or a new poly bag, and a restored unit goes back on sale as New at your existing new-item price. Amazon says it has also expanded Restore to New to more categories, and that sellers enrolled in it "have seen more than 70% net recovery on eligible returned items" on average. That is Amazon's own average, not a promise for any one product.

Sell as Used (formerly FBA Grade and Resell)

If a returned item cannot be restored to new and you are enrolled in Sell as Used, Amazon grades it and relists it in used condition. If you are not enrolled in Sell as Used, the item follows your unfulfillable inventory settings (removal, disposal, or liquidation), and you are not charged a processing fee.

You choose one, both, or neither

Amazon says you can enroll in one or both programs. Enrollment happens in your Amazon fulfillment inventory settings in Seller Central. Neither program is automatic, so if you never opted in, your returned units that fail inspection go straight to your unfulfillable settings.

How a Returned Unit Moves Through Grading

Every FBA customer return gets an inspection. Based on Amazon's announcement and the help pages PrepVia reviewed, here is the path a unit takes when you are enrolled in both programs:

1. Sellable as new check. If the unit passes, it goes back into your sellable inventory as normal. No program fee applies.
2. Restore to New. If it fails, Amazon checks whether light remediation can bring it back to new condition. If yes, it is restored and relisted as New.
3. Sell as Used. If it cannot be restored, Amazon grades it as Like New, Very Good, Good, or Acceptable and lists it as a used offer.
4. Unsellable. If it cannot be sold even as used, it follows your unfulfillable settings, such as removal, disposal, or liquidation.

Enrollment does not guarantee that every return is graded and relisted. PrepVia also notes that grading and relisting can take up to three weeks, and longer during the holiday season, and that storage fees pause during evaluation and restart once the used unit is listed.

What it costs

Amazon's email gives a processing fee range of $1.50 to $4.10 per unit. Both services share one fee, charged once and only when a unit is actually relisted. Units graded Unsellable pay nothing. PrepVia lists the fee by size tier from Amazon's fee table:

• Small standard-size (16 oz or less): $1.50
• Large standard-size (21 lb or less): $1.80
• Small or medium oversize (151 lb or less): $2.65
• Large or special oversize (over 151 lb): $4.10

PrepVia also reports that, for sellers already enrolled in Restore to New, Amazon says this fee has applied since September 30, 2026. If you joined the old Refurbishment program when it had no fee, recheck the numbers for your products.

Customized Grading: Tell Amazon What "New" Means

Amazon's grading team does not know your product the way you do. A broken seal might make a supplement unsellable, while a scuffed outer box on a kitchen tool might not matter at all. Customized grading, announced on the Amazon Seller Forums in October 2026, gives brands a way to say so.

In Amazon's words: "With customized grading, you tell us what 'sellable as new' means for your products, including when items can be restored to new or when to sell them as used."

What you can set

• Criteria by category: seal and packaging, included accessories, product authenticity indicators, device capabilities, and other requirements.
• Scope: rules for specific ASINs, your entire catalog, or a CSV upload.
• Instructions for when to restore items to new or resell them as used, including used-price percentages by condition.

PrepVia reports that the setting is found under Settings, then Orders, then Recovery, then Customized grading, and that the seal and packaging rule asks direct questions, such as whether a unit can be resold as new if only the seal is broken.

The limits to keep in mind

Amazon says it uses your input "as guidance during grading," alongside its standard process. Your rule informs the grader; it does not guarantee an outcome. ASINs without a rule continue to use Amazon's default grading. PrepVia adds that basic repackaging of eligible returns is automatic and cannot be turned off in your settings.

If you have products where authenticity matters, such as items protected by Amazon Transparency, write those markers into your authenticity rules so graders know what to look for.

Pricing Used Units Without Hurting Your Listing

A used unit sells under the same product page as your new stock, so its price and condition affect how shoppers see your brand.

Recovery percentages

According to PrepVia's review of the Sell as Used page, you set a recovery percentage for each condition. It is a share of the new price, not a discount off it. In Amazon's illustration, an 85% recovery rate on a $50 item lists a Very Good unit at $42.50. Amazon labels its sample percentages "for illustration only," not recommendations, so choose your own based on your margins and how much lower you want used offers to sit.

Automatic price adjustments

Since February 2026, used prices update automatically when you change your new price or your discount settings, according to Amazon's Sell on Amazon announcement. If you edit a used price by hand, that item drops out of automatic updates until you reset it. Plan for this during holiday promotions: a Black Friday price cut on the new item can also move your used prices.

How used offers appear

PrepVia reports that graded units get their own SKUs with the amzn.gr prefix under your parent ASIN and compete only for the used featured offer, not against your new offer. Reviews from buyers of used units can roll up to the parent product if they meet Amazon's review guidelines. That is why the grade matters: a unit listed as Very Good that arrives in poor shape can lead to a weak review on your main listing. Our guide to Voice of the Customer shows how to watch for complaints that start this way.

Which Products Qualify

Not every return can go through Sell as Used. PrepVia lists these exclusions from Amazon's help pages:

• Items priced under $10
• Consumables
• Expiration-dated and meltable inventory
• Hazmat (dangerous goods)
• Recalled and counterfeit products

In February 2026, Amazon expanded Grade and Resell to five more categories: watches, jewelry, luggage, shoes, and apparel. Amazon's September email says Restore to New was also expanded to more categories, and it points sellers to Seller Central for the full list of eligible categories. Check your own catalog there before you count on recovery.

Choosing which ASINs to enroll

Amazon's February update added an opt-in approach: you can handpick up to 2,000 ASINs to include, or enroll your entire catalog and exclude specific items. For most small brands, picking ASINs one by one is the safer start. Enroll the products where a used sale clearly beats removal, and leave out the ones where a used offer could confuse shoppers or undercut a premium position.

Sell as Used vs. Removal vs. Liquidation: Do the Math

For each product, compare what a returned unit is worth on each path. PrepVia describes the structure of Amazon's worksheet on the Sell as Used page:

Net recovery = used price − processing fee − fulfillment fee − referral fee on the used price

Then compare that with the alternatives:

• Removal: you pay a per-unit removal fee, then still have to receive, inspect, and resell the unit yourself. PrepVia notes Amazon warns removal times can stretch during peak removal periods.
• Disposal: you pay a fee and recover nothing.
• Liquidation: PrepVia reports Amazon's value-recovery page puts liquidator payouts at about 5% to 10% of the average selling price, before a 15% liquidations referral fee on that amount and a per-item processing fee.

Use 2027 fees for January returns

Many holiday returns will be resold in late January and February. From January 15, 2027, new FBA fulfillment fees apply, and from February 1 storage moves to a single age-based rate. Use the right fee table when you run the numbers; our breakdown of the 2027 FBA fee changes covers both. Our per-unit cost guide shows how to build the full fee stack into one sheet.

When the math says no

Low-priced, light items often recover little after fees, and items under $10 cannot use Sell as Used at all. For those, focus on preventing returns in the first place. Our guide to cutting FBA return rates covers listing fixes and the returns processing fee.

Your Setup Checklist Before Holiday Returns Peak

In October, Amazon told sellers that the holiday return window, from November 1 to January 31, "will apply every year," as reported by Value Added Resource. It covers FBA and seller-fulfilled orders, and Apple brand products close earlier, on January 15. With that in mind, work through this list now:

1. Pull your returns data. List your top returned ASINs and their most common return reasons from your FBA customer returns report.
2. Check your enrollment. In fulfillment inventory settings, confirm whether you are in Restore to New, Sell as Used, both, or neither.
3. Pick your ASINs. Run the net recovery formula for each top returned product and enroll the ones where a used or restored sale beats removal.
4. Write customized grading rules for products where seals, accessories, or authenticity markers define "new."
5. Set recovery percentages by condition, and decide whether to keep automatic price adjustments on during promotions.
6. Review unfulfillable settings so units that cannot be sold still go where you want: removal, disposal, or liquidation.
7. Put claim dates on the calendar. Returned units that never reach Amazon can qualify for reimbursement; see our FBA reimbursements guide for the windows.

If you also ship your own orders, remember that a separate rule starts on December 18, 2026: US seller-fulfilled returns will need a prepaid return label. Our post on FBM prepaid return labels explains it.

A note on sources: The program names, dates, fee range, and the 70% average come from Amazon's September 2026 email to sellers and its Seller Forums and Sell on Amazon announcements. The fee table by size, exclusions, timing, pricing mechanics, and liquidation figures come from PrepVia's October 29, 2026 review of Amazon's Seller Central help pages, with the rename also reported by Treecat. Amazon updates these pages without notice, so confirm details in Seller Central before you act.

Your next step: Open your FBA customer returns report today, sort by units returned, and write down your top five returned ASINs with the share of returns marked unsellable. That list tells you where Sell as Used and Restore to New can matter most.