Amazon now has 36 percent of the cosmetics and beauty market in the US alone.
Amazon stocks a wide variety of makeup, beauty, and cosmetics products for every price range.
If you’ve ordered makeup or cosmetics products from Amazon but want to make a return; perhaps the item isn’t the right color, it’s poor quality, or an unwanted gift, then you’ll want to know what Amazon’s returns policy is.
To help you there, we’ve looked into what Amazon’s returns window is, how to make a return, and when you’ll get your refund. We’ve even done a market comparison to see how Amazon’s makeup returns policy holds up amongst the competition.
Keep reading to find out more…
Amazon’s Makeup Returns Policy: In Short
In short, you can return makeup to Amazon within 30 days of receiving your goods for a refund or exchange. You should return the makeup in a like new condition.
You might decide to return makeup for a number of reasons including:
- It being an unwanted gift
- It being poor quality or defective
- You not liking the color or the application
- If it’s been ordered by mistake
Here are the reasons you can give on Amazon’s website:
How Can I Return Makeup to Amazon?
Returning makeup or any cosmetics to Amazon is really simple using the app or the main Amazon desktop website.
Just do this:
- Log in to your Amazon account
- Go to the orders and returns section in the top right corner on desktop (on the mobile app go to your orders and click on the makeup you want to return)
- Choose return and replace items (if on mobile just click the makeup you want to return)
- Choose an option from the drop-down menu as to why you want to return the product
- Fill in details in the text box about your return
- Select your preferred return method
- Print the return label and make sure it is sent back with your makeup
Can You Return Makeup to Amazon for Free?
Yes, all items that you can return to Amazon have at least one free returns option provided the items don’t weigh above 50lbs (and makeup won’t).
This is one of the reasons we like ordering makeup from Amazon as it’s so much cheaper to return than places like Ulta which actually charge for returning makeup as we found out when we looked at Ulta’s makeup returns policy.
Related Article:
Amazon Perfume Returns Policy
Do I Need the Box and Accessories to Return Makeup to Amazon?
You should return your makeup in the original packaging and in like new condition but this of course won’t be possible if you’ve opened it and it’s defective or not what you ordered.
We’d recommend speaking to someone at Amazon’s help center if you have lost packaging or have any questions.
They are usually very good at handling returns in our experience, especially if the product is defective in some way.
How Long Will It Take to Get a Refund?
Allow up to 14 days to receive your refund from Amazon which will be credited back to the same card you paid on.
This is because it takes time for them to receive the order, check it and process the return.
You will be notified when your refund is processed.
It can take slightly longer if you’ve got a particularly slow bank or credit/debit card provider.
What to Do if You’re Outside the 30-Day Returns Window?
If you’re only just outside the 30-day window then we’d suggest speaking to someone over at Amazon’s help center – they may be able to extend the window slightly if it’s only just expired.
The other option is to sell your makeup on a website such as glambot.com which is a great place to sell pre-loved cosmetics including makeup.
How Does Amazon’s Makeup Returns Policy Compare to its Competition?
We’ve had a look at Amazon’s main competitors to see how their makeup returns policy holds up.
Let’s take a look:
| Competitor | Returns Window |
| Costco | 100% satisfaction guarantee (return any time) |
| Walmart | 90 days |
| Walgreens | 30 days |
| Sephora | 60 days for refund (thereafter store credit) |
| Nordstrom | 100% satisfaction guarantee (return any time) |
| Ulta | 60 days |
So Amazon’s policy isn’t the best out here, far from it.
Nordstrom and Costco allow you to return makeup at any time and that’s always going to be pretty hard to beat.
Others like Ulta and Sephora offer 60 days so twice as long as Amazon.
However, we love Amazon’s convenience and you do get free returns delivery so Amazon is still a worthy choice in our view even if you’ll need to be fairly snappy if you want to make a return in time.
Final Thoughts
Amazon offers a fairly underwhelming and disappointing returns policy when it comes to makeup but we doubt that is going to put most people off.
Amazon is so simple to use and the support you receive and free returns probably make up for their rather stingy returns window length.
However, in our experience, Amazon doesn’t provide the best selection and a lot of the makeup sold on the site is fairly nondescript and far from being luxury.
Hi, just want to comment that most people don’t realize. Majority of items sold on amazon are Buffon amazon resellers. As an amazon reseller, if you return makeup, I essentially eat that cost as I cannot resell it as new. You may think, who cares, but reality is it causes me to raise prices to compensate for the losses in returns.