How to Download the Amazon FBA Returns Report — Step by Step
Amazon's official help page for the returns report sits behind a Seller Central login and skips the details that actually trip people up. Here is the exact click path (Reports → Fulfillment → Customer Concessions → Customer Returns), what the Download and Request tabs each do, and fixes for the failures sellers run into most.
The report is step one. Reading it is the win.
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Open the Returns Report workspace →Download the report in 4 steps
Open Reports → Fulfillment in Seller Central
Sign in to Seller Central, open the main menu (☰), and click Reports, then Fulfillment. This section holds every FBA inventory and fulfillment report.
Go to Customer Concessions → Customer Returns
In the left panel under Customer Concessions, click Customer Returns. That is the FBA Customer Returns report page — the one Amazon documents under help reference 200453320.
Set the date range and event source
Pick the period you want (start with the last 30–90 days for a usable sample) and keep the event source on FBA. Remember: returns for merchant-fulfilled orders are not here — they live under Orders → Manage Returns.
Hit Download on the Download tab
The file arrives as a tab-delimited
.txt— open it from Excel's data-import (or rename to.csvafter converting) rather than double-clicking, so columns split cleanly.
Download tab vs Request tab
| Download tab | Request tab | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Generates the file now for your chosen date range | Schedules recurring delivery by email |
| Best for | One-off analysis, incident digging | A standing weekly/monthly export habit |
| Watch out | Very wide ranges can take longer to generate | Scheduled files stop if the report settings change — spot-check them |
Either way the file is the same format. If you will analyze returns regularly, the Request tab plus a fixed weekly review beats ad-hoc downloads — returns only become useful when the trend is visible.
Troubleshooting: when the report won't come
- The Customer Returns page is missing from the menu — report access is permission-gated. Ask your account admin to grant the analytics or reports permission for your user; the section only appears once allowed.
- The file downloads but is empty — the date range is the usual suspect. Try a wider range (90+ days); low-volume SKUs can genuinely produce zero rows in a short window. Also confirm the event source is FBA, not MFN.
- Scheduled report never arrives — re-check the Request tab entry: schedule settings can drift after report-format updates by Amazon, and the fix is to delete and re-create the schedule.
- Columns look broken in Excel — the file is tab-delimited. Import via Data → From Text with tab as the delimiter instead of opening the file directly; double-clicking can cram everything into column A.
- Numbers don't match refunds — they won't, by design. Returns count units received back; refunds count money out. See the FAQ above for the reconciliation path.
From report to root cause
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See what's in the report →Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I find the FBA Customer Returns report?
In Seller Central: Reports → Fulfillment, then Customer Concessions → Customer Returns. Use the Download tab for an immediate file or the Request tab to schedule recurring delivery. Returns on orders you ship yourself (MFN) live in a separate report under Orders → Manage Returns.
What file format is the returns report?
A tab-delimited flat file (.txt) that opens in Excel or Google Sheets. It carries one row per returned unit with order and product identifiers, the return reason, the returned condition, and fulfillment-center details — everything you need to pivot on why units come back.
What’s the difference between the Download and Request tabs?
Download grabs the file right now for the date range you set. Request adds a scheduled delivery that Amazon generates and emails on a recurring cadence — useful as a standing weekly export, though one-off analysis usually only needs the Download tab.
Why don’t customer returns match my buyer refunds?
They measure different events: a customer return is a unit arriving back at a fulfillment center, while a refund is money returned — buyers can get refunds without returning the item, and returned units are not always refunded the same day. Reconcile the two through the payments reports rather than expecting the numbers to line up.