Amazon and eBay are extending their returns policy this holiday to make shopping earlier more practical.
In an updated policy, Amazon says purchased between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 are eligible for return until Jan. 31, representing a 90-day window. Normally, Amazon requires items to be returned within 30 days.
The policy applies to both items purchased directly from Amazon, or third-party sellers, ChannelAdvisor explained, in a blog post.
The extended return times are particularly warranted this year since Amazon kicked off the holidays a little earlier, by offering so-called “Black Friday” on the first of November.
Naturally, if your friends or family don’t receive their gift until the end of December, one might need a longer return policy if the item was purchased back in November. While the early Black Friday deals are new, Amazon has offered a similar return policy in the past.
Generally, it’s a good move to encourage consumers to order earlier. Online retailers are hoping to avoid a repeat of last year after shipments were late due to a last-minute spike in shopping and bad weather.
eBay has also decided to implement a longer return window, with one caveat. Sellers on its marketplace won’t be required to offer the longer return window, but if they do, they will get a 5 percent discount on fees paid to eBay. This holiday, eBay is already offering a 20 percent discount, so this would bring total savings up to 25 percent.