Nobody pays by default, because no single rule assigns the cost. The seller's published policy decides it for a direct purchase, and the marketplace's own rules decide it, and can override the seller, when the sale happened on a platform. Below are those rules in the platforms' own words, read 2026-07-28, plus what the postage actually costs when the answer turns out to be you.
First, whose rules apply. Second, what the rules say about the reason for the return. The cost falls out of those two answers.
The FTC's own consumer guidance sends shoppers to the seller's paperwork rather than to a federal rule, which tells you where the answer lives.
Look for return policies, deadlines, customer service numbers and other important information on receipts, product packaging, warranties, or the seller's website.Per consumer.ftc.gov, checked 2026-07-28
The same page notes that many stores will not take returns or exchanges after a certain time, like 30 or 90 days. Read that as the practical position: a published policy is what you have, so find it before you argue about postage. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and state rules differ.
| Where you bought it | Reason for the return | Who carries the postage |
|---|---|---|
| eBay | Item does not match the listing | The seller, under the eBay Money Back Guarantee |
| eBay | Change of mind or ordered the wrong thing | Per the seller's return policy in the listing, which is either free returns or buyer pays |
| Macy's | Any mail return of an eligible item | Star Rewards members ship back at no charge; other shoppers have $9.99 plus tax deducted from the refund |
| Temu | First return from an order, within the window | Temu, which issues a return label or a return code after the request |
| Temu | Second and later returns from the same order | The shopper, through a $7.99 plus tax deduction from the refund |
| Best Buy | Eligible item returned by mail | Best Buy, through a prepaid FedEx label; several categories cannot be returned by shipping at all |
| Walmart Marketplace | Item sold by a third-party seller | Governed by that seller's terms, on a 30-day window rather than Walmart's standard 90 |
Amazon and Etsy are absent from that table because both block automated reading of their policy pages, and we did not confirm their current wording on 2026-07-28. Their policies exist and are public; read them at the source rather than trusting a summary without a date on it.
Sellers taking goods back on marketplaces buy that postage themselves more often than shoppers realise. Here is what the bill looks like: one 3 lb shoe box, three buyer cities, one destination, priced through the SMKlog calculator on 2026-07-28 at the full checkout amount.
| Buyer city | Cheapest service | Price | Next cheapest on the same quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta, GA 30303 | USPS Ground Advantage | $8.48 | UPS Ground Saver at $12.07 |
| Chicago, IL 60601 | USPS Ground Advantage | $8.48 | UPS Ground Saver at $12.07 |
| Los Angeles, CA 90011 | USPS Ground Advantage | $11.04 | UPS Ground Saver at $15.53 |
The gap between the cheapest and second-cheapest row was $3.59 in Atlanta and Chicago and $4.49 in Los Angeles on quote day. Sellers who let a platform pick the return service for them are paying that gap without seeing it. Buying the label yourself puts the choice back in your hands, and our checkout takes any from and to pair for exactly that reason.
On eBay the split runs along one line: an item that does not match the listing puts the postage on the seller, while a change of mind follows whatever the listing promised. Sellers who write their listings carefully are, in effect, writing their own return-shipping bill.
Macy's takes $9.99 plus tax out of a refund rather than asking for a card at the counter, and Temu does the same with $7.99 plus tax on later returns. Buyers experience a deduction as a smaller refund, which lands more softly than an invoice, and sellers can copy the mechanic in their own policy.
Offering to cover the postage is a pricing decision with a measurable cost per order. We put real numbers on it in what free returns cost a seller, using the same live quotes rather than a rule of thumb.
Not one that assigns the cost. The FTC's consumer guidance points shoppers at the seller's own paperwork, saying to look for return policies, deadlines, customer service numbers and other important information on receipts, product packaging, warranties, or the seller's website. Checked on consumer.ftc.gov 2026-07-28. State rules vary, and this is not legal advice.
It depends on the reason. Under the eBay Money Back Guarantee, read 2026-07-28, the seller covers return shipping when an item does not match the listing. For a change-of-mind return it follows the seller's return policy in the listing, which is either free returns or buyer pays.
Two we read on 2026-07-28 do. Macy's deducts $9.99 plus tax from a mail refund for shoppers who are not Star Rewards members. Temu covers the first return from an order and deducts $7.99 plus tax from the second and later returns from that same order.
Quoted on 2026-07-28 for a 13 x 8 x 5 in box at 3 lb going into Newark, NJ: $8.48 from Atlanta, $8.48 from Chicago and $11.04 from Los Angeles, all USPS Ground Advantage at the full checkout price. The next cheapest row on each of those quotes ran $3.59 to $4.49 higher.