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> but if you go to return some small value items Amazon tells you to just keep it/throw it away.

Anecdotally, this isn't always true. I have only returned a handful of things over the years, but among them was a microphone windscreen that didn't really fit. It cost maybe €6 or so and they did have me send it back.

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I think in the past it was more likely they would have you keep an item. It seems to me (also anecdotally) now they don't want to take back just food items.

I think there's a correspondence between the COVID-19 reduction of their real-human chat line and having us return everything except food now.

I don't know what triggers the "keep it" option but I suspect there's a formula involving shipping price, whether it is a shipped/sold by Amazon or a marketplace vendor, account standing, etc.

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