How to Get Back All Your Frivolous Amazon Prime Day Purchases
If you’ve spent Amazon Prime Day(s) spending money like a drunken sailor and now face the embarrassing hangover of an empty checking account, don’t despair: it’s surprisingly easy to avoid the consequences of your actions by returning items to Amazon – most of the time.
You can’t use a retailer as a try-before-you-buy service, but if your items aren’t opened and there’s a real reason for a return, you should be fine if you don’t either. a lot of.
What is Amazon’s return policy?
Amazon is generous with returns, to a certain extent. You can get a full refund for most items you buy directly from Amazon within the first 30 days after they are delivered, usually with no shipping charges, “restocking” charges, or any other fees. You may not even have to send the item back.
To do this, go to your Amazon.com profile, click “Your Orders”, find the item you want to return, and click “return or replace an item”.
You will be given a drop-down menu of reasons for your return, which covers almost every possible option. For example, I could return this 1:18 scale remote control shark because it is “no longer needed”. (I will not, because believe me, it is necessary .)
From there, you’ll either be prompted to ship the item back, or you’ll receive an instant refund and be told to “keep it for yourself.” If Amazon wants you to return something, you can either print an Amazon-generated shipping label and give it to the shipper, or return it directly to an Amazon return center or Amazon Locker near you.
Amazon Return Policy Exceptions
Amazon sells so many things and in so many different ways that there are certain exceptions to the above return policy. The largest “does not apply here” refers to orders that are filled by third party sellers , who define their own return policy; but there are also special return policies for Amazon pharmacy purchases, items with a separate warranty, collectibles, and a host of other types of purchases. Here is a list of “special cases” for Amazon returns/refunds.
Why does Amazon let you store the products you return?
Amazon hasn’t disclosed exactly which products it will allow customers to keep after requesting a refund, but it tends to be for less expensive items purchased by loyal customers. If it ends up costing more to ship back and resell, Amazon will just let you get it. I’m sure they also consider the friendliness of the customers.
TVs, laptops, and other more expensive items usually have to be shipped back to Amazon, and Amazon can wait until the item is in its hands to refund you.
What happens if you violate Amazon’s return policy?
If you’re tempted to take advantage of Amazon’s return policy to get free stuff or use a retailer as a rental-to-own service, I applaud your initiative, but I don’t recommend it. First, because it’s not fair and you’re a good citizen, but more importantly, Amazon will probably catch you and may suspend or block your accounts.
The company doesn’t reveal details, but they are very good at capitalism and if your account becomes a net liability to the company, they will know. From there, they will reportedly send you an email to “ better understand your account activity and learn how to improve your shopping experience .” (You can read this as “Throw it away, okay?”) If Amazon then decides that you are not worth their time as a customer for any reason, they will ban your accounts.