These Stores Will Pack Your Amazon Items for Free
If you’re lazy or in a panic because you need to return Amazon and you (or someone in your family) threw away your packaging, don’t worry: you have many options for returning Amazon purchases, and you may not even need the original shipping box to send the unwanted item back.
After you begin the process of returning any eligible item, you will eventually click on the button “How will you mail your return?” screen. Once there, click on the small option in the lower left corner that says “View other return options.”
You should see several options, including:
- Coles
- Whole Foods Market
- UPS store
- Amazon
- UPS Pickup Points
- Amazon Locker
- UPS pick up
Don’t pick the one that is closest to you, as they each have different requirements for your return. And depending on where you choose, you can just walk around with the item to return, in hand – no box or shipping label, which saves you a lot of trouble if you don’t have the former or I can’t print the latter.
Assuming your item is eligible for an unpackaged return – which should be the majority of items sold on Amazon – these are the following combinations you are likely to come across. Please note that some of them also include additional shipping charges, so be careful which one you choose. Do not take money out of your refund if you can avoid it.
- Kohl’s : no box required, no label required (no additional shipping cost)
- Whole Foods Market : No box required, no label required (no additional shipping cost)
- UPS Store : No Box Required, No Label Required
- Amazon : No box required, no label required as you will be returning it from the Amazon store (no additional shipping cost)
- UPS Pick-up Locations : Box & Label required (with additional shipping charges)
- Amazon Locker : Box and Label required (with additional shipping charges)
- UPS Receipt : Box Required, No Label Required (with additional shipping charges – most expensive option)
If I were you, I would take the Kohl’s / Whole Foods / UPS Store / Amazon Store route. Chances are good that you live near at least one of them. And while you disguise yourself and hold it fast, you can literally just hand your item over to customer service (or somewhere else), get your return receipt, and hit the road. I did it and it couldn’t be easier. If not, you will probably be best off using a regular UPS pick-up location, but you will have to pay a little for a shipping label.
This story was originally published in July 2019 by David Murphy. He updated it in December 2020 with new images and information pertaining to all Amazon return options.