Returning Unwanted Amazon Purchases Just Got Easier. Here’s Why

Shoppers now have more options for sending items back.

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Key points

• Amazon prides itself on free shipping and returns.
• Recently, it began accepting returns at select Staples locations.
• Be cautious with Amazon returns, as you may incur restocking fees.

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When you buy something from Amazon, you get the peace of mind it will probably arrive at your door pretty quickly — especially if you have a Prime membership that gives you access to free two-day shipping. Similarly, if there’s a problem with your Amazon order — say, the item isn’t what you expected or it’s a piece of clothing that just doesn’t fit — you can rest assured that sending it back will generally be easy and hassle-free.

Not only can you drop off Amazon returns at your local UPS store, but you can also make returns at Whole Foods locations. So if you happen to be doing some food shopping there, you can unload a return and accomplish two tasks in the same place.

Perhaps even more conveniently, Amazon allows customers to return items at Kohl’s. So if that’s a department store you tend to frequent, it may be a good option when you have unwanted Amazon products on your hands.

But now, Amazon is teaming up with yet another retailer to make returns easier for consumers. And you may find that this is your most convenient, accessible option yet.

Introducing Amazon returns at Staples

Amazon has just started accepting returns at select Staples locations. And if that proves easy, it’s likely to increase that offering so it’s available to a larger customer base.

Staples is the kind of store people tend to shop at fairly often. It’s known for its affordable selection of school supplies, paper products, and office equipment. And with more people working from home these days, Staples is likely a fairly popular destination. So the fact that you can return Amazon products while loading up on paper clips and printer cartridges is a good thing.

Be careful with Amazon returns

Amazon generally makes it easy for customers to return items that don’t meet their needs. But you should proceed with caution when it comes to Amazon returns.

For one thing, while Amazon will generally offer free returns for the items it sells directly, third-party sellers can impose their own return and restocking fees. It’s important to read the fine print before making a purchase on Amazon to ensure that if the item in question doesn’t work out, you’ll get a full refund on your credit card.

Also, there have been reports this holiday season of customers being charged restocking fees by Amazon due to excessive returns. There’s no specific policy spelled out on Amazon that dictates how many returns customers can make before penalties or fees come into play. But if you’ve recently made a large number of returns on Amazon, you may want to be careful with the items you buy in the near term — and stick to those you’re most likely to keep.

All told, it’s good to see that Amazon is expanding its network of locations that will accept returns. That just makes life easier on consumers who are pressed for time and want to send items back to Amazon with as little hassle as possible.