Emily Brown
A former Amazon employee took to Reddit to advise customers on one thing you should 'never' do when returning a product to the online retailer, and there's a few different reasons for their plea.
While you might hope that everything you order from internet is exactly as described, sometimes you end up with an item that just isn't quite what you'd imagined it would be.
Chances are you pretty much forget about the product once you've successfully mailed it back - provided the money returns to your account as expected - but of course there's a whole process that goes on on Amazon's side of things once they receive a return, and one person familiar with that process has offered a rare insight.
In a post on the r/IamA subreddit, the user explained they are a former Amazon Returns employee, and offered other users the chance to ask them anything.
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The worker - who said they earned $10.50/hr in the role - spilled the beans on multiple aspects of their former job, including a vomit-inducing answer to the weirdest product they ever saw returned.
They wrote: "The weirdest thing I had to process was a soccer ball some dips**t returned, covered in blood, with a tooth sticking out of it.
"We had to shut down the line for a bit, clean down my station and replace any equipment that might have come in contact with it."
One good Samaritan responded by asking the poster if they had 'any tips for us to make the overall return process easier on both us and on folks like you?', to which the former employee revealed there was.
"Never ever use packing peanuts," the Reddit poster wrote, adding that bubble wrap is 'better' and 'helps take the edge off'. There definitely is something satisfying about popping those bubbles...
While there's technically nothing stopping you from using packing peanuts when mailing back an item, there's no denying they make a mess, and they're typically not great for the environment, either.
Premium packaging company Box Agency has stated on its website that Amazon 'does not support the use of packing peanuts and shredded paper for void fill due to environmental requirements', and while Amazon does not appear to explicitly state on its website which packing materials you can or can't use, the retailer advises using the original packaging where possible when it comes to returns.
On its site, Amazon explains: "Most returns do not need to be boxed or labeled. Please ensure that your item is returned in original or unused condition with tags attached and hygiene seals and liners intact, and in the original manufacturer's packaging including tags, components, accessories, manuals, certificates of authenticity, and other inserts."
The ex-Amazon Returns employee explained: "Returns go to a warehouse where they're unpacked, refunded, and sorted into crates.
"Some of it goes to Warehouse Deals and some of it returns to the vendor that sold it.
"I didn't personally inspect electronics, but most major items like laptops, TVs, ipods, etc. are tested to see if they still work and are sold as used if possible."
Amazon says: "The vast majority of returns are resold as new or used, returned to selling partners, liquidated, or donated."
In their latest sustainability report, Amazon said it donated 166 million items it was unable to repair or resell itself in 2024, and helped sellers resell or donate a further 391 million items in the US and Europe.