# Prepaid return labels - when does it cost the retailer?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prepaid-return-labels-when-does-it-cost-the-retailer/733023>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 30, 2015, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prepaid-return-labels-when-does-it-cost-the-retailer/733023 "2015-09-30T10:43:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prepaid-return-labels-when-does-it-cost-the-retailer/733023/1 "2015-09-30T10:43:32Z")

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When you return something you’ve bought online, many retailers will customize a prepaid return label and e-mail it to you. When do they pay for the cost of the return: when they create the label for you, or when it’s scanned by the return shipper?

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**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prepaid-return-labels-when-does-it-cost-the-retailer/733023/2 "2015-09-30T10:47:58Z")

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The USPS ones are paid for when the label is scanned. Shippers large enough to have return shipping labels (thousands or tens of thousands of pieces per year) have accounts with USPS, that are debited on a monthly or quarterly basis based on the number of pieces that actually get return shipped.

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**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prepaid-return-labels-when-does-it-cost-the-retailer/733023/3 "2015-09-30T12:01:10Z")

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Depending on the size of your company, there are several options for reverse shipments/collections:

[ul]You have an account with a shipping/courier company: UPS, FedEX, DHL, etc… and you are getting billed weekly, monthly, quarterly or per shipment  
[/ul]  
[ul]The seller buys a pack (5,10,20, etc.) prepaid labels and posts them out to the customer with the notice to attach them to the parcel  
[/ul]  
[ul]The seller calls the shipping/courier to arrange a collection and has to pay on delivery  
[/ul]

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**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prepaid-return-labels-when-does-it-cost-the-retailer/733023/4 "2015-09-30T13:19:18Z")

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No need to send them out these days. Amazon send a pdf for you to print yourself.