3 Amazon Policy Changes That Make Your Holiday Shopping a Little Easier This Year

Written by

Caroline Biggs
Caroline Biggs
Caroline is a writer living in New York City. When she’s not covering art, interiors, and celebrity lifestyles, she’s usually buying sneakers, eating cupcakes, or hanging with her rescue bunnies, Daisy and Daffodil.
published Nov 14, 2018
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Post Image
(Image credit: Melanie Rieders)

‘Tis the season for giving, and as usual, Amazon is here to help. As if the online mega retailer hadn’t already mastered the art of fast shipping and easy returns, they’ve gone and shaken things up in our favor just in time for the holidays.

That’s right, folks, you heard us correctly: Amazon is improving upon their already awesome shipping and return policies exclusively for the holiday season. Along with extending their return window, for the first time ever, Amazon is offering free shipping on holiday orders for—gasp!—non-Prime members, too!

Now pick your jaw up from the floor and read ahead for a quick breakdown on Amazon’s special holiday offerings.

1. Free holiday shipping for everyone

While Prime members already get free shipping on eligible orders with no minimum purchase required, starting in November, Amazon will offer free shipping to non-Prime members on hundreds of millions of items. Even better, they’re waiving the $25 minimum usually required for non-Prime members, on all orders arriving in time for Christmas.

2. Free same-day holiday shipping for Prime members

For Prime members feeling left out of the holiday promotion, Amazon is offering a special holiday incentive for you, too. Amazon is making more than three million of their bestselling items eligible for same-day delivery before Christmas, so procrastinating Prime members can truly put off holiday shopping ’til the last minute and still be okay.

3. Extended return window

Amazon normally grants full refunds for items returned within 30 days of delivery, but for the holidays they’ll be making a helpful exception. During the holidays, items shipped by Amazon between November 1 and December 31 can be returned until January 31, which means early shoppers can score up to two extra months of return eligibility.

And: Don’t forget trade-ins…

Although it technically isn’t part of their holiday promotion, it is worth noting that certain non-returnable items (i.e. ones that miss the January 31 cutoff) can still potentially be traded in for an Amazon credit, and/or resold for cash on Amazon (in some cases sans the listing fees).