Michael Crider
Amazon is such a massive retail behemoth that even its returns are big business. That’s why it’s teamed up with brick-and-mortar department store Kohl’s: If you have one near you, you can usually return a purchase at Amazon to the store for free, sometimes even without a shipping box or label. But there’s another perk to doing this: coupons.
There’s no policy spelled out, but Amazon customers who return items to the special Amazon return area of a Kohl’s are often given a coupon for purchases inside the store itself. These can be dramatic: reports of 25% off an entire purchase are common. I can personally attest to this—I got the coupon once (and only once) when returning a package. That could save you a decent amount of money … assuming that there’s plenty of stuff inside a Kohl’s store you want to buy and can’t find cheaper elsewhere.
The coupons seem to be handed out at the discretion of the individual stores, so your experience may vary. Also note that they often include lengthy exclusions, so items that are already on sale or from luxury brands like Nike might be excluded from the discount. Still, it’s definitely worth checking out if you were going to go to a FedEx or UPS store for your return anyway. The stores that are giving out coupons don’t seem to be tracking them by customer, so it’s possible you could get them on multiple visits.
