11/12/2025
With the holiday season quickly approaching, we would like to address a couple of things that we're seeing in the shipping world. Hopefully it will help all of our friends around here.
* We have noticed that most online retailers are defaulting returns to a QR code. It's a free service, but they only work at official UPS Store®️ retail outlets. The closest one is in Tyler, Rockwall, or Kaufman. Since we are not an official UPS Store®️, we do not have access to the software needed to process QR codes.
* Amazon has started charging $6.99 for shipping labels. Usually these are for items bought through 3rd party vendors. Recently we've seen the price increase to $7.99.
* Most carriers increase their shipping prices for the holidays. USPS has already raised their rates, and others gradually increase as peak shipping season approaches.
* Last but certainly not least is the issue of scams. This one is important. Some online retailers, (we've even seen it from Amazon) will make you pay to return an item back to them with the notion that you'll be reimbursed for the expense. The problem is oftentimes the product has to be sent to places like China, which costs way more to ship than the product is worth. In addition, we've entered return addresses into our system, and the location cannot be verified. In other words there is absolutely no guarantee that your return is going to a legitimate address. And therefore you will not get your money back.
Another issue is cheap shipping to you from another country. Sometimes the sender will make you pay for the customs and tariff fees before you can receive your package.
I know this is kind of a lengthy post, but we wanted to get this information out to you in order to mitigate some of the chaos that peak shipping season brings along with it. As always, we're here to help out in any way we can, and we really appreciate being a part of this wonderful community! 😊
