Seeing as about 2/3 of us are going to receive a Christmas present we really didn’t like this year ¹, we’ve listed our ten top tips for either returning those presents or “disposing” of them.

Of course, it would be great if you’ve bought presents from an online store which makes returns simple, but if you’ve received presents that you just can’t return to your local store, here are some things that you might like to think of:

1. Firstly many online retailers insist that you contact them first for a returns number and talk through your issue with the item. This might be difficult to do if it was a present and you don’t have any reference numbers. It may be better for you to courier it back to your friend or relation for them to deal with. Bearing in mind you might not want to leave home, getting a courier to collect your parcel may be preferable to braving the weather.
2. Some retailers wish to arrange the collection of the parcel themselves as they wish to use a particular courier, so you should make sure that you find out what their returns policies are. You could try and visit the retailer website direct and then look for the policies, otherwise you could use your favourite search engine and try a search such as “how to return an item” +Red5 or “returns policy” +debenhams (or whatever the store is).
3. Make sure that you fully read the instructions as seemingly each retailer has different rules about returning gifts because some shops such as Amazon have extended returns periods around Christmas to help people arrange the return of their unwanted Christmas presents.
4. The returns policies can also be largely different when it comes to unwanted as opposed to damaged or faulty presents. Some shops are more lenient than others, so do make sure you look at their website before you spend some time on the phone to them. Also companies such as Prezzybox have a no quibbles’ guarantee – so definitely take advantage of those if you can – but note the length of time you have to return items.
5. Think about the packaging - obviously most presents are delivered in their original packaging, but often presents are delivered in much larger plastic mailing bags so it may be good when you get your own presents to keep them in case you need to use them to return other presents – especially as it may be raining or snowing at this affords them more protection from the elements.
6. Know your rights – of course the Directgov website is going to be more comprehensive than we ever can be so do make sure you read their website too – the relevant information is displayed very clearly so it should be easy to work out what your rights are.
7. Low cost delivery – if you do have to pay for the return yourself – which is often the case for unwanted presents make sure you find the cheapest parcel delivery option. Our bag price could be the cheapest for you, but there are limits with the parcel dimensions. Also make sure that you’re not trying to send a parcel to a PO Box address.
8. Keep the labels on – if you’re going to give presents to people, keep the labels on if they have them, as some shops may not refund you fully if you remove them.
9. You could ‘make a buck’ – last year it was reported that an estimated 366,000 people would list their unwanted Christmas presents on eBay before the end of Christmas day. You can could just do that (of course using Parcel Monkey to deliver your presents)
10. Donate them to charity – if you have more of a charitable side then you could just give your unwanted presents to good causes.

If you are able to book a parcel to be returned then you can see how little it costs in a few seconds here.

Image © Watt_Dabney

To make sure that your parcels get delivered without any fuss or bother, it’s important to take note of the packaging guidelines we’ve put together to help prevent damage to them in transit. It’s just a case of you helping us to protect your items.

Basically it’s as easy as 1,2,3:

1. Wrap each item inside the parcel individually;
2. Protect the contents with a strong container;
3. Seal the container with strong tape.

We also have some other useful tips and advice in our FAQ section including “do you have any size limits” etc.

One of the problems that people have when they’re booking parcels to be delivered is that the volumetric weight is a major factor in how much it’ll cost to send your parcel. Thankfully you don’t have to work that out, but you do need to know the size dimensions and weight of your parcel before we can give you a cheap price.

I thought it may be a good idea to put some comparisons together. For instance, a box of Kellogg’s Bran flakes is 19cm, wide, 29cm tall and 6.2cm deep and weighs 500g.

A child’s bicycle weighs about 15kg and would be about 100cm x 90cm x 30cm if the wheels are detached and the handle bars moved around.

A typical pillow would be less than 1kg and be around 75cm x 50cm x 20cm.

A Sony Vaio laptop typically weighs around 3.8kg and is around 42cm x 30cm x 4cm.

Most boxed compact cameras are about 900g and are around 12cm x 10cm x 8cm.

A boxed iPhone 3GS is about 14cm x 8cm x 8cm and will weigh around 250g.

A boxed electric guitar will typically be around 12kg and about 110cm x 50cm x 20cm.

A folded pram may be around 90cm x 60cm x 40cm and weigh about 11kg.

These are just some rough sizes and weights, but try and be as accurate as you can be when you add the details into our quick courier prices form as this will make sure your parcel is sent without a hitch. But don’t forget that our 48 Hour delivery option covers all items (up to 130cms in any direction) up to 10kg for just £5.85.

So you’ve got a big parcel. It’s huge. But is it too large to send via a courier delivery company? This is one of the most frequent questions we get, and I’m sure it’s indicative of general, parcel sending, public as a whole.

We’ve recently changed the maximum parcel size that can be sent via our courier service due to the significantly higher costs from our suppliers to send these parcels. Currently this limit is 130cm in any dimension. The unfortunate impact of this that we won’t be able to take most car bumpers via the normal courier services.

But that’s not to say that there’s many items that you can’t send via a traditional courier company that offers a parcel collection service. 130cm is still pretty large. I could say that a 10 year old boy or girl is roughly that size, but you’re not allowed to send human beings via courier services. However, a set of Roman blinds are often around 130cm long, a child’s safety gate is often smaller than that, a 42 inch TV is actually around 108cm x 39cm x 78cm and with packaging, it should still be less than 130cm wide. Also a set of child’s skis are often less then 130cm. There’s still a lot you can send via our courier delivery service. So all you need to do is try our very quick price checker and you’re away.

Image © Mr. T in DC