Shopping & Delivery Tips — Shipping Blog

Q: Does Amazon Prime offer free shipping to PO boxes?

Amazon ships to PO boxes for many items, but same-day and one-day delivery typically require a physical street address. The checkout page will tell you if a specific item cannot ship to your address. For regular PO box deliveries, USPS Informed Delivery gives advance notice of what is arriving each day.

Q: What is the safest way to pay on AliExpress?

Pay through AliExpress's own checkout, not through external links sent by sellers. AliExpress Buyer Protection holds your payment until you confirm receipt or the dispute window closes. Credit cards add a second layer of chargeback protection. Never pay via wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or third-party payment apps. These bypass buyer protection entirely and are irreversible.

Q: How do I get free shipping on orders below the minimum threshold?

Three approaches can help. First, check if a low-cost add-on item brings the order to the free shipping threshold. Second, check the retailer's own promotions page and newsletter sign-up offer, where some retailers publish free shipping codes. Third, for platforms you shop frequently, calculate whether an annual membership fee costs less than the shipping fees you currently pay across a full year.

Q: What is the return window for AliExpress orders?

As of October 2026, items sold with AliExpress Free Return can be returned within 15 calendar days of the date you confirm receipt, or the date the system confirms it for you. For orders that arrive damaged, not as described, or not at all, open a dispute. Some sellers offer extended windows. Check the individual listing. For high-value items, initiate the dispute at the first sign of a problem rather than waiting.

Q: How do I prevent porch theft when I am away during delivery hours?

Four options ranked by effectiveness: (1) Require a signature: carriers cannot leave the package unattended. (2) Use a pickup point: Amazon Locker, a UPS Access Point or FedEx Hold at Location keeps the package away from your door, and FedEx holds it for up to 7 days. Check the fee first: as of October 2026, UPS charges $5.99 to redirect a package to an Access Point unless you have set an Access Point preference in UPS My Choice. (3) Deliver to a workplace. (4) Ask a trusted neighbour to collect it. Security cameras record theft but do not prevent it.

About Shopping & Delivery Tips

The decisions that determine whether a delivery goes smoothly are usually made before the package ever ships. Which carrier the retailer uses, whether you add shipping protection and what address you enter: these choices affect speed, cost, and what happens when something goes wrong. The three guides below cover the parts you control: how you pay, how you return an order and where a parcel is delivered.

The returns guide covers the step most shoppers only think about once something has gone wrong. Return policies vary by retailer: as of October 2026, Kohl's stores pack, label and ship eligible Amazon returns for free, while AliExpress items with the Free Return label can be returned within 15 calendar days of confirmed receipt. Knowing which applies before you buy is what decides whether a return is a five-minute errand or a month of messages. The safe shopping guide covers AliExpress, Temu, and SHEIN specifically, because these platforms have different fraud protections and dispute processes than US retailers, and the rules for protecting yourself are genuinely different.

The package theft guide addresses the real threat. The measures that work are the ones that make a delivery inconvenient to take: a required signature, a package locker, or delivery to a workplace eliminates the risk for that specific shipment without any ongoing setup.