If a retailer already sent a QR code, the closest participating Post Office prints it free. If nobody sent anything at all, USPS will also pick the box up from your door at no charge for a Returns-labeled parcel, or you can buy an ordinary label yourself. Every figure below was read from usps.com on 2026-08-22, and the rates at the bottom are live quotes from the same day.
A counter, a mail carrier, or a checkout. USPS runs all three for a return.
A Label Broker ID is a QR code paired with an 8 to 10 character code, issued to a customer by email or text so they never have to touch a printer. Read on usps.com, 2026-08-22.
| Where | What you show | Cost to print |
|---|---|---|
| Retail counter | Hand the sealed package to the associate and scan the QR code on your phone | No charge at participating locations |
| Self-service kiosk | Scan the QR code, or type the 8 to 10 character Label Broker ID | No charge at participating locations |
One limit sits on the QR route and catches people returning to an overseas seller: usps.com states Label Broker does not support packages that need a customs form, which rules out anything leaving the United States, APO, FPO and DPO addresses included. A cross-border return has to be bought as an ordinary international label instead.
Once the label prints, it goes on the box the same way any other label does: flat on the largest face, old barcodes covered, seams taped. Our Label Broker guide covers finding a participating counter or kiosk, and the printing guide covers the equivalent counter routes at UPS and FedEx.
USPS also sells a version for someone with no printer and no nearby Post Office worth a trip. Read on usps.com, 2026-08-22.
Create the label in Click-N-Ship, pick Label Delivery—Outbound under Select Extra Services, and a letter carrier brings the printed label to the address on file. The published fee is 1.65 USD per label.Per usps.com, checked 2026-08-22
That 1.65 USD figure is the standard, outbound version of the service. For a business adding a prepaid return label onto a Click-N-Ship shipment as an extra service, usps.com describes an additional fee without printing the amount, and states the return postage is only charged once the customer actually uses the label. Either way, the trade-off is the same: no printer needed, at the cost of waiting for the mail before the box can move.
The detail most people miss: USPS will collect a return from a doorstep at no charge, provided the label is already paid for.
| Question | What the page says |
|---|---|
| Which prepaid packages qualify | Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, Returns and international packages |
| Size and weight limit | Not over 70 lb or 130 inches in length plus girth; a mailpiece over 10 oz paid only in stamps does not qualify |
| Cost to schedule | No charge, requested online, carrier collects it on the regular delivery route Monday through Saturday |
| For comparison: UPS On-Call Pickup | 9.05 USD for a future-day request, 14.75 USD for the same day, before any residential surcharge |
Returns sits on that free-pickup list next to Priority Mail and Ground Advantage, which is easy to miss because the page is written for a shipper mailing something out, not sending something back. A return that already has a label on it does not need a counter trip at all.
The scheduling form has one more catch worth knowing before you load the porch: anything you enter under Other rides free only if the same pickup includes at least one package from the premium list above. A stack of Other on its own puts you into a paid, time-specific pickup instead.
Two real return boxes, quoted through the SMKlog calculator on 2026-08-22, Portland, OR to Newark, NJ, at the full checkout price.
| Parcel | Carrier | Service | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poly mailer, 12 x 9 x 1 in, 0.7 lb | USPS | Ground Advantage | $9.44 |
| Poly mailer, 12 x 9 x 1 in, 0.7 lb | UPS | Ground | $12.99 |
| Box, 13 x 8 x 5 in, 3 lb | USPS | Ground Advantage | $13.04 |
| Box, 13 x 8 x 5 in, 3 lb | UPS | Ground | $15.93 |
FedEx did not return a rate for either parcel on this lane on 2026-08-22, so it is left off the table rather than guessed at. USPS Ground Advantage was the cheapest row for both boxes, which tracks with what our other return-label pages find on light parcels headed back across the country.
Per usps.com, read 2026-08-22, an unused Click-N-Ship label is eligible for a refund up to 60 days after the print date, as long as it has not been scanned. Requesting one online through Shipping History covers labels from the past 30 days; older ones need an email to the Click-N-Ship help desk.
The QR route costs nothing but needs a Post Office visit. The mailed-label route skips the visit but costs 1.65 USD and takes days to arrive. Whichever a retailer already issued, use it rather than buying a second label on top of it.
When nobody has issued a label at all, SMKlog sells an ordinary domestic parcel label as a guest: enter the sender’s ZIP as the origin and the destination ZIP as the delivery point, pay once, and print or email the PDF. No USPS account, no Click-N-Ship login.
Bring the sealed package and the code to a participating Post Office. Per usps.com, read 2026-08-22, you hand the package to the retail associate and scan the Label Broker ID on your phone, or use a self-service kiosk that accepts the QR code or the 8 to 10 character ID. Printing at the Post Office is free either way.
Yes, through Label Delivery Service. Per usps.com, read 2026-08-22, the standard fee is 1.65 USD per label. A business adding a prepaid return label to a Click-N-Ship shipment pays a separate, unlisted additional fee and is only charged the return postage if the customer actually uses the label.
Yes, when the package already carries paid postage. Per usps.com, read 2026-08-22, free Package Pickup covers Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, Returns and international packages, up to 70 lb or 130 inches in length plus girth. UPS charges 9.05 USD for a future-day On-Call Pickup and 14.75 USD for same-day, per ups.com read the same day, before any residential surcharge.
Quoted through the SMKlog calculator on 2026-08-22, a 12 x 9 x 1 in poly mailer at 0.7 lb from Portland, OR to Newark, NJ came to $9.44 with USPS Ground Advantage. A 13 x 8 x 5 in box at 3 lb on the same lane came to $13.04, both at the full checkout price and both cheaper than the UPS rows returned for the same parcels.
Every figure above is dated because carrier fees and eligibility lists move without notice. Open the source behind the line you are relying on before you plan a return around it.