Amazon Will Pay You $10 to Pick Up Packages Instead of Having Them Delivered

IF YOU DON'T MIND RUNNING AN ERRAND OR TWO, THIS OFFER MIGHT BE APPEALING.

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One of the main perks of having an Amazon Prime account is free shipping—and when you need something fast, it's simple to place an order and have a package arrive at your doorstep the next day. But if you don't mind taking a few minutes to run an errand once in a while, you might want to take advantage of a little-known Amazon offering. The online retailer will actually pay you to pick up your packages instead of having them delivered. Read on to find out how you can cash in on a $10 reward.

READ THIS NEXT: 5 Warnings to Shoppers From Ex-Amazon Delivery Workers.

You can save money by heading to your nearest Kohl's or Whole Foods.
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Amazon confirmed to Best Life that certain Prime members—who pay for free delivery as part of their subscription—were told that if they pick up an order as opposed to having it delivered, they can collect a $10 reward. Those who received the message have either never used Amazon Pickup or haven't used it in the past 12 months for an order of $25 or more.

Customers who received the email over the past few days were instructed that they could opt to pick up orders from stores like Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, or Kohl's, Reuters reported.

Amazon said this promo isn't tied to higher delivery costs.
Jeramey Lende/Shutterstock

While it was reported that the changes were implemented due to rising shipping costs, Amazon told Best Life that this it's not a cost-cutting measure. It's actually something that Amazon has offered for some time now.

"We offer customers a variety of ways to get their packages, inclusive of delivery and pickup options," Maria Boschetti, Amazon spokesperson, told Best Life. "The $10 Amazon Pickup promotion isn't new, it's a long-running program as a benefit to customers who want to try a convenient and secure offering to pick up their packages."

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The retail giant did make some changes earlier this year.
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While the $10 promotion isn't new, Amazon has made a few changes to its delivery and return policies in recent months.

In April, Amazon announced plans to charge some customers $1 to return packages through UPS. The fee only applies if an Amazon pickup or return location—like a Whole Foods, Kohl's, or Amazon Fresh—is closer to the delivery address than the UPS store, Best Life previously reported. A company spokesperson told CNN that this policy doesn't do away with free returns and will only affect a small number of Amazon customers.

In order to potentially minimize the number of returns in general, Amazon also implemented a "frequently returned" badge on products that have "significantly higher return rates for their product category," a spokesperson told CNN.

In addition, Amazon reworked its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery policy, only providing free delivery on orders over $150. Prior to Feb. 28, the threshold to avoid a delivery fee was $35 (and $50 in New York City). Now, for orders totaling less than $150, different fees apply, ranging from $3.95 to $9.95.

Other retailers revamped policies due to rising shipping costs.
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Amazon still touts its free shipping policy for Prime members, while other companies will comp shipping fees if you meet a certain threshold. But when it comes to returns, fewer and fewer retailers are offering to complete them free of charge.

Retailers like H&M, Kohl's, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Urban Outfitters are just a few big names that now charge for returns via mail, with fees ranging from $5 to $10.99.

According to Insider, these changes have been implemented as the return process is simply more expensive.

"You have to think about not just the cost of shipping, but it's the cost of labor, it's the cost of maybe cleaning that item, repairing it potentially too, repackaging it to make it look better so that the next customer that's receiving it does not realize it's already been in the hands of another customer," Erin Halka, senior director of solution strategy-commerce at Blue Yonder, told Insider. "While we kind of think of just the shipping angle as recouping the cost, there's so much additional labor and materials that go into the workflow."