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Amazon Certified Frustration-Free Packaging FAQs

Have more questions about Amazon Certified Frustration-Free Packaging? We've done our best to address them all below.

See our full list of items featuring Frustration-Free Packaging.

What's the difference between Certified Frustration-Free Packaging and traditional packaging?

The Certified Frustration-Free Package (on the left) is recyclable and comes without excess packaging materials such as hard plastic clamshell casings, plastic bindings, and wire ties. It's designed to be opened without the use of a box cutter or knife and will protect your product just as well as traditional packaging (on the right). Products with Frustration-Free Packaging can frequently be shipped in their own boxes, without an additional shipping box.

What comes in the Certified Frustration-Free Package? Do I get everything that's in the traditional package?

Yes, products in Frustration-Free Packaging are exactly the same -- we've just streamlined the packaging.

Does Amazon throw away the original retail packaging and re-box items in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging before shipping them to customers?

No. Instead, we work directly with manufacturers to box products in Frustration-Free Packages right off the assembly lines, which reduces the overall amount of packing materials used.

What types of products feature Certified Frustration-Free Packaging?

We have over 200 vendors and over 70,000 products in the Frustration Free Packaging program worldwide. See our full selection here.

How Can I Suggest More Items for Certified Frustration-Free Packaging?

Check out our Packaging Feedback Program, where you can give us feedback and upload images about orders you've placed with Amazon.com.

We'll use your feedback to improve Amazon.com's packaging and work with manufacturers to provide more items in Frustration-Free Packaging. You can access the Packaging Feedback page through "Your Account" or simply go to amazon.com/packaging.

What does it mean to be "Certified Frustration-Free Packaging"?

Certified Frustration-Free Packaging means:

  • Easy-to-open
  • Recyclable packaging
  • Ships in its own package without an additional shipping box

We work directly with manufacturers to box products in Frustration-Free Packages right off the assembly lines, which reduces the overall amount of packing materials used. Some manufacturers have items in packaging that already meets Frustration-Free Packaging requirements. In all cases, the packaging is verified and tested to ensure it meets our standards before being Certified Frustration-Free.

Will brands carry the FFP seal on their boxes then sell those packages to physical retailers to carry?

Vendors can sell items in Certified Frustration-Free packaging to any of their outlets--retail or ecommerce. Amazon encourages vendors to carry the seal, so that customers purchasing this product, no matter where or who they are buying from, will know they are getting a product that's painless to open, in a recyclable box.

Why does Amazon usually ship a box inside another box?

A product's original box often is not designed to be shipped directly to the customer. To ensure it arrives safely, we may place it inside another box. With Frustration-Free Packaging, the products have been designed to ship in their original containers directly to the customer.

Why do I sometimes receive multiple shipping boxes for items that I ordered at the same time?

The most common reason for an order containing multiple items to arrive in more than one box is when the products ordered are being sent from different locations.

What if I want to send this item as a gift?

Frustration-Free Packages ship in their original boxes without an additional box for shipping. If you want the contents of your package to remain a surprise to the recipient, you should select the 'Gift' option during check out. Packages marked as 'Gift' (with or without gift wrap) will be sent in an additional Amazon shipping box.

What is Amazon doing to reduce packaging waste?

Amazon's efforts to reduce packaging waste don't stop with Frustration-Free Packaging. For instance, we've developed software that determines the "right-sized" box for any given item based on dimension and weight. As a result, we've achieved a dramatic reduction in the number of packages shipped in oversized boxes, significantly reducing waste; our goal is to always have the product ship in the "right-sized" box.

What else is Amazon doing to help the environment?

Learn more about what Amazon.com is doing to save energy and reduce packaging waste on our Amazon and the Environment page.

Read about Amazon's Frustration-Free packaging.