How to Return Packages in NYC Without a Printer (And Without Leaving Your Building)

Not owning a printer in a New York City apartment is a completely rational life choice. Printers are bulky, cartridges are expensive, and the one time per month you'd actually use one, the thing is out of ink or refusing to connect to your laptop over WiFi for reasons nobody can explain.

The one genuine inconvenience of not having a printer is when you need to return something. That used to be a real obstacle. In 2025, it barely is — and the best solution doesn't require you to find a printer at all, or even leave your building.

The Best Option: David Returns (No Printer, No Trip, No Anything)

If your building partners with David Returns, the printer question is moot and so is the carrier trip. Here's the entire process:

• Initiate your return on the retailer's website (Amazon, a clothing brand, wherever)
• If they offer a QR code option, save it to your phone. If they only offer a PDF label, save it to your phone.
• Open the David Returns app and schedule a pickup window
• Bring the package to your lobby when the courier arrives and hand it off

David Returns accepts both QR code returns and printed labels — if you have the label as a PDF on your phone, we handle printing as part of the service. You don't need a printer at any point. You don't need to go anywhere. The package leaves your building in the courier's hands.

For residents in partnered buildings, this is free. For buildings not yet partnered, it's $7.99 per pickup or $22.99/month for unlimited. This is the cleanest solution to the no-printer problem because it removes not just the printer requirement but the entire carrier trip as well. Everything else on this list solves one problem (printing). David Returns solves the whole errand.

If Your Building Isn't Covered Yet: QR Code Drop-Off (No Printer, But You Do Have to Go Somewhere)

Amazon and many other retailers now offer label-free or box-free returns. Instead of emailing you a PDF to print, they send a QR code to your phone. You walk into a participating drop-off location, show the QR code at the counter, hand over the item, and the staff handles packing and labeling.

In New York City, this works at UPS Store locations, Kohl's stores, select Whole Foods, and Amazon Hub Counter spots inside local pharmacies and convenience stores.

To access this when returning from Amazon: go to your returns center, and look specifically for options that say "drop off at UPS Store" or "drop off at Kohl's." Do not select "print at home" — that's the old route. The QR code options are labeled clearly once you know to look for them.

For Happy Returns brands (Athleta, Revolve, American Eagle, and hundreds of others), you initiate the return on the brand's website and it'll offer a "Return Bar" drop-off option if the brand is in the network. Same deal: QR code, no box, no label.

The limitation of all of this is still the trip itself. Even a "convenient" UPS Store in NYC can mean 30–45 minutes door-to-door when you factor in the walk, any wait at the counter, and the walk back. It's better than printing. It's not as good as not going anywhere.

Other Ways to Print Without Owning a Printer

If your specific return doesn't offer a QR code option — usually older third-party seller portals on Amazon and smaller brand websites — you'll need a printed label at some point. Here's where to handle it without owning a printer:

• UPS Store. They can print from your phone or email. Show up with the label as a PDF or email link, ask them to print it. Some locations charge a dollar or two, some don't. Useful if you're already going there for the drop-off anyway.
• FedEx Office. Same deal. Bring the file on your phone, they print it. FedEx Office locations in NYC are generally less crowded than UPS Stores for this specific task.
• New York City public libraries. Seriously underused for this. Most branch libraries have public computers and printers. You pay per page (usually 15–25 cents). Get your label to your email, log into a library computer, print, done.
• Staples. Print from email or a USB drive. Some Staples locations are also Happy Returns partners, so you might be able to handle both printing and drop-off at the same stop.

The One Situation Where You're Still Stuck

Some third-party marketplace sellers on Amazon and other platforms generate return labels only as PDFs with no QR code alternative. In these cases, you genuinely need a printed label before you can complete the return. Your options are printing at a UPS Store, FedEx Office, Staples, or library — or calling the seller directly and asking if they can issue a QR code instead (occasionally they will if you ask).

These situations are becoming rarer as more brands modernize their return portals. But they exist, especially with smaller sellers.

The Real Problem Was Never the Printer

The printer obstacle is easy to solve once you know the options. The harder problem — the one that actually costs NYC residents time — is the trip itself.

Carrying a box on the subway, finding a drop-off location that's open and not out of the way, fitting the errand into a day that already has no obvious free slots. That's the part nobody solved until David Returns.

The no-printer problem is answered by QR codes and library printers. The no-time problem is answered by having someone come to your building. If you can use David Returns, that's the move — not because it's the clever workaround, but because it's the one that actually removes the errand rather than just rerouting it.