Getty/Mark Makela Make sure to cancel your Amazon order before it ships.
- Canceling an Amazon order is a simple process, so long as you manage to do so before your items ship.
- Amazon will try to cancel orders that are being prepared for shipment if possible, but you may not always be able to.
If you've ever hopped on Amazon and found yourself filling your cart with stuff you don't really need but can't pass up at such a good price, you're not alone.
Buyer's remorse is something we've all experienced at one point or another, but what happens when you realize you don't really need any of this stuff after all?
Thankfully, if your order hasn't yet shipped and you placed the order pretty recently - think within the past couple of hours to up to 24 here, depending on your chosen shipping speed - you may be able to cancel your order before it leaves one of the company's giant warehouses.
Here's how to do it.
How to cancel an Amazon order
1. Log into your Amazon account and then navigate to the top right corner of the screen, hovering your mouse over the "Your Account" menu. Scroll down and click on the "Your Orders" option.
Amazon; Jennifer Still/Business Insider Click "Your Orders" from your account menu.
2. Once on your order summary page, locate the order you want to cancel. You'll see an option to the right of the item that says "Cancel items." Perhaps unsurprisingly, that's the one you'll want to click on.
Amazon; Jennifer Still/Business Insider Click "Cancel items."
3. On the next page, you may be told that your cancellation isn't guaranteed, but there's still no harm in trying. Scroll down and, if you feel like it, selection your cancellation reason from the dropdown menu before clicking the "Cancel selected items" button at the bottom right of the screen.
Amazon; Jennifer Still/Business Insider Select a reason for your cancellation and then "Cancel selected items."
You should receive an email which details your cancellation request within a few minutes of placing it, as well as another letting you know whether or not this request was successful (if you weren't already informed on the website when placing the request).
This generally happens within an hour or so, though the time varies depending on whether you've purchased items sold by Amazon themselves or via a third-party seller, who you would likely need to contact to see where your order is terms of processing.
Of course, it's not the worst thing in the world if your cancellation wasn't successful. Amazon has a pretty relaxed return policy, so you can always begin that process if your unwanted order does indeed get delivered to your door.
Then again, you might decide you want them items after all and be glad to have them. Either way, you won't be out money you didn't mean to spend for very long, so that's good news.
Read more of our Amazon coverage:
How you can use a Visa gift card to shop on Amazon, despite it not being directly accepted
How to sign out of Amazon from various devices
How you can use PayPal on Amazon, despite it not being directly accepted
How to start selling items on Amazon - a step-by-step guide