Christmas shopping can already be a mind-boggling experience—have you chosen the right gifts? Will they arrive in time? Are they going to achieve the reaction you hope to see from loved ones?
What might not be on your bingo card: the gift arriving on your doorstep undisguised by a brown delivery box, only to be found by its intended recipient.
In a video that has drawn over half a million views, TikTok user Kayla Prasek (@prasektok) shared Ring doorbell camera footage of her daughter finding her own Christmas present on their doorstep after being delivered by Amazon.
“@Amazon you can’t be sending stuff without a box THIS close to Christmas,” a text overlay on the video reads.
A frustrating discovery
The video shows a very young girl opening the front door of her home to find a Barbie Dreamhouse waiting on her stoop.
As her mother enters the frame behind her, she can be heard saying, ‘Oh no,’ telling the child that the toy is not for her, and that she purchased the dollhouse to donate to children who do not have any gifts.
The Ring camera footage ends with the girl in tears as her mother and brother console her that Christmas is coming, and she may yet end up with what she wants.
The gift, as clarified by the poster in her comment section, *is* for the little girl.
In the video’s caption, the poster writes that they expected the package to come in a brown Amazon box as previous packages have done.
“Thank goodness she has the world’s best big bubba to help comfort her,” the caption reads. “WTH @Amazon? Every delivery always has a brown amazon box around it except when it counts #christmasfail.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Amazon via email as well as to Prasek via TikTok comment regarding the video.
Does Amazon automatically ship products in brown boxes?
While Amazon may be known for its brown shipping boxes, the retail site also maintains the policy that some products will ship in their own packaging, like the toy in the video.
Per Amazon’s website, items most frequently shipped in their own packaging include diapers, furniture, office products, clothing, and sports items.
How can you make sure a package is shipped in Amazon’s packaging?
For shoppers who *do* want to receive a more discrete package, there is an option to select “ship in Amazon packaging” at checkout.
Several viewers were quick to point this out as a future option for Prasek, who responded that she was unaware of this policy.
“There is an option when you order to ‘hide packaging,’” one commenter wrote.
“Amazon asks you when you’re checking out if you want Amazon packaging or original packaging—no extra cost,” another noted.
“Yes, they usually tell u if it will be shipped in original box,” a further user wrote. “I hate when they give u a big box with only 1 or 2 things in it!”
Others shared that they had similarly had gifts spoiled by a lack of discretion in their Amazon and mail delivery.
“Oh that happened to us one year,” one commenter wrote. “The nice postal worker handed my daughter her American Girl Doll and said ‘this must be for you’. One week before Christmas. I was flabbergasted.”
“That happened to us last year,” another commented. “We had to just give it to her and order something else. Thankfully it was not as expensive as a Barbie dream house…”
“Amazon likes to be messy during the holidays,” a further user said. “I bought my hubby a speaker he wanted it was in original packaging and they handed it straight to him lol.”
Update Dec. 6, 2024:
An Amazon representative confirmed to the Daily Dot via email that the retailer’s priority is to eliminate packaging altogether, where possible, and that items shipped in their own packaging must pass several tests to ensure that the product would remain undamaged throughout the fulfillment and shipping process.
Since 2019, more than 5.5 billion shipments have been delivered in this way in North America and Europe, and 12% of global orders were delivered without any additional Amazon packaging. Since 2015, this program has helped Amazon avoid adding more than 3 million metric tons of packaging to shipments.
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