Patent ID: 7904391

Claim:
A method of returning merchandise purchased by a customer from a vendor, the method comprising: purchasing, by a customer, an item of merchandise from a vendor; a computer of the customer generating an electronic request seeking to return the item of merchandise after the purchasing; communicating the electronic request from the computer of the customer to the vendor; the vendor providing a return material authorization approving the electronic request to return the item of merchandise; after the providing, the vendor creating an executable computer file comprising an expiration date and an amount of postage for the return of the item of merchandise from the customer to the vendor, wherein the executable computer file expires after the expiration date; debiting a postage account of the vendor corresponding to the amount of the postage for the return of the item of merchandise from the customer to the vendor; communicating the executable computer file from the vendor to the computer of the customer; the computer of the customer executing the executable computer file to control printing of a shipping label including the postage for the return of the item of merchandise from the customer to the vendor, the executing causing the printing of the shipping label; affixing the shipping label to the item of merchandise; and after the affixing, shipping the item of merchandise from the customer to the vendor using the postage.