Patent ID: 7266513

Claim:
A method of electronically providing a shipping label to a customer that wishes to return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant, said method comprising the steps of: initiating a return transaction upon receipt of a return service request, wherein said return service request contains shipping information, said shipping information comprising an address of said customer and an address of said merchant; assigning a package tracking identifier by a carrier server to said return transaction, wherein said package tracking identifier is readable by a carrier shipment tracking system associated with a carrier for tracking shipment of said good to be returned; generating said shipping label in electronic form by said carrier server based at least in part on said shipping information, said shipping label being acceptable by said carrier to deliver said good to said merchant according to said return transaction and including said package tracking identifier for tracking shipment of said good during return delivery to said merchant; and providing said shipping label to said customer in electronic form.