Amazon patents a way to let you stop bad gifts in their tracks

According to The Washington Post, Amazon is poised to revolutionize online gift-giving after quietly securing a patent for a system that will let people return unwanted presents before they even receive them.

The new procedure, described in a 12-page patent document, would allow registered Amazon users to “convert” all gifts from a specific giver, basically letting them create a list of people whose gift choices would be screened before shipment. Complicated algorithms would form a “wizard” that guides users through the process of creating rules to redirect purchases from a hypothetical “Aunt Mildred” to, for example, a gift certificate. It even includes an option for sending thank-you notes that acknowledge the original intended gift!

As crassly consumerist as it may seem, such a model would represent a significant solution to a big problem for e-retailers: Up to 30 percent of online gift purchases are returned and that costs them money for shipping, storage and labor.

The Post quoted another Post, Anna — the great-great-granddaughter of etiquette expert Emily Post — as denouncing the development for its potential to reduce gift-giving to just “another one of the world’s transactions.”

But for everyone with an Aunt Mildred out there who keeps sending them ugly sweaters, this could make the next holiday shopping season a very bright one indeed.

What do you think?