Consumers who receive unordered merchandise in the mail should first check if a relative or coworker ordered it. If not ordered, federal rules say recipients are not obligated to pay for or return unsolicited items. The BBB suggests writing the sender to ask for order verification and notifying them that unverified items will be considered an unconditional gift to avoid payment obligations.

1. Unordered/Unsolicited Items Received by Mail
By way of general information, consumers or businesses that receive merchandise by mail which
they do not believe they ordered, should first double check to be sure it was not ordered by a
relative or co-worker. If it was not in fact ordered, the following are included in Federal Trade
Commission Rules relating to mail order: Generally it is only permissible to send unsolicited items
which are clearly marked free samples or sent in conjunction with a charitable solicitation. And,
recipients of unsolicited merchandise are under no obligation to pay for items received. In
addition, the recipient is not obligated to pay to return items if they were in fact not ordered.
The BBB suggests that a proper course of action is to write the sender and ask for verification
that the merchandise was ordered. Also notify the sender that unless the sender verifies that it
was ordered or makes arrangements to have the merchandise returned at their expense, you will
consider it as an unconditional gift.