How To Send Magazines to Inmates Through Amazon the Easy Way

You have someone you care about in prison, and now you’re wondering how you can make their time more endurable? Sending books, pictures, and magazines to inmates is a great way of letting your incarcerated loved one know that you care about them—especially if inmate visitation isn’t available to you.

If you don’t know where your inmate is, DoNotPay can help you locate and send magazines to them!

Can You Send Magazines to Prisoners?

The good news is you can send books, photos, and magazines to inmates, but it’s not that simple. Inmate mail rules and regulations are strict, so check the rules that apply to the prison where your loved one is contained before you place any orders.

Another issue you’ll be dealing with is how to make sure your package is received. Prisons approve books and magazines sent only through official companies and publishers like:

1. Amazon
2. Barnes and Noble

Prisoners aren’t allowed to give their signature for packages, so you need to make sure that the items are delivered by the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Some prisons don’t allow prisoners to receive magazines.

Amazon’s Policy About Sending Books and Magazines to Inmates

Amazon deliver books and magazines to correctional facilities, but they urge their customers to contact the prison to determine its specific rules and regulations about receiving packages.

The outside label on the package will have only Amazon’s name, destination, and return address on it. The company won’t attach any special instructions to the package.

Barnes and Noble’s Policy About Shipping Books and Magazines to Prison

Barnes and Noble strongly advise their customers to check the prison rules and regulations on what can and can’t be sent to prisoners, such as the format and content of a book or a magazine.

You can place your order through Barnes and Noble’s website. Be sure to check the box that says Address Can’t Be Serviced by the United Parcel Service (UPS) because most of the penitentiaries accept only the packages that USPS delivers.

What Books Can You Send to Inmates?

When sending books and magazines through Amazon or Barnes and Noble, you have to abide by prison rules. Every prison has a specific set of rules, but some of the most common and general ones are listed below. Books and magazines:

• Have to be new
• Shouldn’t exceed the number of three items per package
• Have to be paperback (hardcover can be used as a weapon)
• Can’t have any sexual content
• Can’t contain anything racist, violent, or gang-related
• Sent by yourself or a small bookstore won’t be accepted
• Need to be delivered by Amazon or Barnes and Noble
• Need to be sent by USPS
• Can’t be sent anonymously
• Have to be addressed to the prisoner
• Need to include the inmate ID

The following table will give you an idea of which books or magazines you could send to your incarcerated loved one:

How To Send Magazines to Inmates

If you want to avoid Amazon shipping your order via DHL, FedEx, or United Parcel Service (UPS), you can create a PO Box address and ensure your items are delivered by USPS. Amazon ships orders with a PO Box via USPS automatically.

Follow these steps to create an order for your inmate:

1. Go to the Amazon order page
2. Type in your inmate’s full name
3. Enter the prisoner’s unit and the inmate number
4. Provide the address of the correctional facility
5. Select the city and state
6. Check the box for a Gift
7. Choose your delivery option
8. Click on Place Your Order

You must indicate that it’s a gift. Amazon might not put the receipt on the package, and your items may be returned. In some cases, the inmate has to pay the cost of the return shipment, which could add to their stress.

Don’t Know Where the Inmate Is? No Problem—DoNotPay Can Help You Locate Them

How to send magazines to inmates if you don’t know the recipient’s address? DoNotPay can solve this problem for you because we have the best search tool for locating inmates. The best part about it is that you don’t even need to know your loved one’s inmate ID or unit number. All the information you need to provide is their full name and the state their prison’s in—DoNotPay will handle the rest.

We’ll help you locate your friend, family member, or a prison pen pal in under five minutes, and you’ll be able to make their time pass more quickly by sending them books, letters, and magazines (if allowed by the correctional facility).

Open DoNotPay in your web browser, and follow these simple steps to find your loved one:

1. Sign in to your DoNotPay account
2. Click on the Connect With an Inmate feature
3. Select the Locate Someone option
4. Enter the inmate’s full name
5. Select the state
6. Hit Enter

Six steps—that’s all it takes to locate your loved one with DoNotPay. This isn’t all, though—our Connect With an Inmate feature has two more awesome options. The first one lets you write letters to inmates, whereas the second one helps you receive their response in a digitized form.

Write a Letter to Your Loved One With DoNotPay—The Easiest Way

You don’t need to bother with the question of how to address a letter to an inmate because DoNotPay will send the letters on your behalf. This will minimize the stress and bother of writing the exact address, unit number, or inmate ID. If you make even the smallest mistake while writing the recipient information, your letter won’t reach the prison—this can’t happen with DoNotPay.

We will also spare you the trouble of queuing at the post office—you won’t have to leave your house to send a letter via DoNotPay.

All you need to do is create an account in your web browser and do the following:

1. Log in to your account
2. Select the Connect With an Inmate feature
3. Choose the Send a Personalized Letter option
4. Enter the information that’s required by our chatbot
5. Write to your prisoner
6. Click on Enter

We’ll make sure your letter is delivered to your loved one, and we’ll also enable you to style it any way you like. You can choose from various options such as special edition holiday styles and birthday cards that will warm your loved one’s heart.

Use DoNotPay’s Virtual Mailbox To Receive an Answer From Your Loved One

After you’ve written your letter, DoNotPay will ask you whether you want to receive an answer from your imprisoned loved one via DoNotPay. This option is a part of our Connect With an Inmate feature, and it’s called Virtual Mailbox.

While physical letters can be lost in the delivery process, this option will ensure that the inmate's digitized response gets delivered. After they write you a letter, the prison’s staff will scan and send it to your Virtual Mailbox.

Can DoNotPay Help You With Any Other Issue?

If you run out of ideas about what to send to your loved one, check out these sample letters of encouragement to gain inspiration.

DoNotPay is the world’s first AI Consumer Champion that, apart from giving you information on how to contact an inmate, can help you resolve any administrative issue in an .

To check out the full scope, open our app in your web browser, and create an account.

Here’s what we offer help with:

• Disputing traffic citations
• Dealing with bills you are unable to pay
• Getting refunds and chargebacks from various companies
• Keeping yourself and your loved ones safe from stalking and harassment
• Contesting parking citations
• Dealing with credit card issues
• Verifying your phone number for any service with a burner phone
• Getting back at robocalls
• Skipping the phone queue when getting in touch with customer service reps
• Getting refunds and compensation for delayed or canceled flights
• Reclaiming any unclaimed property you might have
• Fighting speeding tickets
• Terminating memberships and subscriptions for good
• Blocking text spam for good
• Applying for free trials risk-free
• Keeping your work safe from copyright infringement
• Blocking spam mail forever
• Suing companies and people in small claims court
• Finding clinical trials in no time
• Keeping in touch with your incarcerated loved ones
• Making a DMV appointment fast and easy