How to pack HomePod for repair using the Minn-Tech shipping box in 9 easy steps
Minn-Tech’s 7 x 7 x 9 cardboard box is the perfect size for boxing in the 1st Gen HomePod’s original box. Do not discard this box, you will be sending in your HomePod in this cardboard box.
Step 1: Unpack your shipping box
Unpack the shipping box you received from Minn-Tech. It contains an original HomePod box for your put your HomePod in. Take the original box out of the cardboard box. (The QR code on the box that links to this post.)
Step 2: Open the original HomePod box
Open up the HomePod box, minding its contents. You will find your prepaid return label inside. Put this label aside, you will use this label later.
If you somehow lose or damage this label, no worries. Just let us know and we will email it to you, or make it available for you to download from your Minn-Tech account, if you opened one.
Step 3: Get your HomePod ready
Take your HomePod and roll up the power cord into a small bundle around your fingers. Make sure to leave some slack at the connecting end of the cord between the rolled-up bundle and your HomePod. You can use a cable tie, or simply loop the cord around itself to wrap around the bundle. Make sure the bundle is small enough to go into the bottom well in the base part of the original box.
NOTE: If you prefer to remove the power cord from your HomePod that is also possible and completely fine. To detach the cord from the unit, roll it around your hand and give it a nice yank like you mean it. It will come off. When you are putting it back on, you have to press it VERY firmly until you hear a clear “POP”, making sure it snaps into place.
Step 4: Position your HomePod in the base of the original box
Put your HomePod onto the base part of the box, with the bundle going in first. Make sure that the cable does not get squeezed between the base and your HomePod. If this happens, your HomePod will have imprints on the mesh that will remain.
The cord must remain in the bottom well except for the short part of the stem which must be in the groove toward the corner of the base. There should be no contact between the cord and the mesh when the HomePod is sitting in the base.
Step 5: Close the top cover
Once the HomePod is nicely sitting on the base, put the top cover part of the original box over the base. The lower edges of the cover should be able to slide all the way to the bottom of the base without forcing it in. If it does not, remove your HomePod from the base and make sure that the cord is fully seated in the bottom well.
Step 6: Place the original box inside the cardboard box
Place the original box containing your HomePod into the 7 x 7 x 9 cardboard box that it came in. Make sure it fully bottoms out.
Step 7: Tape the cardboard box, remove existing label
Close the box and tape it. Peel the existing shipping label (from Minn-Tech to your address) off the cardboard box, by lifting it up from a corner and pulling it out. It is linered with tape underneath and should come off relatively easily. If you have difficulty peeling it off, not a big deal. Leave it on, and apply your new return label over the existing one.
Step 8: Apply your prepaid shipping label
Stick on the prepaid shipping label (that came in the box that you put aside in Step 2) onto the cardboard box where you peeled off the previous label. If you could not peel off the previous label, just apply the new label over the existing one, covering it entirely. Your HomePod is ready to be sent out!
Step 9: Hand it over to the US Postal Service
You can schedule a USPS pickup at your address, or drop it off at a US Post Office. They will accept it, and offer you a receipt. Make sure to take your receipt.
Thank you for choosing Minn-Tech for your repair! We love repairing these great sounding devices and helping you get more value out of your initial investment in them.
