2y ago

Free returns are going away

www.cnn.com

Goodbye, free returns | CNN Business

If you’re thinking of sending back a disappointing gift you just received over the holidays, the return may bring even more disappointment.

Americans have grown accustomed to free returns, but a growing number of retailers are charging fees as returns squeeze retailers’ bottom lines.

Macy’s, Abercrombie, J. Crew, H&M and other companies have all added shipping fees for mail-in returns.

And it’s not just the big mall brands, either. Eighty-one precent of merchants are now charging a fee for at least some methods of returns, according to Happy Returns, a logistics company that specializes in returns.

72 comments

You want to give people as reason to go back to brick and mortar shopping? Because this is how you get people to go back to brick and mortar shopping.
- The main issue is amazon and their insistence on allowing China to sell utter trash, knock offs, counterfeits, and lies.
  Amazon used to require someone selling in the US to have a physical presence of at least like a small office building in the US in order to sell goods here. They got rid of that like 10 years ago and now you get bs brands like Liuxipon selling flashlights that are garbage with 300 fake 5 star reviews. Then if they get flagged enough or get enough real 1 star reviews, no problem. Now their company name is Lioxipan and they do it again.
  Amazon turned itself into a trash heap.
  
  We started shopping AliExpress instead of Amazon. At least you don't pay the high Amazon prices and are pleasantly surprised when something of decent quality arrives. Got the kids some flying spacemen drones. $1.99 each. They've been playing with them all day long. No complaints. AliExpress even refunded me on a few things that arrived broken, without having to return anything.
- As if they wouldn't just charge a "restocking fee."
  
  I worked retail for 15 years, and the only time we charged a restocking fee was if we couldn’t sell it as new, and there was nothing wrong with it. If you returned it brand new, full refund. If you opened it and/or used it and decided to return it, 15% restocking fee. That seemed reasonable to me.
  
  If you can see the item in real life and compare it to other products before you buy, you're less likely to need to return it.
- That is what they want. Offer free returns in store, and people will go to their physical locations and also buy something else.
  
  That’s what kohl’s does in taking Amazon returns. They even give you a $5 store credit to sweeten the allure on your walk from the back of the store
  
  Not to mention the additional traffic it generates, good for the corporate machine at large
- That real estate isn't gonna pay for itself! Won't you think of the shareholders?
Ok, but Amazon is 100% fake Chinese crap now, so don’t expect people to jump into buying that anymore without some idea that it can be sent back. Real brands don’t even sell on Amazon anymore.
- What Amazon is that? That seems crazy.
  I can find all my real brand of what I need in there, but I am not from America tbh.
  
  I have the same experience unfortunately in Europe. Was looking for a new hairdryer the other day, and it's just endless pages of the same Chinese crap with made up brand names and fake customer reviews.
  Gave up and drove to the store instead.
  
  You can order from a good brand, but that doesn't stop the counterfeiters from putting on a fake label.
  Amazon does single-bin sorting of products sold by multiple sellers. So all of widget X get put in one bin and shipped regardless of the source. That encourages fake/counterfeit products because it's impossible to trace which of the hundred companies selling the product is actually supplying the fakes.
  I watched a video somewhere on 18650 batteries, and the takeaway was that most of the batteries provided from Amazon (regardless of branding) are fake.
  
  it gets pretty bad when you're looking for something specific like cable crimps. louis rossmann dod a video on that.
- Wrangler still does. Only clothing I buy from Amazon is that.
Gonna have a slight chilling effect on sales. People won’t buy stuff unless they’re 100% sure.
- Or at least people will return to bricks and mortar stores for purchases of the types of items that get returned most often.
  
  I am not doing that. Going to get into my car and drive all the way to the outskirts of my city to some box store just to find the item I want isn't even there? No way not happening.
- As they should.
Shipping fees for returns isn't too bad, but if it looks like a retailer isn't standing behind the products they sell them they shouldn't be surprised when shoppers shop elsewhere.
- The issue is that it's become too easy to buy a garment in 5 sizes and just return the ones that don't fit. Many of those returned garments don't get restocked, but instead end up selling downmarket where they can often end up in landfill. It wastes fuel, the retailer's money, and harms the environment.
  I think there should be some consequence for return. Even just a few dollars. Maybe find a better way to size things accurately so people don't have to be so cautious.
  
  If clothing manufacturers made clothes anywhere near standard sizes people wouldn't need to get 5 different sizes to figure out what the hell a Large is supposed to be.
  
  No. I won't buy clothing that doesn't have a no argument return policy. Way too many times in my life the clothing died after only wearing once. You go shop at your store that likes "consequences". I am going to laugh so hard when I see the handwritten note on the door that ends up on the internet
- How often are returns defective vs just didn't want/didn't fit? If the item is defective you can't restock it. If the item isn't defective that's where more cost might come in to get the item back in circulation to be sold.
  
  We're talking about clothes here. I have never been able to find any clothing items that were consistently and accurately sized. Often even across the same brands, sizing is consistently inconsistent. If I can't return for the proper size once I get an example of a product's fit and sizing without paying for it, then the convenience of online shopping has evaporated and I might as well just go into a store and try things on. As if they don't already charge enough of a markup to cover restocking.
Part of me wants to be upset, but especially since these are clothing manufacturers, I have to wonder if the people handling the returns have the same problems that I did when I used to process them.
It was my first job out of highschool (through a temp agency), it was my first day, and I did some returns. You know, writing down what the products were, why they were returned, the order numbers yadda yadda.
Everything was cool until I got this package with a LOT of sharp pins in it saying "you obviously need needles to sew the clothes properly". There was only ONE thread loose, and this lady felt that making a complete stranger find sharp needles hidden in fabric was ok. Part of me hopes that that person finds the same kindness in life that they seem ok to give to strangers. Part of me wishes that it wasn't such a common thing.
Some returns had legitimate rotting garbage in them, and a lot of them were only worn once and then were returned because they "only needed it for party, need money back now". You can only see so much ridiculousness before you have enough, you know?
As a former employee, the fact that that company essentially paid for those needles and for the rotting garbage to be sent for other people to deal with was enough to make me quit. It's not worth my health, full stop. It never will be. That incident also made me lose a lot of faith in most of the general public. Part of me wishes that that particular person experiences the same level of "goodwill" that they give to others. I don't like wishing ill on peopld, but I also don't want to wish on good things for bad people. Most of us manage to submit returns without including a hazard, and it takes next to no effort at all. I don't even have to think about whether or not to do that, personally. It's a no-brainer.
As long as the in-person returns are still valid (within reason) and it's stated very clearly that online returns will cost money before purchasing, I don't really see the issue. Just put that information where they will read it (or hear it if it's voiced) and it should be OK.
It will help save the people who still have to deal with these insane returns for minimum wage. Fuck the overhead profit, and fuck the people who take their rage out on random minimum wage employees. (Don't do that literally ofc.)
Take it up with the people who might be able to actually do something to fix your problem, if you're that angry about the product. I will absolutely think much less of you if you personally take out your business complaints on the minimum wage employees.
- Part of me wishes that that particular person experiences the same level of “goodwill” that they give to others. I don’t like wishing ill on people
  Don't guilt yourself for wishing ill on people. Those people deserve it, and you are not being a bad person by wishing ill on those who deserve it. Society tells us it's bad to do that, but all that does is make us feel guilt and let bad people get away with it. Wish ill, and do it freely!
  
  Mirror principal: what you put out comes back. Aka karma.
Click bait article that gets recycled every few years. Ain't happening...
- So I work for home depot and we have started doing a restock fee for special orders. It has slowed down orders and returns that I think will continue as a trend.
- So is the article a lie? "Eighty-one precent of merchants [AREN'T] now charging a fee for at least some methods of returns"(?)
Revelant Adam Conover video
- Yeah, due to that video I'm stopping buying clothes online. I knew it was bad, but not how bad. I also had a recent experience with 3/3 items not fitting right, as well as a good experience in store. No reason to shop online.
- Decided to scroll before posting it, thanks.
All shitty clothing stores, lol.
I just get my clothes at Walmart and pants at Old Navy cause I'm a thin and tall dude.
Honestly I don't blame them. If they try to resell the item it's probably going to be a 25-50% discount for being an open package.
- They just mark it as new and sell it at full price. Had this happen with Amazon several times.
  
  Eh, maybe with online services. I worked at a brick-and-mortar big-box store for awhile and almost everything that was returned that wasn't for extreme damage or being non-functional was put on a shelf with a large discount because we didn't have the space to store it and wanted it gone quickly since it what a shame to throw it away when someone could probably use it.
People were ordering five colors of an outfit, trying each one on once, then returning all but one of them. And then the rest just get thrown out because the company can't sell the clothing that has already been tried on.
- Since when can't they sell stuff that's been tried on? Brick and mortar stores do it literally every day. Unless it's underwear, who cares?
  
  With fast fashion, it's often just cheaper to throw it out then go through even the most basic of QC steps to ensure the product is still in sellable condition.
  The fact that it is fast fashion is the issue. No labor cost since it's made by slaves. No material cost since it's basically sewn together with hopes and wishes. All you really pay for is the shipping.
  If that garment you want to buy is cheap, odds are it's made with blood and paid for with climate change.
  
  https://www.npr.org/2019/12/29/792146756/report-many-returned-products-thrown-out-instead-of-resold
  https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-fashion-christmas-shopping-clothes-returns-shein-zara-waste-mountain-2022-12?op=1
  https://www.bbcearth.com/news/your-brand-new-returns-end-up-in-landfill
- That was what all of their ads were, though: order what you like, try them on in the comfort of your home, anything you don't like for any reason - wrong fit, bad color, whatever - just return it! You can't get annoyed with the customers when this is literally what the merchants said they should do.
- That happens less often than the scamazon Chinese knock off crap being sold under fake 5 star reviews getting returned. Amazon needs to go back to companies being required to own office space in the country they're selling to in order to sell their goods there.
- What do you expect with companies like Amazon, Zappos and such where their business model was buy try on and return. Then there is Walmart that would take anything back including empty paint cans if the buyer was unhappy with the color.
  
  I agree. It was the companies' fault for offering it in the first place.
People ranting about Chinese crap, I suppose they think the shit they bought it's made in Finland..
Everything it's made in China you dumb bastards!!
- Everything it’s made in China you dumb bastards!!
  Not really, I have plenty of stuff made in UK.
  
  I'd love some examples of stuff that you own manufactured and assembled completely in the UK. Purely for curiosity sake and not a gotcha
If this weren’t just a rage-bait article that gets recycled every year, I would say good. There is a portion of consumers who compulsively buy and return, with never any intention of keeping and using the product. They just like clicking ‘Buy’.
(I personally think the behavior is a sign of emotional ill-health)
- Or you're buying online and buy 3 different sizes of the same item with the plan to send back 2 because the sizing charts and measurements are all lies.
- People need to remember that free shipping doesn't exist. It's subsidized shipping and you are paying the price of it elsewhere.

72 comments