
The Rise of Return-Anything Culture - prostoalex
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/12/return-policy-retail/422145/?google_editors_picks=true&amp;single_page=true
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Futurebot
Another oblique example of the Peltzman effect: make something less risky
(purchase) and people will take more chances (in this case, purchases they
might not otherwise have made due to worries about an untrustworthy vendor,
questionable product quality, or just buyer's remorse.) Same goes for credit
cards that have strong chargeback and false-charge protection policies. If you
know there's virtually no risk, you'll make that purchase you otherwise
wouldn't. Very important for enabling things like online commerce to happen
initially (and probably allows it to continue as it does.)

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justincormack
Well its more than that - people "buy" several sizes of the same item and
decide which to keep (or none). For clothing its the new fitting room.

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martin_henk
The same exists in Germany for many years, as there is a law allowing
customers to return goods bought online within two weeks. Shoppers abused this
regulation a lot (I think H&M had problems with this), so that the rules got
changed lately: you need to state a reason and certain items are excluded.
Here is a somehow recent article in german about said law
[http://www.br.de/themen/ratgeber/inhalt/verbrauchertipps/kun...](http://www.br.de/themen/ratgeber/inhalt/verbrauchertipps/kundenrecht-
widerrufsrecht-versand-online-shop100.html)

Edit: Amazon even started to block accounts when they returned too frequently
(link in german) [http://www.golem.de/news/verbraucherschutz-amazon-sperrt-
kun...](http://www.golem.de/news/verbraucherschutz-amazon-sperrt-kundenkonten-
nach-haeufigen-ruecksendungen-1307-100711.html)

The Atlantic article doesn't mention Germany, but is has been a issue for
years over there.

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furyg3
The same is true in the Netherlands, customers can return something within 14
days (in fact I think they only have to initiate a return within 14 days, the
retailer may not receive it for a while). The retailer is not required to pay
for return shipping, or to refund the initial shipping costs. Many retailers
do, however.

Recently I've been buying one of the most likely-to-return things I regularly
purchase (running shoes) online. Two out of four have been returned, and the
seller (Zalando) reimburses shipping costs and pays for return shipment.
Hopefully the have negotiated some nice rates with the post office...

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noisy_boy
As a person staying in a country without US-like return policies, I'm
incredibly jealous of the choices American consumers have. Out here, its more
like "buy it if you want, we can't open the packaging for you to see how it
feels in your hand and we won't accept returns unless it is defective (or you
are exchanging it for something more expensive)".

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zzalpha
It's a real tradeoff. On the one hand, a liberal return policy is great for
consumers. But if its abused its a source of enormous fraud and waste.
Unfortunately I doubt there any good solution to the problem.

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colejohnson66
Doesn't Amazon ban you if you abuse their return policy? Especially if you
have Prime which causes them to pay original _and_ return shipping

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zzalpha
That requires tracking individuals, which doesn't work for brick-and-mortar
stores (yes, those still exist... ;).

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michaelbuddy
you very much get tracked by brick and mortar stores, not all but many. Just
did a return tonight, and once again had to give them my information in order
to complete the return. depends on the situation of the return, whether you
had a receipt or not, whether you were already on file, or if you had paid
with credit card and they could track that.

~~~
zzalpha
And all those caveats are why Amazon can catch return abusers while brick and
mortar stores have a much harder time, and ultimately don't bother as its not
worth the effort.

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chiph
I don't think I've made a return in the past 10 years. If I'm not sure I need
an item, I don't buy it. If I get an inappropriate gift (wrong size, etc) I'll
give it to Goodwill.

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donatj
Not a single thing was broken? I had particularly bad luck with Amazon this
December and received four different items broken when I opened the box.

~~~
chiph
So far, no. The only one I was nervous about was a ceramic cat water fountain,
but it arrived fine.

I have had discs from Netflix arrive unreadable/broken (yes, I still do the
by-mail thing as I get consistent picture quality even on Saturday nights).
I'm not sure if that counts as a store return though, as I just drop it in the
mail and they send me a replacement.

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momzer
Regarding the premise: _Liberal return policies used to be rare in the middle
of the 20th century—something that a few smaller retailers offered as a perk._

I'm curious how much this applies say pre-WWII era (before the majority of
goods were produced far from their sale). Maybe I've got some Hollywood-
influenced idea of what life was like, but I would think a small town would
have some sort of a general store where refunds would be no big deal (within
reason). This would probably be less of an imposition when the store owner
knew the majority of the customers. Even the big-city department stores would
probably take back merchandise, since there wasn't exactly any concept of
opening a shrinkwrap or a restocking fee. Unless you had something like a
tailored dress, I don't see why a late 19th/early 20th century American store
wouldn't have a liberal return policy.

Also, in terms of shipping returned items, I believe that the "money back
guarantee" was a major selling point of catalog-based retailers such as Sears
Roebuck, specifically to compete with local department stores.

Someone with actual historical knowledge should weigh in, but it seems to me
like the mid-20th century was the first cultural shift in return policies, and
the present decade is a shift in the other direction.

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pakled_engineer
Frank & Oak ships a box full of men's clothing in Canada every season and you
return what you don't want. I used to do this before just getting bespoke
suits/shirts made. Rogue Territory denim in LA also has a good return policy
and free hemming/repairs if you pay return shipping.

I've only been hosed trying to return broken fitness equip from Amazon, since
I didn't bother reading the fine print about only allowing US domestic
customer returns

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slr555
Generous return policies in the US have historically been significantly more
prevalent than the author states. Stores like Nordstrom have accepted anything
a customer would return up to and including tires which the do not and have
never sold. Mercantile stores had a similar policy. Same with LL Bean. REI
until recently had unconditional returns. North Face has repaired 20 year old
products for me. Returns for credit only were primarily only enforced in
specialty retailers and independents.

Of course warranties and returns are figured in to the balance sheet of every
company. It's not really free. The cost of such policies are baked into
pricing decisions. Ultimately it is one component of a retailer's value
proposition.

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mark_l_watson
I have only returned a few items in my whole life and all of those because of
product defects. Flip side: my brother returns many items every month and I am
surprised that he does not get, somehow, blacklisted as a customer. He does
spend a lot on consumer items so maybe he has not tripped a bad customer alarm
because of the large volume of stuff he purchases.

My question is how much do consumers like my brother cost consumers like
myself due to increased costs? My brother is a great guy and I hope that I
don't sound like I am dumping on him, but it would be nice if customers like
me got some sort of discount.

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EliRivers
Alternatively, he's buying loads of stuff so he should get a discount compared
to consumers like you who hardly buy anything.

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mark_l_watson
+1 true enough! Thanks for the alternative viewpoint.

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graham-miln
Within the European Union (EU) returns for online sales are affected by the
Distance Selling Directive:
[http://www.columbia.edu/~mr2651/ecommerce3/1st/Statutes/Dist...](http://www.columbia.edu/~mr2651/ecommerce3/1st/Statutes/DistanceSellingDirective.pdf)

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t0mk
Few years ago there was an extended return period for goods from a local
eshop. I think it was up to 4 weeks instead of 2 (normal in EU, IIRC). Friend
of mine was thinking about getting a few GPUs, power sources and a
motherboard, mine litecoin for 4 weeks and then return it.

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djhworld
I was just about to reply "is that even possible", in disbelief.

But then I read [https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/changed-your-
mind...](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/changed-your-
mind/changing-your-mind-about-something-youve-bought/)

If you buy online you can return a product, even if it is opened, within 14
days of receiving your order, with a few exceptions like hygiene products or
CDs/DVDs.

TIL.

~~~
adrusi
Well also very often a retailer's return policy will be more generous than is
required by law because their research shows them that it ultimately increases
profit. In the US you can expect to be able to return opened and slightly used
merchandise. It's easy to abuse, but it doesn't get abused nearly as often as
one might think. It's frowned upon socially to buy something with the intent
of likely returning it, except in some cases like online clothing stores where
the nature of the product being purchased and the method of purchase
necessitate returns (in this case it could be said that the returned product
was defective for the purposes of the customer).

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seivan
I've always wondered if anyone ever returned a wine bottle after tasting it.
I've never dared trying.

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hackbinary
I have. On the very rare occasion, the wined is corked. I get an exchange, not
a refund.

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grogenaut
I've always wondered how obvious corked wine is. Having I think never tasted
it. Makes me paranoid I'd be wrong.

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justincormack
It is more obvious to some people than others. Many people just assume its bad
wine but will drink it anyway.

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grogenaut
Is it seriously vinegared taste or just weirdly pungent? I'm betting I'd drink
it anyway cause I didn't know better.

I do love a good sipping balsamic.

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justincormack
No it is not vinegar like at all, the wine tastes pretty tasteless, but there
is an unpleasant smell, does smell a bit like a cork might taste.

