I've never been a fan of the common, glib online response of "First-World problems."
But in this case, we've gone well beyond that, into the area of "Upper-class-white-shopaholics-who-can't-be-bothered-to-think-ahead problems." I find the author's tacit approval of this ridiculous -- and easily remedied -- behavior off-putting, and mildly disquieting.
13
Seriously... the author of this article is obviously condoning this kind of behavior, and has obviously never worked in the retail environment. The "customers" who believe they have the right to blatantly manipulate and abuse return policies to suit their whims need a serious reality check. Everybody has to make a return from time to time, but there is a growing trend of consumers who can no longer make a purchase without playing every angle to get the price adjustment on top of the coupon on top of the promo on top of the option to return for any reason at any point, forever. And these customers (who this article is obviously written in favor of) are ruining it for everybody else. Making a purchase should require a commitment from both sides, and retailers have nothing to gain by continuing to allow this behavior, which continues to get worse year after year. If the employee at any given retailer seems defensive about taking your return, it's likely because they've grown tired of the abuse they have to endure from people who just want to get their way at any cost. Retailers are just as guilty for creating these kinds of customers in the first place, but its backfired and gotten out of control. And many retailers find themselves in the position of having to cut staffing hours and other expenses needed to run a healthy business to make up for it, especially after the holidays.
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It’s simple. Cut it out with those “One Day” sales...
4
Unfortunately, online shopping makes it very easy for impulse buyers to purchase items which they consider "neat" at once with a click. The greatest bad joke is that some people order expensive clothing in order to show off at some party, then return the used items, stating they don't fit. Or what about those "customers" who order an item, accidentally drop it and mail the pieces back, insisting that they arrived that way?
My system is to ignore one-day sales, make a list of things that appeal to me, stick it in the catalogue, or list it, then, after a few days, review that list. Strange, how many items end ujp deleted. Of course, my Christmas shopping has always begun in September, ended mid-November, so that shopping under pressure is avoided; sticking to a budget is also an excellent idea.
The author appears to look at impulse buying rather indulgently, and gives tips on how to deal with one's own irresponsibility on the cost of the companies. Bad idea.
5
Tape? Printer? Life is really rough for these folks.
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"Likewise, Ms. Nicolas is currently making peace with the fact that the three wooden cutting boards she bought for Thanksgiving, total cost $100, are hers to keep at this point."
It isn't clear here whether this person was trying o return used items once there was no need or there was something wrong. she bought them, she was guilty of stupidity--not bad products, so she should pay the price. It is one reason business has to CHARGE so much for goods because THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH. The rest of us who are careful shoppers have to pay for all the crooks out there who want to use an item and then return it. and then they want free return shipping. G to the post office website and see how much even a small weight costs to send to NY--it makes your hair stand on end.
I heard someone the other day questioning the cashier about returning items if they "didn't work" and it was clear that point of the purchase was to return decorations after the holiday. I just drives up the cost for everyone. STOP already with returns unless something is broken in manufacture. Wrong size--too bad, shop in stores where you can try it on or give it away.
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Is the point of the article A. the hassle of returning stuff, B. the problem of compulsive shopping, or C. the problem of returning stuff for compulsive shoppers?
Why is this woman buying so much stuff and then returning a third of it? But more importantly, why is she complaining about it?
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I’d buy a printer for shipping labels if I was returning 30% of 10-15 shipments per week.
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I wish the article would have reported on the *amount of clothes* people buy today versus 20 or 30 years ago. Increasingly, clothing is worn for less time and new things are bought more often (in my humble opinion). Used to be that big department store sales occured post-Christmas. Black Friday and Cyber Monday, etc, encourage more buying with more markdowns. Consumers like moths have more 'flames' to be attracted to.
A Customer Service Rep at BananaRepublic actually encouraged me to buy two sizes and return the one that didn't fit; this was by phone and she specifically said, "they'd rather you buy and return than not buy at all".
5
Of course some sites like Zulilly have a no return policy. So you have to either have to take a chance with their very low prices or buy only brands you know.
2
NYT: I have a question. When holiday sales are referenced, does this figure include returns? When retail performance is analyzed and reported, is there a statistic which provides the net number or do we only get gross sales and gross returns?
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excellent question because people may be investing based on wrong numbers. given the extra costs of returns, in shipping, labor and such, and restocking time not to mention whether they actually resold an item that was "new" or sold it to a jobber or dollar store. HOW MUCH are these places actually making?
I married a French girl and moved to Paris in 1985. We bought our clothes in small stores where returning an item was considered a personal affront to the shopkeeper. Every purchase was a commitment to have and to hold until death do us part. My wife still has quite a few things from back then in her wardrobe. I can't say she wears them every day, but she remembers every store she bought them from. Today, we live in Los Angeles and (yes) she does a lot of her shopping online. She will occasionally return an item, but not nearly as often as some of her friends, who use their favorite online stores as virtual fitting rooms.
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I purchased an emergency vacuum cleaner online through Walmart. It was a major brand. After receiving and trying it I decided to return it, for it was a complete piece of junk. Went to my local Walmart store and was told I could NOT return or exchange it with them. That I would have to contact the manufacturer and go through their channels for returns. I would have to pay for the return shipping costs as well. Buyers beware. Walmart does not let you just bring a lot of their merchandise back to their stores for returns or exchanges. I will never buy anything online nor step foot into another one of their stores ever again.
13
the one neon sign that has never been turned off is:
BUYER BEWARE.
3
I can't get past Ms. Nicholas getting 15 online purchases EVERY WEEK!
60 purchases a month? What the heck? Is she a compulsive shopper or hoarder?
I don't buy that much in a YEAR.
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If you start buying soaps, cereals, rice, tooth brush, toilet paper, chewing gum, vitamins, seasonings, coffee and every day household consumables, it can easily add up. A lot of people don't use online websites for such consumables, but some have started transitioning.
However, just like with social networks etc. people have to watch for online addiction. Window browsing in the mall was healthier. Online 'window' browsing is a recipe for addiction.
6
Google the Story of Stuff. After watching the video, maybe, more people will realize that most of the "stuff" they buy is not necessary and harmful for our only home along with all its residents.
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I'm the queen of returns. It's difficult to assess clothing online and often I'm disappointed when I receive what I've ordered. But I'd say I keep my orders about half the time. Amazon returns are very easy.
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I meant to say that my son created the sound effects for Story of Stuff and many of their other videos.
I need to correct the praise given to Madewell in this article: yes, I love Madewell’s website, free shipping and return, and the well-made clothes. However, be aware that Madewell gives a refund on returns you send within 30 days from the purchase date. So, the window for returns is NOT 30 days at all. How am I supposed to remember the day I put in an order on Madewell, given all the other things I need to take care of? Yes, Madewell will grant the customer a gift card for returns received after the 30 day, well 25 day, well maybe 22 day window (whatever it might be). But still, a pain.
True, I will continue to buy stuff at Madewell—love the winter coat from them I just got. . .but the company doesn’t deserve the full-on praise it go in this article.
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Oh good heavens - try writing down the purchase date and the item if the 30 day from purchase deadline is such a problem for you. Put it on your calendar, set a reminder in your phone, etc. that will allow you enough time to pack and ship the item back.
The problem is yours, NOT Madewell's!
No sympathy whatsoever.
11
This clearly is a sign that online shopping is just way too easy. I try not to be overly tempted. I have been known to buy identical items & only keep the one that fits. What really angers me is retailers with a “final sale/no return” policy. I’m looking at you Lululemon...
3
Receiving 10 to 15 boxes a day with stuff you do not necessarily need is ....a time drain! Buy only what you need and will use, anything else becomes a psychological problem!
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10 to 15 a week, not day.
7
Maybe we should be curbing rampant consumerism, instead of worrying about the hassle of returns! I have very little time in my day to go to malls, and I shop online for a lot of basic things. But I buy what I need, and I have reduced my Xmas shopping dramatically--again cut back on the consumerism, and the feeling that you have to get family members every trinket or device out there to show them you care.
Whether your do bricks and mortar shopping on you go online sensible shopping is a must.
20
After I had to return a pair of shoes purchased on Amazon by shipping them to London, UK because of some fine print, I learned to check return policies VERY closely. Now, I don't buy anything online unless I can return it to a local store.
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“Sometimes it’s UPS, or DHL, or FedEx, or however they shipped it, then you have to print up a label, and I never seem to have the right tape.”
And who has a working printer at home anyway? “I don’t really need one except for this,”
"And good luck finding a post office open before or after work."
Really? How lazy, dysfunctional, or entitled can people be? Apparently those who have the time and technical savy to buy things online, from multiple vendors, can't manage to also order packing and clear tape, and a compact inexpensive printer (that would certainly have uses beyond shipping labels). And in most of the country, commercial mailing centers, open more hours than post offices, allow for instant drop off of boxes with shipping labels.
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Only one in 10 retail sales are made online, despite the "free" delivery, "free" returns offered by some, amongst other "perks". Those numbers may be a game changer for brick and mortar retailers, but it really doesn't seem impressive to me in absolute terms.
The economics on both sides of the returns hassle is a very good explanation, and I don't see that changing without... a monumental build out of hassle free brick and mortar returns.
I don't shop online unless i'm certain I'll keep it simply because, well, read what you've already read. Buying multiple colors/sizes and being certain to return? Not my idea of a great experience (downright torture). And buy a printer to print labels? Are you actually serious? To me it seems to be just another hoop to get buyers to give up and write off the money spent.
If that makes me lazy and dysfunctional in your mind, you're probably a frustrated online retail exec... and you've missed the boat for what is probably the great majority of shoppers.
2
I only shop at retail stores with no-hassle returns--Nordstrom and Costco. Nordstrom is thriving while traditional department stores are failing by putting customers first and giving them options to buy online, pickup in store, return online purchases in store, etc. Because Costco is a membership store, they track all my purchases, so I never need a receipt for returns. I rarely hesitate to buy items at Nordstrom or Costco because I know I can return them with no questions asked--the item may be gone the next time I'm there, so I go ahead and buy it which is a win-win for them and their customers.
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There is obviously a cost to the seller to take back and reprocess all these returns. I assume that all of us pay slightly higher prices to compensate for the few (many?) that abuse the system.
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They don't "abuse" the system. Amazon Prime is a paid "service" that is provided free in brick and mortar stores.
Impossibility to try on or evaluate a physical object, delivery and returns are a built in disadvantage of online purchases, and to achieve even 1 in 10 sales online requires some mitigation of these inherent flaws. Personally, I'm not impressed and only buy items unavailable locally.
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There is a cost, but not necessarily less profitable than traditional brick and mortar. In B&M, the cost is in the shipping, stocking, clerks, handling, counting, re-merchandising, etc. In the online world, the products sit in shelves until they're pulled and shipped to the customer. When returned, they're inspected and resold if possible. So, the handling happens in different aspects of the supply chain.
2
Only my opinion, but I think shoppers who find it too exhausting to return online purchases are probably not particularly motivated to go to the store to return either. Their homes are chock full of things they never use/wear, and they can't understand why they are living paycheck to paycheck and can't seem to ever pay off their credit cards. I would suggest bringing the items to the local thrift store, but they probably can't be bothered to do that either...
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Impossibility to try on or evaluate a physical object, delivery and returns are a built in disadvantage of online purchases, and to achieve even 1 in 10 sales online requires some mitigation of these inherent flaws.
So yes it's only your opinion, and a narrow one at that which ignores the very real hassles of online purchases.
2
How about buying what you need, and not buying three cutting boards?
Who gets 10 to 15 items per week, planning to return a third of it? Would that person buy that much at a store? Or is ti some sort of addicting instant gratification?
I never buy a bunch of things in actual stores and assume I will return most of it. I guess I just can't imagine doing it online either.
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I used to love shopping in small boutiques. You could shop calmly and quietly, and try on everything to make sure the clothes looked good, felt good, and were of good quality. I never had to return items I bought because I knew I liked it upon purchase. No waste, no fuss. I still have many of the pieces I bought back then, and some look as good as new.
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I never shopped in small boutiques. My memory of them, when there were more of them, is of very pushy saleswomen hounding me to buy. Most smaller stores were like this, in my experience. Now that bigger stores are often nearly empty of shoppers, they, too, hound their few customers. I can't stand this. I want to be left alone when I shop.
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Or there were the 'snobby' salespeople as well. I always thought this was a strange thing to do to customers. I left a shop more than once without buying because of these people's nastiness.
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I so agree with you! I strongly dislike pushy intrusive sales people. Walking into a small boutique is something I rarely do - so often the owner seems desperate to sell items, putting me on the spot and in the spotlight.
12
Buy presents based on people's wish lists; then they won't have to return them.
12
Retailers had a record holiday season. Many companies are now giving bonuses to employees. The very same companies are promising to increase salaries and invest in infrastructure. Wall St. hit all time highs 80 times since the administration changed. GDP above 3%. The economy is roaring and media is not covering it.
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Two words: Thanks Obama! It is still Obama's economy. Wait until June, and then see how we are doing.
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You missed the fact that cryptcurrencies are skyrocketing in value. Another sign that everything is getting better under the new administration....?
1
This makes me incredibly weary, just to read. I really have got the downsizing bug, finally. Now, about the Husband...........
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I'm always shocked at people who buy an item, use it a few times, and then return it. Someone I know recently returned an item she bought from Nordstrom TWO YEARS after she'd bought it. Her reasoning? They take everything back. As an online reatwiler of the EBay kind, I don't take returns. I figure my policy requires people to actually think before they buy. I'd rather lose a few sales than deal with impulse buyers who change their mind after pushing the buy button.
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I've lived abroad in Europe and Latin America, and the U.S. is probably the only country that lets you return just about anything at anytime for any reason, we've become spoiled. I understand that sometime returns or exchanges are unavoidable, but why are people buying so much stuff that they dont' really want?
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Actually, it is not true you can return "anything anytime". Most retailers have strict guidelines for returns.
However...the reason is that people are now compulsive shoppers, impulse shoppers who press the "buy it now!' button before they even think through "do I want or really need this thing?"
Then they get it home, and it is different in real life than it was in photos online -- smaller or cheaper -- OR it doesn't fit -- OR they just have second thoughts about a $200 doodad.
The secret is actually buying much less in the first place. We probably do not need 60% of what we buy.
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For clothing--it's hard to know what your correct size is, so many people order two or more sizes, try them all on, and return the ones that don't fit. Or the color of the item on your monitor is not the color of the item when you get it home. Or you are going to a big party, order 6 dresses, pick the one that you like best and return the others.
Why didn't you go shopping in a brick and mortar store? Maybe you didn't have enough time to trek to 5 or 6 stores. Maybe you are petite or plus size and there simply aren't any stores in a reasonable drive that carry your size in clothing you are willing to wear.
There is one shoe store in a 50 mile radius of me that carries wide width shoes. I need to wear wide width shoes. The shoes carried by this store tend to be, shall we say, less than attractive. I'm not looking for super stylish or trendy, but I don't need orthopedic shoes, just shoes with enough room for my toes. If I didn't order shoes and have the ability to return those that don't fit, I'd have an extremely limited selection of shoes to chose from. And unfortunately, even shoes from brands that I have worn before and know what size to order can have fit issues, and need to be returned.
Online shopping is great, but one consequence is that local stores carry only mainstream styles and sizes in clothing and shoes, and only commonly needed items in other stores. Any sort of "specialty" item or size needs to be ordered. And that increases the potential for returns.
23
Go to "Hotter" for shoes-specialize in wide but stylish, pretty, flattering. Free shipping and free returns. They're made in England where people still walk quite a bit in daily life. I've got several pairs and only had to return a pair once to exchange for a roomier pair. I think that they have a loyal customer base and find that free shipping and free return in addition to a pretty, useful, high quality product keeps us coming back.
And the return process is the kind where you just attach the prepaid label, take it to the post office and drop it off without waiting in line. Now this does mean that the post office needs to be open. I'm lucky that there is one nearby which is open until 6 p.m. This is not the case everywhere.
That said if I bought a lot of things that had to be returned-packed, taped, paperwork printed and copied, transported, etc. I would find it aggravating. So why did you buy it ? it's better to be pretty certain that you will keep it. But I do have a printer. Can't imagine not needing one and they are cheap, small, boxy and easily tucked into a corner. Printing from the cloud is a horrible ordeal though. Best if it is physically attached by a cable to a desktop or laptop.
1
There's another hidden problem of the emphasis on on-line shopping - the lack of "in store" stock for unusual sizes, as stores no longer need to keep stores stocked for customer convenience.
My son is 6'5" tall. He wears a Medium Tall, a size too small to be found in "Big and Tall" stores. He wears XL socks and size 15 shoes.
I don't have any choice - just about everything needs to be bought online.
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Lord help you if you have wide feet. Those shoes are rarely in stock or on sale. And let's face it, you have to try on shoes because of all of these odd patterns and poor construction. My first-world problem, I realize, but I am on my feet 10 hours a day as a teacher.
13
It has always been the case that vast differences exist in how retailers treat customers who wish to return items. Some, like Macy’s, will accept returns in store quickly and easily at any customer service desk. Others feel the need to make the return process frustrating with long lines and different service counters for in-store or on-line returns.
The only difference now is that many also offer the option to ship back purchases made online. Again, some sellers are customer-centered and will include a pre-printed return label. Others view inconvenience as simply the price a customer must pay to return items.
Sorry I can’t really feel badly for your consumer who does so much shopping that she “receives about 10 to 15 boxes per week of merchandise at her home” and whose first-world problem is that none of those boxes contained the “right” tape.
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Online shopping experience curated by major online store(s) is very similar to playing a video game. Every single aspect of the experience is engineered to make it addictive to the customers.
The net result is that people get addicted. Every single thing is presented as an opportunity to better your life, while in reality, it's doing just the opposite. They have changed shopping into a system of clicks in anticipation of reward.
People are addicted because of the anticipation. Any biologist would tell you that anticipation is directly linked to Dopamine release in the brain.
NY Times should do a huge article on addictive aspects of online shopping.
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The NY Times should also do an article on "wardrobing" (buying items to use once and then returning them). How is this not considered stealing? Retailing probably lose as much money to fraudulent returns as they do to shoplifting.
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Like this is a new phenomenon? I remember people doing this back in the only brick and mortar days when I worked in retail (1970s). It IS stealing, but the retailers are enabling when they accept unlimited returns. And the retailers know it- they value a repeat customer more than the bottom line. Which may be why so many of them went out of business last year.
13
" .. NY Times should do a huge article on addictive aspects of online shopping."
Did you read the article? It is about what a *pain* doing online returns can be.
Y'know -- behavioral psychology? Stick vs carrot?
1