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this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2025
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It has nothing to do with discounting it, it has to do with paying for the labour involved in the sale and refund process, which takes worker time.
That labor should be paid from the profits of goods sold and not returned--just like every other liability.
Why? The company shouldn't have to eat the cost just because you decide after the fact that you don't actually want/need the item. The company should be liable for warranty claims, but not simple returns.
There are so many cases where you must be able to use an item to determine its suitability. If brands and vendors don't facilitate that prior to sale then I have no way to test it without buying it first. Vendors take a gamble then if the product works for me. If it doesn't, well that's the cost of doing business. They make money enough for purchasing wares, paying utilities, rent, and salaries, covering logistical overhead, and turning profit all from the sale of their goods. There's no reason consumers should have to subsidize one of their risks through a special medium beyond the sale of product.
If a company doesn't like that then they can adopt consumer friendly protections like permitting trying on clothes, test driving a car or having a tool rental option prior to sale.
But if I:
Well, then, they can process a return.
This is correct.
Four of the five examples you provided are warranty claims: The product is defective, or otherwise not-as-described.
The fifth one is the only one where I would probably insist on a return fee. My wrench would clearly have its dimensions listed, and you'd have all the information you needed to learn whether it would work for your particular application long before you hit the "buy" button. When it doesn't fit, I will be able to show you that you could and should have known that before purchasing. (I'd probably waive the restock fee if you were sufficiently self-deprecating and apologetic about wasting my time.)
If I look and realize I didn't include that information, that would be a warranty claim.
Why? It's not broken. Might fit some other car. And not being able to set the background. Not broken. Just operates that way. They should do a better job of describing the product which is why a lot of legitimate returns happen. In a world where bricks and mortar stores are going extinct people must rely on product descriptions and with more and more shady practices by sellers. Forget their restocking fee.
If they lose customers because of the fee, then aren't they in essence paying the price anyway?
If I buy something from you, and then return it for no reason whatsoever, am I actually a customer? Or am I just some asshole you never want to hear from again?
Is this my 1st purchase or 50th? What if it's my 500th?
Being anti-consumer harms you more than it helps, because it will drive business away from you for being an asshole. I know, I've stolen business from big box stores to my personal by pointing that out to people (and I only got kicked out once for losing them a sale lol).
Oh, if you're trying to return it arbitrarily, it is definitely your first purchase. I've got years of data supporting that. Repeat customers just don't make arbitrary returns. If a repeat customer makes a return, it is because I screwed up, and I don't charge a restock fee on my mistakes. Quite the contrary, I usually offer a replacement without a return, and toss in some goodies as well.
I'm not being anti-consumer. "You" are not a consumer. You're returning the product arbitrarily, not "consuming" it.
What you actually are is a "borrower". Which would be fine if I was a library, but I'm a small business with tight margins.
Catering to borrowers takes time away from serving my customers. I don't feel a pressing need to convert a borrower to a customer.
If you have the right by law to return something, they must not charge a fee. That cost needs to be included in the original price. If the return policy is optional, then they can charge something. And you can decide to never buy anything from them ever again. And trash that store on social media for its hostile policy.
And it's a cost of doing business that the business should pay.
The customer always pays, not the business.
Do you want to pay extra because other people return items?
You act like every return is a scam.
Do you want to pay for a product you didn't get?
There's no restocking fee for an item that you didn't get, because it's not a return.
A company charging you a restocking fee in that situation is a scam.
Fine I guess I have to spell it out. You get the crappy product, return it and pay a restocking fee. You just paid to end up with nothing. Get it now?
Do your research before buying something?
Yeah, totally easy. No such thing as fake reviews.
I've sat in chairs that my friends swear by; Secret Labs. Not comfortable to me. And guess what, no place to sit in one anywhere near me. Got lucky and sat in one in the UK. Dodged a restocking bullet there.
Thats fine, but then restocking fees become part of you wanting to test things.
That shouldn't be on the manufacturer or other customers.