Shops ditch free returns to tackle ‘serial returners’

ONLINE stores are making it more difficult to send back items as they face massive losses due to ‘serial returners’.

Four in ten admit they do not offer free returns as a way to discourage shoppers from returning non-faulty items.

And a further 12 per cent have stopped offering the service because it became too expensive, according to a study.

The shift comes in response to the increased trend of shoppers abusing the returns system. Estimates show a quarter of returned items are unfit for resale – often because they have been used, are marked or have parts missing, according to Barclaycard.

And when shopping for clothes, many shoppers will frequently buy the same item in a variety of sizes and colours with the intention of trying them on and returning the surplus. Because they may no longer be in season by the time they are returned, retailers are therefore unable to re-sell them.

Such ‘buy-and-return habits’ have forced a fifth of retailers to introduce a system to dispose of stock they cannot resell, with one in ten partnering with a reseller to sell items on at a loss. Fashion company Boden offers a free returns policy, but has warned customers that ‘rotten apples’ who abuse the system could find their transactions blocked.

Its website states: ‘If you are a pathological chancer and simply can’t help yourself, we recommend trying it on with our competitors instead.’

But Barclaycard said charging for returns could backfire, with one in three consumers saying this would put them off shopping.