Buy, Return, Repeat: What happens When You Return Online Purchase? | Vantage with Palki Sharma
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ธ.ค. 2023
- Buy, Return, Repeat: What happens When You Return Online Purchase? | Vantage with Palki Sharma
The things we buy online and return have birthed an industry of hidden logistics. The returns industry is worth $627 billion. It ships the returned purchases all over the world. But most of these products don't return to the shelves, they end up in landfills. What happens to the online purchases we return? Which country returns the most?
The industry may be booming, but the culture of quick, cheap returns has led to an organised retail crime of "wardrobing". This is where shoppers buy something only to wear it once before returning. It is more harmful than expected. Are e-commerce companies at fault for a poor system of returns logistics? Can the return process become more eco-friendly? Palki Sharma brings you the full story.
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Online Shopping | E-Commerce | Retunred Items | Firstpost | World News | Vantage | Palki Sharma
#onlineshopping #ecommerce #returneditems #purchase #algorithms #firstpost #vantageonfirstpost #palkisharma #worldnews
Vantage is a ground-breaking news, opinions, and current affairs show from Firstpost. Catering to a global audience, Vantage covers the biggest news stories from a 360-degree perspective, giving viewers a chance to assess the impact of world events through a uniquely Indian lens.
The show is anchored by Palki Sharma, Managing Editor, Firstpost.
By breaking stereotypes, Vantage aims to challenge conventional wisdom and present an alternative view on global affairs, defying the norm and opening the door to new perspectives. The show goes beyond the headlines to uncover the hidden stories - making Vantage a destination for thought-provoking ideas.
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I wish you were a host of news reporting here in the USA. You are so much better than what they give us here.
It's about the organisation and not about news presenters and the editors. Some. people have no spine, some people succumb to pressures and some already have propaganda. Some shine.
Leave some people in India. We had a lot of brain drain in all fields. India should work.on retaining talent by removing reservations and corruption.
it dosnt work as your news channels are owned by big corporates and politicians.
You guys have Tucker, there's no one like him.
No, Palki belongs to India 😊
@@ssk7690 Tucker really ? That guy once India can never grow without the British he said you should be thankful to Britishers that they colonized you, that guy is Racist as f
E-commerce must take necessary steps to eliminate these issues for zero wastages of new products.
What about all the wastage from Uranus ?
@@luisfernando5998 Never heard of that on ecommerce sites
"There is enough for everybody's need, not for everybody's greed!" - Mahatma Gandhi
Simple advice for the complex generations 🙏🏽
🙏
"The earth has enough for everyone's need, not everyone's greed"
- Gandhi
Truth from a great man
Not true.
Unless you are saying that Some people's greed are snatching away from those who actually need it.
But then you are rejecting capitalism and Gandhi was socialist like Vivekananda and some Buddhist monks.
Nowadays, socialism is a taboo word. Socialism accepting of spiritual values and religious freedom is even more taboo. So I avoid discussion.
Don't follow this Fake Mahatma rules He was a real complex guy. His party ie. Congress spends millions as to keep Gandhi poor
But Flipkart has lots of sellers with bad products and worst return path with irresponsible customer service and I had to go to consumer forum many times to get things sorted with them.
Please enlighten the steps to get through in the forum
Flip kart owned by Walmart so !!!!😅
I don't shop online. I don't shop much anyway. I hate working extra hard just to be able to buy unnecessary stuff. I enjoy life and work with minimum stress
I can relieve ur stress by planting my seed
One also needs to work to pay for the place to keep the bought stuff in. Minimalist life is so free and simple
I think u have watched a minimalist movie 😅
Respect
@@luisfernando5998😂😂😂😂😂😂
I don't think in India, they trashed the return items because twice I received used items from an ecommerce website.
And for me, the reason behind returns is that the product is not similar with the description even though sometimes review is not enough.
There is also another problem with returns. People often exchange original branded products for fake/ knock off products of the same style and it costs money for the retailer too. Somewhere, a line needs to be drawn.
I've actually been thoroughly researching on this topic over the last two months. Here are a few facts that should really alarm us:
1. On an average, 50% of the orders placed for clothes are returned.
2. New brands even face upto 80% returns leading to their brands shutting shop because of terrible P&L. Imagine, as a brand, you pay for shipping and you pay for return with the customer not even purchasing anything from your store as the end result.
3. One of the major reason for returns for clothing e-commerce is sizing. All brands have different sizing leading to customers buying more than actually needed.
I return only things that are defective. I hate buying clothing on line because you can't try it on. I really prefer brick and mortar stores, especially clothes so you can know it fits before you buy. I tend to avoid buying from companies that charge for returns. Returns are already a pain in the neck because you have to box it up and go to the UPS or whatever to mail it back. It chews up a day taking the bus there and back.
Some stores still sell their return items at a bargain price because the box was opened. I have bought a few of them in my time. Why can't the online retailer do the same, have a bargain list of return items?
For returning products, I would blame the retailers who display images which are different from actual product. Also, they price clothes at such a high price, makimg us think that quality would be good enough. But on receiving the parcel, I realise that its not even worth half the price I paid. So, m forced to return.
If the retailers wish that we dont return, then either they should deliver quality product or upon submission of return request, they should offer a discounted price to keep the product.
That way returns would be minimized
I also bought a pair of cargo pants from an online ad on FB and the material was sub-par. I just use it at home as rough use.
I purchased Dumbbells and it was worse than the photo and the weights were leaking and sand and iron dust was coming out. Yet it was a popular product with lots of reviews.
I had no idea… there is alot going on in this world without us realising it…
Yeah like in Uranus
Or they can just put a section on their website of " returns " lightly used , discount the product with no return policy .
I wish Palki that you had shown more data for India. I understand that it may be more difficult to collect data for India but I guess that is where the impact is needed and also where massive scope lies.
I remember when getting open box tvs from best buy was an awesome deal. Now they barely take anything off.
there are many websites in india which offer products cheaper than others, if you buy there is a huge possibility of getting fake product with almost impossible to return or get refund, read online reviews before buying in e-commerce sites 90% of reviews will be accurate and helpful
Instagram is riddled with online sellers. They make returns difficult. You have to pray to God on their quality.
Another outstanding report
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Never returned a product after using only returned if defective or didn't like a product after delivery. Through Firstpost got to know the actual cost of a returned product.
Journalism at best, Palki Sharma 🎉
Thanks for educating us with the impact and magnitude of this.
Superb Revelation. Nicely appealed at the end
Thank you , very good information. I will be cautious
Amazon Prime doesnt even charge you for clothes until you know it fits. You get it in the mail, and if you don't return it by a certain date, they charge you then.
to dump taxes
That creates huge scope for returning, new problems
@@kutbilukhadia2715 Excatly.
Your show is always well
researched, ❤❤this emoji is for the way we take everything for granted😢
Top class journalism!
Best journalist palki Sharma mam🙏🥳🥳🎉😊
Your are the yardstick for journalism. More knowledge and awarness in lesser time by watching your videos Madam 🙏
Palki is right, but some of these retailers need to be held accountable for some apparel returns too. For example, I once ordered clothes online XL size which was even mentioned in the product, they gave me lesser size, returned it, asked for replacement, gave me something similar again, returned it too.
Yeah. Correct. Thats why I hesitate to buy online. Till now only Myntra never disapppinted😅
@@cryptoboi9584but myntra is more expensive for the exact same product.
Few times I do that too due to some or other reason but now I will be more careful, thanks a lot for bringing it up 👍🏻
indeed an eye opener Thnku Palki ma'am!!
This is insane. Instead of making a land waste and hurting the mother earth. All the return can be donated as free for anyone who can use them. It can also be donated to the places like churches or freecycle website.
It can benefit so many people around USA and other countries where people are unable to purchase these goods. Due to high inflation.
I think some do that. They sell some of those returned apparels to Thrift stores for heavily discounted prices.
When I lived in Lucknow. Online stuff came from Bangalore. Now I live in Bangalore my online stuff came from Lucknow.
These online companies should manage this. To reduce carbon footprint.
Wonderful news every day. Thank you Palki and team for working hard and giving us the best news. I only watch your news as your news provides so much knowledge and depth.
I don't know much about most online shops but Amazon India just reships returned items as new.🤣
Not wrong imo. The reviews are usually reliable.
I rarely shop online but when I do, the only time I return anything is when the defect level is beyond usable just because I don't feel like waiting. I would be okay if they raised return fees to 50% for items that are non-defective. I am not sure if retailers can correct themselves down this path. Would it overall lower the price of items and by how much?
Too much for u, go back to the slum shops u can afford
You rarely shop online so you really have no opinion on this...
Reason is, products can come defected/faulty, poor quality, not as described, missing items, retailer mistakes, shipper damage and some other reasons thats not coming to mind. these are all good reasons for a free return. Charging people 50% fee is absurd all because YOU rarely shop online because you have the means to go out and shop and see first hand on what you are buying unlike if you bought it online. What you impose would only protect retailers and manufacturers on selling more poor quality items and poor service.
"Want a red $200 sneakers? Well.... We said we had red in stock but all we really got are pink so you will get pink!!! You dont want pink now? You only get 50% refund!!!"
"Ordered that $1300 monitor just to get it with 3+ dead pixels in the center? well... As long as it works so if you want to refund it, we will refund 50%!!"
Your idea only will cause companies to care less and have no accountability for poor service which they will make more $$ doing that. Remember, you said only if the item is unuseable is when you refund.
If you want to punish people who orders and returns thing because they just want to buy, use and return, then come up with a better idea and not one that would only make retailers more money while decreasing service and product quality.
Defection of so much scale lead to fiscal-earth-holes. Can even physical-brick-and-mortar-oligopoly. The idea would be to even flow which can only be done through marking the maximum limitations of economic status.
Instead of dumping it in a pit they can accumulate all those returns for an entire year and then distribute those among the poor and needy people in different parts of the world.
According to some economists giving poor for free will reduce profits of company and it can slow down GDP growth. That's the reason why Food is not free in India despite having enough. Food will be cheaper and farmer's income will reduce.
No one is going to make me feel guilty about returning an item that was not labeled correctly. Why would they not donate it to charity instead of dumping it on a landfill?
Yes Palki, we saw the CNBC video as well… no new research here by first post 🙃
Gracias
A great analysis.
Man is the Biggest Creator of new problems n Greatest destructor EVER😢😢
I have never thought on that 😮😮
Yes right you are!
This should be treated to maintain economy
Respect button for Palki Sharma.
I hope a nation of top population, I hope you can try put the spot-light on India to show how bad the pollution there and start bring changes..
I see many items being resold on amazon warehouse deals including some faulty ones!
I too return but only things that are defective. Companies should be more aware of it and stop this destruction to environment
Also understand in america.. Average good jeans cost $50 from express or h&m.that is 15000 rupees in pakistan.. Where as in pakistan breakout brand jeans cost 2000 rupees.
amazing
Consumer will not be happy with this. Considering buying something with hard earned money, the thing you get is faulty or doesn't fit because the seller gave a defective piece. And this particular cases you stuck up with trash which you can't use and you need to pay your hard earned money for not your fault and throw it in garbage.
At the end they are going to garbage, in return option at least they are getting salvaged and consumers are paid back. Removing or putting price on return will only increase the problem.
Yes. I agree.
I always get defected products. Sometimes products are displayed in such a way that many will mistake it for something else. Vivo iQoo did similar. I purchased iQoo Z7 5g but later a cheaper version was sold in same price and many mistook it for iQoo Z7. They just tweaked the name a little with same price tag while Original one was increased in price.
Well don't take it back, ask for some sort of e verification, picture video, if verified with genuine reason. Return or refund depend on product catalogue
In the US, Macy's makes the customers drop off the return at the local post office . though it is free, it is very inconvenient
I didnt know that, I always go to the store. I know amazon accepts returns at Kohls, UPS but didnt know about Macys.
@KomalD-cb2bu maybe it is for smaller cities. Btw this is for online purchases
At the end these defective products are going to garbage, in return option at least they are getting salvaged and consumers are paid back. Removing or putting price on return will only increase the problem.
❤
And in India amazon wallmart refuse replacing defective items
How did Palki drift from Pakistan and China phobia and make this video? Anyway, it's amazing to see her doing good things too.
Nothing comes free except mother's blessings.
Losses from returning merchandise are recovered by the companies by adding the cost on to futures production.
At the end of the day, retailers pay anyway. It just works like insurance policy.
Consumers are smart, companies are smarter but damage to environment effects all.
Not everything is returned fir being defective. Sometimes it is because of how product looks on you
Amazon has warehouse deals. Plus returns are accepted by Walmart and target too. Why are they whining? Use the money saved on rent for logistics and reverse logistics. That was their business model.
Should give 80-90% discount instead of dumping.
Sounds like an issue with manufacturers, retailers and shippers and not the consumers. Looks like there are no laws, regulations for manufacturers and retailers to handle returns by reselling, repairing/reselling or simply giving the stuff away for free as it sounds like greed. They could give/donate a lot of this stuff to be given out or resold for charity. As for broken products, they can be fixed and there are plenty of people that can do this. All this stuff being tossed in landfills sounds like an issue with these companys and the power they have with capitalism.
I just returned a 75" TV, one of Amazons omni brands. It came with a broken screen not caused by me so i returned it. That was the fault of the manufacturer, Amazon or the shippers that caused the damage to the screen. Before this TV, i ordered a pixel 8 used but 1h after i paid $400 for it, they had dropped the price down to $250 for a sale on the same page. They refused to price match this phone which the one i paid for for sold and shipped by Amazon which was the same one for $150 off. They told me to return it and reorder for the lower price. As you can see, their methods causes a lot of returns.
returned items also selling on offline stores with discounted price ,
after all the vendors will pass their loss to the public. I bought an oppen box laptop and when I ask questions about it - simple questions - like the keyboard backlight doesn't work, they suggest I should return the product within 30 days, why not answer that question and eliminate 2 shipping charges (to the vendor of course) but they are lazy to give service. Though they give 1 tear warranty on open box items also. Some online vendors don't even give their company name / address and no action is taken to notify when the product will be shipped - absolutely no corrospondence (ZERO) service.
She is so happy got another topic to misrepresent
Why?
Embrace minimalism to save the planet
I could save the logistics and put it straight into the landfill myself
The returns ending in landfill was not known to me. Thankfully I buy offline only.
😊😃
I have the same worry so I ignore online shopping most of time
buyers looting sellers😂😂😂
And we are worried about climate change ?More discipline from consumers is so important to bring this debacle under control .
Relevent to me .Just bought an MP3 player fron Ebay that my laptop won't detect. I am trying to return that.
You are beautiful. Mam and fantastic anchor
Bad for the environment and also for small businesses which are forced to deal with this abuse. Especially in America.
Big corporations tolerate such abuse and force small merchants to be abused.
Sometimes here small businesses say no exchange and end up selling cheap products. The consumer has to bear the bad purchase. Both side harass each other when they get a chance. Best of brick and mortar stores, that reduces defects and misfits considerably. And replacement with bill can also be verified
Ohhhh I was not aware of this part of story......, I shall be more careful hence now 😢
I am an Amazon seller. We get people returning items after using them. Our Christmas theme items customers apply for refund on 25 th night after using it on the 25th. Unbelievable. And the free gift we send in each order is never sent back . Sad
Hey i want flipkart or amazon delership in my city can you help me
You can make them non-returnable and offer replacement option for defective products.
Can’t do that for jewellery
Amazon should start reselling of open box products, i don't know if they are doing or not but they don't sell these products to customers...
So this is a fault of Government and e-commerce companies not customers. They have to make some policy.
There is a market for unboxed items and they sell at 90 percent the OG value
Her report is fake news. Amazon, Newegg, Walmart, Bestbuy and many more outlets do not toss products in the trash, least not most. They repackage and resell as new and if they cant, they sell in pallets or they sell them off to resellers directly and what is broken, they may dump or recycle and wether of the two options they chose, most of that comes at the result of manufacturers or shipping companies fault of broken goods. There is no accountability with these companys so they will abuse w/e they can and who they can.
what is it called? if possible can you share the link for that?
Now it is even difficult to return/replace defective products in Flipkart
Really??
Why can't retailers donate rather than sending to landfill ?
Why do u poop in the bathroom and not the kitchen ?
Why not just donate it to charities???
Because people do business to make money, and not to donate. If you donate, it means somebody doesn't pay full price, which is a loss in profit. Capitalism in a nutshell.
@@belegitt6813 True with capitalism but what is donated for free is tax reduction for retailers and the groups that takes in products for donation can resell at large discount and money generated can be donated to other causes. Like you said, capitalism prevents this, and all the greedy people. Capitalism also prevents actions to hold companys accountable that does everything this report mentions. This isnt a consumer issue like some dumb people here claims.
I would like her to say" thank you come ageain" at least one time.lol please.
But, this sounds strange that if they don`t care about the products anyway. Why don`t they just donate it to the needy or NGO`s or come up with volunteering initiatives where people would themselves do that. This is disgusting there are so many people who can`t afford. This is not just the case with returns there`s an even worse care you can call it the dark side of Fashion Industry where they simply dump absolutely fine clothes to islands far away or dessert areas and so many that you can find an ocean of clothes just dumped as it is.
KNOW THE REASON WHY? Just because it`s that cloth`s color or style is out of Fashion and how early fashion trends change almost every week and the reason these company give for throwing them is that the other company would steal their style or copy it which can lead to our loss. IMAGINE! JUST IMAGINE!
The kind of world we`re living in and I must say that in almost any household you go in Bharat (India) today whether it be any in a village or city even they never throw a single cloth just like that in the dustbin until it is completely torn, distressed, destroyed or ripped off and incase they don`t like the cloth or is small on them they give their younger siblings or any needy they know around to wear, even uniforms.
Often Bhartiya`s while interacting which each other make fun of such activities as they don`t fit in definitions of those elite class living styles but Practically, that is the way to live these so called half baked elite class mindsets often cause more damage than good in society whereas cultures ensure sustainable living.
What do you guys think?
But the Jps are throwing nuclear water to the sea, but yeah, a big return problems
SO WHO do i contact to start selling returns?
at least someone talk about it i am in a heavey lose because of flipkart return😭😭
Let's go to the landfills
How does she get the inner data, don’t tell me …. her research team gets it! But that’s not what I meant. Where is such data available? Companies don’t put such data out on the internet for all (including share holders) to see. How does she know in what manner each company handles returned merchandise? One needs to talk to hundreds of company directors and owners and collect data. It is not even a mandatory data that government requires to be disclosed. It would take years of work and enormous amounts of money to get to such conclusions. I’m skeptical.
Let’s talk about buying goods from India and China at Rs.150 and selling them at $20. Amazon’s 1.5 Trillion revenue is beyond returns, they are tuned to handle this buffer. If economics doesn’t add up it won’t sustain!
That’s why Amazon gives returnless refund for many products.
I honestly thought they are examined and repackaged in case of electronics and maybe cleaned and repackaged in case of clothes.
Someone needs to launched an e commerce which sell returned product
There already is
Amazon Returns
If returns are so expensive for sellers then why they have a system of returning twice to open the option of refund? At least that is my experience on amazon. It's a time-wasting headache for me.
Let's Convert returns to charity
The youtube short sounded so different
Because of returns only, people are buying more stuff, even if don’t need…. and companies are making profits….
For environment, hardly people are concerned just statements
Select carefully 🙏, try not to written, mostly when you use them for long time. Also request full details and better vedio of products with complete information, compare and contrast and take a tine to buy then wasting time in going back to written Shop.
Amz seller here. Some people are really really terrible. They swap items and return. While others orders goods and then changes their minds with no accountability where I have to pay both ways shipping.
i want amazon or flipkart dealership can you help me