[wyattpeak]

My most interesting takeaway, from the causes of the bullwhip effect:

> Free return policies: Customers may overstate demands due to shortages, if customers cannot returns items, retailers will continue to exaggerate their needs, cancelling orders and causing in excess product or materials.

I was annoyed when I saw that stores were refusing to accept returns, thinking that they didn't want to suffer the cost of regretful hoarders trying to make right. Most people I talked to were pleased that hoarders were getting their comeuppance. But its effect on supply went completely over my head, and while I don't know if anyone else was aware, certainly nobody mentioned it.

[rrrrrrrrrrrryan]

I don't know if the policy was about "hoarders getting their comeuppance" so much as disincentivizing hoarding in the first place.