[lol636363]

30% seems really high. And I say that as someone who returns items more than most of my friends. My estimate is about 3-4% of items that I have returned over last 15 years of online shopping. And my friends think that is too high and guilt me for abusing the system. But maybe I should not feel as guilty.

The reasons I return items is usually false advertising. I used to spend hours reading reviews and product specs before buying. But now I don't have time to sift through reviews. And of course, fake reviews make it harder.

So all I got is maker's ads and if ads are lying then I don't feel guilty returning an item.

It seems most people have an attitude that if a buyer got duped with false advertisements then it is buyer's fault.

[jjoonathan]

I have the same return philosophy as you. In 2019 and 2020 it has resulted in ~5% returns, in 2018 it resulted in 20% returns. Why? Athletic bluetooth earbuds. That single category was such a stinker that it singlehandedly quadrupled my return rate. 2015 had a similar spike when I started equipping an electronics lab, but 2016 and 2017 were fine. In any case, I think the reasonable return rate is a heavy function of what you're buying. One person's 10% return rate might be borderline fraudulent while another person's 30% return rate might be perfectly reasonable.