[dantiberian]

Isn't it more likely that some contacted Fab about the mix up when they received the subway shower curtain instead of the iPhone case? Then Fab realised the mistake that had been made and sent out the email you received.

I don't see why this suggests trickery, I see a business which was quick to respond to a mistake.

[mikhaill]

Just to add one more point, the "offer" to keep the curtain was not done out of good will. The cost of them offering free shipping back to the consumer, re-stocking it, etc (do they even own their own inventory or is everything dropshipped?) would have been a lot higher then the value of the curtain.

Some of the e-commerce retailers who run their return numbers and know the cost of all processes will let people keep items they want to return because processing returns will end up more expensive for them.

[goronbjorn]

They dropship everything (it's why delivery takes so damn long) so your explanation sounds like a more likely scenario.

[betashop]

Actually, more than 70% of Fab.com's products are not drop shipped, and we've cut our delivery times in half the past 2 months and are making tons of progress there.

I'm jason, the ceo. chat me up.

[mikhaill]

Jason,

What's the rationale for bringing fulfillment inhouse? The economics and market trends seem to move the other way, in favor of drop shipping as much as possible. Catalog data problems? Financial? Branded customer experience? Partners can't ship properly? Just wondering...

[betashop]

When we take inventory we can ensure fast delivery times and a consistently Fab experience. Also, most drop shoppers are not setup to handle the type of volume Fab generated. Drop shipping maxes out at a relatively small number of orders.

[goronbjorn]

It's nice to know you're making an effort to improve shipping times, and it's also cool to see you poking around on HN.