Return It or Suck It Up?

In the early 1980s in a small backpacking shop, there were some items we could “keystone” but there were small items that sold for a few dollars each.  Softgoods – clothing, socks, that new-fangled polypro underwear – could approach 2x but was more often 1.6 to 1.8x.  “Hard goods” like tents and backpacks were much more competitive and people comparison shopped much more.  Then you might only be able to get a 30-40% mark-up from which you had to pay for salaries, bennies, rent, utilities, insurance, returns, shoplifting, etc.  So while we’d stock Jansport tents and Black Diamond packs, that’s not what paid the rent.

The highest margin items were rental clothing.  So many people were THRILLED that we’d rent powder pants, gloves and moon boots to their kids for the weekend and that they wouldn’t have to store them until next year’s scout / school snow trip by which time, the kid would have outgrown it.  We’d rent those items most weekends of the winter, getting most of the wholesale cost of each item each time it was rented.  And, at the end of the winter, people would line up for our rental gear sell-off when we’d price it at wholesale and it would all be gone in two hours.

Thanks for the clear explanation and there are just a couple considerations that might alter the conclusion just a little. 1. There aren’t that many links in the chain (usually), and the mark-up is seldom as high as 100% at any point except maybe the retail level. 2. at a “co-op” like REI, “we” do suffer when others abuse the returns policy because as members we’re vested int he company: every time somebody returns a product for a refund it takes a wee tiny little smidgen out of our dividend.

My 2¢: If it’s a crappy product that’s fine but there are still a lot of jerks out there who’ll buy a pair of lightweight trail runners; wear the hell out of them for 11 months; return them for a refund; but the exact same shoe again; and repeat the process all over. In effect those of us with scruples are subsidizing a bunch of selfish jerks. Feel free to substitute another descriptor in the place of “jerks” ;-)

I’m always trying to distill lots of information and opinions into simple tests and principles.  This discussion has lead me to this conclusion: 1. Is the user sincerely dissatisfied with the item’s performance?     2. Is the dissatisfaction reasonable?

The first question is subjective.  The second question is more objective.  If the answer is ‘yes’ to both, return away.  If either answer is ‘no’, suck it up.