Frequently Returned Items on Amazon
It’s right there, in big orange letters. Do you need me to still write the blog? We want explanation and reaction on this? Ok. Here goes.
We here at Review Party Dot Com read a lot of reviews. Gut reaction to this news? IT’S GOOD!
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Here’s what Amazon spokesperson Betsy Harden had to say on the new feature:
"(W)e’re always innovating on behalf of customers to improve the shopping experience… We’re currently showing return rate information on some product detail pages to help our customers make more informed purchase decisions."
We all know and shop Amazon, more and more each day, week, year, and one reason it’s SO convenient is that it’s SO lenient when it comes to returns. We’re talking 30-day windows, or those times where they just let you keep the thing that didn’t meet your expectations.
It’s hard to see this from Amazon’s (or any other third-party seller’s) perspective, but let’s try.
It can’t be too cost effective to ship products to a customer, pay for it to be shipped back, then pay staff to sort and send out a new product. That’s why they don’t always make you send something back! But is it somehow more cost-effective to warn you away from the purchase altogether?
That obviously doesn’t make sense, except for Amazon itself. This warning builds trust between you and Amazon; if you don’t buy one listing, you’ll just switch to another.
But hey, let’s talk about how this is good for the consumer, too.
First, if you see a product is returned often, you’re probably thinking “it’s junk, don’t buy.” And that may very well be the case. Check the reviews and find out.
BUT, but, as I said, we read a lot of reviews here. And there’s something we see far too often. Products that have clearly been used or worn, sweat and lived in, and returned. No one’s getting paid to wash the returned clothes (or check the pockets/check for stains), so you might end up with a nasty nast Halloween costume or robe or something. BUT, if you see that THIS particular French Maid costume is returned a LOT, maybe find one that won’t be all stinky. Here’s hoping this warning helps you out!
