3 replies to this topic

[dirthawker]

Just curious. I've never been in the retail business before, and here I am trying to start an e-commerce business. Now, many times I've seen companies say they will charge an x% restocking fee if you return something. My questions are:

a) do people actually charge a restocking fee, or is that mostly a way of discouraging customers from returning items?

how does one enforce this (i.e. get the fee) with an e-business? If the customer paid by check and you don't have a CC#, what do you do?

Thanks

[Jack_mcs]

It may depend on what you are selling and whether an item has been opened. On my site, I offer 100% refund on the product. The customer has to pay shipping. My items are mostly low cost so paying shipping is probably enough to discourage most. But even if it didn't, I would grant the refund. Most people won't return it just for the heck of it and if you give them a hard time, it is only your reputation that is being hurt. Of course, if you are selling very expensive items or something that doesn't sell very fast, you may need to re-think this.

There is an RMA contribution that may help you. I haven't used it but I think it will handle such situations.

You need to have a policies page on which your return policy is clearly mentioned. Then, if someone pays by check and they want to return an item, you say, "Per out return policy, please ship via UPS at your expense. Be sure to include the $X for a restocking fee. Any packages returned that do not meet these requirements will not be accepted," or something like that.

Jack

[dirthawker]

Jack_mcs, on Sep 28 2004, 01:36 AM, said:

It may depend on what you are selling and whether an item has been opened.  On my site, I offer 100% refund on the product.  The customer has to pay shipping.

You need to have a policies page on which your return policy is clearly mentioned.  Then, if someone pays by check and they want to return an item, you say, "Per out return policy, please ship via UPS at your expense.  Be sure to include the $X for a restocking fee.  Any packages returned that do not meet these requirements will not be accepted," or something like that.

Jack

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds good, Jack. I'd already set up a return policy statement divvying things into unopened/unused vs defective (hopefully a rare situation). You've made me start putting real thought into the policy, because some of our bigger-ticket items *must* be opened and tried on to see if they fit. Our customers as a general rule are exacting and there is no reason for them to spend $80 for something that doesn't fit right. So for those items a 100% return is appropriate. I should probably check the return policies of our competitors to see how they handle various things, too.

Thanks!

[Java Roasters]

I have been in business for 6 years and have only had 2 returns that I can remember. In one case it was a gift of coffee from someone else but they needed a different grind. I happily shipped them out the correct grind, no charge. The other case was with a wholesale customer and I am not getting into that one. They are still a customer.

Taking returns is not going to break your bank unless you are selling crap. I think people just want to know that they have the option of returning it. It gives the consumer peace of mind with the purchase. If they do return it you know they are really not satisfied with the purchase.

I got a Tifanny's pen years ago as a present. About 4 years later the two ends no longer stayed together so I went by the store and asked if there was anything that could be done to fix it. The salesman took it apart and put it back together several times and then handed me a "new" pen, no charge.


It is that type of customer service that people will talk about and tell their friends about which is part of the reason they are so successful.

I lost the pen a few years later so had to go back and buy a new one which I did because I loved that pen and the way the company stood behind it.


I think selling on the internet the best thing that you can do is give the customer all the information needed up front so when they get the product there are no suprises. ie if you are selling clothes and you just put in your information that it is a size 6, ask a woman what size 6 means and they will probably tell you it means nothing. Put the actual measurements of the clothes and then the customer can make an informed choice as to the proper size for them and cut down on your returns. There is a reason clothing stores have change rooms.

Peter