Online Returns - Making It Easy


For many, the biggest frustration of shopping online for clothing is the fear that items won’t fit. But now, with stores making returns extremely easy, this can be less of a worry-some issue. A few words of advice when it comes to online shopping and returns:


  • Check the return policy ahead of purchasing. The vast majority of stores do have a return policy. Occasionally during “Final Sale” moments, some will have non-refundable merchandise, but they generally make that very clear on their sites. Most of the larger chain retailers allow you to purchase online and return in a physical store if you prefer, eliminating the need to pay for return shipping (Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s, etc). Others that are online-only stores, such as Piperlime, Zappos, and Bluefly include a pre-paid return shipping label should the item not fit – you just drop off to a UPS or DHL location and the store pays for the shipping. (and note: items bought through Shop It To Me need to be returned to the individual store, not us…)

  • **When you receive your item, keep the invoice and shipping labels that are included in the box! **Don’t be too eager when opening the package that you neglect to keep these pieces of information (I’ve done this and it’s a pain…) If you DO accidentally trash these goodies and then realize you need a return shipping label, you can sometimes either call the retailer and they will email you a version you can affix to the box, or find the form on their website that you can print off. But really, try to save these documents — it will make your life much easier.

  • Consider buying 2 sizes of an item and returning the one that doesn’t fit. This way, if you’re unsure about sizing, at least you have a better chance of fitting into one and getting to keep the style you sought out at the price you wished. With returns being so easy these days, I do this all the time to ensure that the style isn’t unavailable or a different price when I go back.

  • Take a chance. Once you learn your body-type and have a sense of what will look good on you, it’s sometimes worth it to take a chance. I recently bought some Lucky jeans through Shop It To Me that were on “final sale”…and they fit perfectly! Buying jeans online is a scary thing – until they arrived, I was on edge. I just figured that if they didn’t fit, I could take them to a re-sale store and recoup most of the money since the price I paid was so discounted, or sell/give them to a friend as a gift. Sometimes the best items come from taking a chance.

Check back soon for another post where I’ll highlight the return policies in detail for some of our retailer partners…