Why I place rather large online clothing orders
In the past, I haven't been a big online clothing shopper. I like to be able to try things on and give multiple sizes a shot.
Because sizing.....oh man, it's such an inconsistent thing. I have a lot of different sizes in my closet that all fit me the same!
And it's annoying to place an online order, discover the size is wrong, do an exchange, and hope that the new size you ordered is good.
A while back, it occurred to me that I was doing this all wrong.
Why was I ordering just one item?
Why not order several different sizes and colors and just send back the things that weren't a good fit?
So, that's what I do now, as long as I'm ordering from a place that offers free returns.
If I'm wondering whether a 4, 6, or 8 will be the best fit, I order all three.
If I'm waffling between two colors, I order both.
When it was time to get a swimsuit for Sonia this year, I ordered about 6 different suits from Lands' End kids (they have slims! In big kid sizes!), knowing full well that we'd only keep one.
As it turned out, the suit she most thought would fit didn't, and one of the others that we threw in last minute ended up being the right size.
I did the same thing when I was swimsuit shopping this year. I ordered a ton of different suit tops and bottoms from Athleta, learned a lot about what fits me and doesn't fit me with their brand, and kept one top and one bottom.
And I mentioned yesterday that I do this with ThredUp as well.
(In one order, I ended up getting this very unfabulous pink dress, which I summarily sent back. Yay for returns!)
A lot of online clothing retailers offer free return shipping (yay!) and some that don't do still allow for free in-store returns.
For instance, shipping Sonia's suits back to Lands' End wouldn't have been free, but I was able to take them to a local Lands' End shop inside of Sears and do a free return.
And ThredUp allows you to do free returns as long as you opt for store credit.
A really great benefit of placing a large order? You end up hitting the minimum order amount for free shipping! So then you get free shipping on the delivery + free shipping on the way back.
It's like having a handy, no-extra-charge fitting room right in your own home.
Once this occurred to me, it seemed rather obvious! But since it didn't occur to me for a while, I'm going to hazard a guess it hasn't crossed some of your minds either.
So. Make a big order! Give yourself options! And then send back whatever you don't want to keep.
P.S. The only thing is, you have to be willing to do the work of handling the return process. So, if you know you're the sort of person who will put this off and forget about the return until it's too late, it's probably not the shopping technique for you.
P.P.S. I always pay for my online purchases with a rewards credit card (usually our Southwest card) and I also go through TopCashBack whenever possible as well. Every little bit helps!
Yep! I also place really large online clothing orders and only keep a few things. It's the best!
I definitely fall into that first PS category. Because I know myself that means I never order clothing online that I couldn't mind just giving away if it's the wrong size or turns out to be see-through.
Fortunately my MIL does most of the clothes shopping for our kids, so my online clothes shopping is mainly limited to land's end swimsuits which I get on clearance a size or two up at the end of the season (I usually buy a few really cheap long-sleeve things a size up at the same time to tide a growth-spurt over before MIL hits the winter sales).
Lands' End has some crazy good swimsuit prices at the end of the year!
And, unlike the stores around here, they have rash guards and shorts and skirts for women and girls! Makes going for a swim less of an ordeal.
Zappos! Great selection, free shipping, free returns. I find that depending on the shoe, I need an 8 or an 8.5 so I get both!
Nordstrom.com also offers free shipping and free returns with NO MINIMUM! Making them my favorite online retailer.
Good point! I think this is super efficient for busy parents. I'm pretty impatient, so I like to shop in-store at thrift stores to find what I'm looking for. I like to try stuff on right then--I have a weird body type and a lot of clothes are unflattering.
Yeah, I hear you! What's helpful for me is figuring out what size I am in particular brands. Like, after trying on so many swimsuit pieces from Athleta, I have a really good idea of what size I run in tops and bottoms, and so now any future orders from them are going to be way, way easier.
Your outfits look great! I have the same problem with shopping online too. I have bought a couple of items from Amazon Prime. While some fit me well, most didn't.
I returned the ones that didn't fit me, but I felt a bit guilty for making the sellers pay for the shipping and such. If I were then, I probably wouldn't be too happy with returns. But I guess that's something they need to do given the stiff competition in the retail industry.
Yep! And they build the cost of return shipping into the price of the product, I'm sure. Plus, I believe that bulk sellers do pay a lot less for shipping than you and I would if we went to the post office to ship a box of clothes.
But doesn't that also mean that people who don't return items are forced to subsidize your actions? And the more items which are returned, businesses will need to increase prices across the board, which disproportionately affects smaller sellers who operate in smaller margins?
The way I see it is this: I can either do multiple transactions, trying to get the right size/color, going thru multiple shipments and returns. Or I can do it all on one fell swoop. So, the end result for the company shouldn't be a whole lot different...it's just more efficient for me (and I suppose for them too!)
Also, I'd venture to guess that when companies set free shipping minimums, customers tend to buy more because of that, and most of them don't return what they buy (though when they see, "free returns!" they might be more likely to put something in their online cart.)
So, I bet that this free shipping, free returns thing does ultimately result in an improvement in the company's bottom line.
I've never been one to order clothes online for the same reason you mentioned, they never fit me! However, I have used online catalogs to negotiate prices on clothing and other items at a store. Most places will price match or honor the online price.
I'm sure they wouldn't dare do this now because of the potential social media backlash, but about 15 years ago I got a rather unpleasant call from Lands' End requesting that I stop ordering multiple sizes of things and taking advantage of their generous return policy. I replied that if they could make their children's sizes consistent I wouldn't have that problem It took me quite a few years to buy anything else from them. As I said, I don't think a company would dare this behavior today. I have, however, been hesitant to do it ever since.
Ah, I was posting a similar thing!
You're right though. My incident was some years ago and I wonder, in the times of social media, whether they would do it now.
The thing is, I don't understand why this is a problem.
If you walk into a department store, and you try on multiple sizes of something, do they penalize you for not buying them all? Nope. They just put them back on the rack. So I'm confused as to why they'd operate differently with a mail-order situation.
Maybe someone else can explain to use why online returns make a company upset...I just am clueless.
Wow, I have some thoughts on this subject. I read through all the comments posted so far, and I hope this is the best place to present my POV.
Across the board, I see people failing to account for the environmental cost of buying online. The increased amount of traffic in my neighborhood caused by delivery vehicles is extremely noticeable. These vehicles are all in a hurry, because everyone wants their stuff NOW!
Yesterday, in addition to the usual USPS, FedEx, UPS, and On-Trac vehicles (with multiples of each), DH spied a black Prius, filled with Amazon boxes, making deliveries. Stop the madness already!
Next, there are packaging and handling costs associated with shipping out goods, receiving returned goods and repackaging them again for the next shipment. Lots of human hours consumed, cardboard and plastic being generated unnecessarily, along with the fossil fuel consumption and the danger of vehicles randomly careening through neighborhoods to make ridiculous and almost always unnecessary deadlines.
Where does this end? I cannot say. But the caution I wish to add is that ordering this way has many hidden costs. Don't treat this as a free-for-all. Please use common sense. Just because sellers allow it doesn't make it the most optimal practice.
BTW, when the retail stores and then the malls dry up, and it is happening, make no mistake, please don't complain that there's nowhere to shop. The loss of local sales tax revenue alone will continue to have a ripple effect throughout each of our communities, but no one connects this with buying a ton of stuff, ripping open the packaging and then shipping what they don't want back without a care for the consequences of these actions. Hey, look at me, it's like Christmas and my birthday every day, for free!!!
Sure, buying online is convenient in many cases, but please stop to consider if you really need that widget in two hours or even two days.
To keep this firmly centered on frugality: If a person orders a ton of stuff just because it's "free" to return, aren't they likely to spend more? You bet they are. That's why the sellers offer free returns, because their research has proven this to be true. Their goal is to sell more, period. They do not care about the environment, loss of local jobs, sales tax revenue, dangerous delivery drivers or least (most?) of all, your budget.
Whew, I guess I had a lot to say! I hope this will be taken as general food for thought, and not a specific criticism. I am old enough to remember the days when cars didn't ring incessantly if seat belts weren't fastened, people smoked in restaurants and on planes, and curbside recycling didn't exist. We changed our behaviors then and think nothing of it now. This endless onslaught of boxes from Amazon (or anywhere, but they're leading the charge, everyone else is following) has consequences large and small for all of us and should not be ignored.
So, I have a question, because at the advent of delivery services for things like groceries, I felt a little skeptical too.
What I'm wondering is this...is it any different for a delivery truck to drop a truckload of stuff at a store, and then for all of us to drive to and from the store in our cars to buy those items? Isn't it the same number of miles driven? Or possibly more, since we're all leaving our houses and going to the store and back again, whereas the UPS truck just has to go to my house and then on to the next one.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm thinking the only difference is who's paying for the gas/mileage to obtain the items, right?
I'm also curious about what the net environmental impact is for a business that operates solely online, without a brick and mortar retail presence. Does the lack of a physical store front (only a warehouse) negate any environmental impact of the increased shipping?
I'm also wondering about packaging. When you buy items at a place like, say, a gift shop, they appear to have no packaging. But many of the items at a store did arrive in some kind of packaging...it's just that the packaging has been remove for shelving purposes.
I definitely don't treat online shopping as a free-for-all. But for instance, just today, I placed a swimsuit order for Zoe (she needs slims and they aren't carried in stores) and a jeans order for Joshua (American Eagle only carries his size online). Online shopping is a tool, and any time you treat any shopping tool as a free-for-all, you're probably going to get into some kind of trouble. 😉
Many times I've ordered only to be told item was out of stock; sometimes I was given a date it should be in; other times, not. If everyone orders multiple sizes, that item could very well be the one someone else wanted and was told not in stock. I can see it from the merchant's side.
Wow, I'm really surprised to hear that came from Land's End of all places. When we had a local store where I could take returns, I used to order a lot from them. I never felt the least bit guilty returning a stack of items.
Some mail order companies in the U.K. will penalise you and close your account if you return more than you keep.
This might only apply to credit accounts though (I can't recall now which company it was that did it to me)
Dunno if this is something mail order companies would do in general.
I do this same thing for Old Navy & American Eagle, then do returns in the stores. I know they hate to see me coming!! But, they offer different sizes/options online, and better sales. I got six pair of American Eagle jeans for $19.99 each a month or so ago (a great price for them) and four pair actually fit. Woot!
I do zero online clothing shopping and much prefer to buy clothing at thrift stores where I can not only determine fit but also that subjective question, how does it look on my body? For those of you that do online shopping, buying multiple sizes with a retailer that offers free return shipping does make sense. I recently discovered that Charlotte Russe has a restrictive return policy so I wouldn't recommend shopping there.
Being a guy it's a little different because our clothing doesn't change much and I've been wearing a lot of the same clothes for years. Plus we have the added benefit of our pants being sold in inches instead of magical mystery numbers.
For sneakers I know what size Converse I need. For Levi's I know my waist and length (though I did have to return some as my wife thought they were too "dad jeans" for her taste despite my actually being a dad.)
With my wife it's always a challenge. Granted men are shaped more simply than women but it always feels like she just has to gamble every time she buys something to see if it will fit or match what she has or if it will look best on her body.
I confess I've been doing this for years! And I'm especially grateful for this option for swimsuits and prom dresses, both of which require much trial and error at my house. It's such a timesaver and keeps me out of the mall, so that's a win-win in my book!
I'm a Lands End customer also & just recently ordered 2 sizes of jeans on a super good sale. There is a Lands End store in the local Sears so can return easily. I hadn't tried Lands End jeans before so was glad I was able to order two sizes. Also it allowed me to hit the amount to get free shipping. Their regular shipping rate is rather high. I normally look for something small & on clearance to meet the free shipping line. Would rather get a clearance item or something for the same price as the shipping fee than pay for shipping.
That said, I also love Lands End bathing suit seasonal sales! Got one this year after several years of not even having a suit, (don't swim a whole lot) but I wanted a swim suit & found a wonderful one that was just right for 1/3rd the "regular" price.
I have to do a lot of my clothes shopping online as i must have a tall size. Very few stores offer these and they are also almost exclusively online. I also wear a womens 11 shoe, also usually only found online.
Never had a problem with returns ever.
I also have two kids who are autistic and dont handle in store shopping at all. So i get multiple sizes and styles and they try on at home. If they ask the reason for the return i just tell them my boys cant try stuff on in store. Everyone is super understanding and its never an issue.
I think online retailers anticipate a certain percentage of returns due to bad fit, etc. its just how it is.
And i never pay for shipping. Ever. Almost all online retailers offer some kind of free ship option.
I order enough from ThredUp to get free shipping, too, then return what doesn't fit. So far, I haven't had to return much, because I don't really order anything but dresses, tops, and some skirts from brands I know, so I know how they fit (Like Ann Taylor or Talbots). Slacks are SO HARD to order in a size that fits me, no matter who makes them. How can I wear one certain size in a certain brand, in skirts, dresses and tops, but the slacks are way too large in that same size? Or way too small? I wish women's clothes were uniformly sized, and sized by inches, centimeters, I don't care, anything but an arbitrary "size" which means basically nothing. My late mother-in-law left behind vintage dress patterns which she had used in sewing for herself many years ago. They were all in size 14, for a woman who was 4'11 and, at the time, weighed about 110 pounds. Now she would wear a what, size 2? So frustrating.
As far as shopping in physical stores, though: I worked a short while as a sales clerk in a big chain clothing store. Any returns made on items I had sold were taken off my sales figures, and I had to make a certain amount of sales each month to keep my pay rate from dropping. I stood to lose money off of those returns, so please be aware of that when shopping at brick and mortars. If you have the opportunity to try it on, please do so and decide at the store if you will buy it and keep it. Probably not all stores work this way, but I know some sure do!
This is a great idea, if you can afford to do it (which some will not because there is no extra money to spend to pay the credit card bill in the meantime before returns are processed). Aside from no fee to return, and the hassle (which can be considerable depending on where you live and your access to the Post Office, etc., a major issue in a big city where we don't drive and have to schlepp boxes to postal places since we're not able to be home for any pickups).
One other consideration: Some stores maintain databases of folks who do heavy returns. You don't want to get on that list. Online retailers may do it differently but I've heard that some folks have been hassled by merchants for what they deem "excessive" returns.
Online shopping is a godsend for anyone with physical, developmental or mental health issues that make it hard to access a storefront location. Things like bulk orders online mean i dont have to deal with panic attacks and anxiety meltdowns ( mine and my kids) that come with big stores like walmart and costco, or crowds at the mall. My son needs help with dressing and changing clothes. Its exhausting physically for him and embarassing for him when mom needs to go into a dressing room to help. Most stores dont even have a changing area to accomodate us. Buying online and trying on at home is the only way many families like mine can shop.
I can see the attraction and looks like it works well for many people, and I confess I don,t buy clothes online precisely because it is hard to find a good fit.
What I'm wondering is about the environmental aspect and the potential for waste of consumer goods. I have heard that for many companies that sell new products, when you return a product they don't actually resell it as new, but end up throwing it away or donating it maybe. Do you know anything more about that? I'm actually remembering you did a post about buying a mattress online and how that company deals with returns, so maybe you know a bit more about this.
My worry with returning items that are new is that this fuels the production of more goods than necessary in order to cover for the calculations of people who return items, thus creating more waste of resources.
I'm torn though because of course I really hear that this fills many needs but I worry a lot of about waste and especially mindless waste, or waste that is a result of doing something because it works for *me* without much regard for the related issues.
This issue take me back to what Kristen has written about before about nothing being all good or all bad. Of course, if you wear difficult to find sizes or are unsure of fit, then this is a great option. However, I don't agree with throwing in an extra item that you intend or returning, just to get the free shipping. Again, nothing is all good, nothing is all bad.
I do wonder about that...what do companies do with returned clothing? I believe Thredup just relists it for sale, but I'm not sure about companies that sell brand new clothing.
It seems to me that they should be able to re-sell it because brick and mortar clothing stores don't throw out clothes once someone has tried them on, you know? I'd be super curious if anyone with insider information knows!
Carla, thank you for bringing up the ethics/morality of this issue. At what point is it acceptable for consumers to use the system to their advantage without taking into account waste of resources? Obviously for some people, online shopping is a lifesaver. For others who purposefully manipulate the system for their personal needs, is this acceptable? You bring up a complex issue and at the end of the day, we each need to answer that question for ourselves.
This is so interesting to me. I am not a big shopper, so the idea of not having to go to the store is very appealing. I haven't thought to order multiple sizes or colors though. Is ThredUp your favorite place to order through? I know I've seen a few and never knew which was best.
I personally wouldn't order more than I want to keep or to just get free shipping with the intent on returning items mostly just because this simply causes more work for others. More packaging, more labor hours, and more fuel is needed to get those items back to where they belong. I do have a hard time ordering for my kids, but I just order what I think they can wear and then exchange them in the store if they don't fit. I rarely if ever buy from somewhere that doesn't have an actual store for me to exchange the item. I also know that if I go to exchange, the item I brought back is put back on the floor to sell without having to wonder if it gets donated or damaged out of stock. Everyone has to do what they feel comfortable with but having worked in retail for over 15 years, I don't feel it's right to buy too much stuff knowing that I'm going to return most of it whether it's in the store or online.
Somebody has to be processing all these returns and that adds up to a lot of additional labor costs on top of all the shipping and material costs. Small businesses already have a hard time competing with the giants because customers are demanding free shipping and now free returns. Now there are people using the return policies to get the free shipping. Don't be too surprised if some companies start subtracting the shipping fee from the return amount when the item(s) returned are what made the original order eligible for free shipping. Some companies can absorb the costs with the hopes of retaining customers but others will not be able to do so. Companies do not track how many returns a customer does for the fun of it. It is a real problem that many places are struggling to figure out how to handle without alienating what they consider to be their good customers. At some point if too many people start over buying with the intent to return most of the order, we'll see some combination of higher product prices, higher limits to get free shipping, no free returns (even to a local store), and/or fewer businesses to order from.
Great article - my shopping habits have changes so much as my family has grown, and it just isn't convenient to shop in person very often any longer. Online stores like ThredUp are a great alternative to allow re-use of clothing that is in great condition. Until recently, I hadn't paid too much attention to whether a store provides free returns - good tips and thanks for sharing!
In Germany studies have shown that every return costs the retailer between 5 and 10 Euros (depending on the product)- also only a quarter of returned items can be resold at full price. Since the retailers will have to tolerate this shopping behavior because they fear social media complaints prices just rise for everyone
Such a good idea! I do this with shoes for me because most shoe stores don't actually carry my size (narrow) and one brand's narrow is someone else's slim and another brand will be so wide I walk right out of them.
Wow, you are so smart!!