43% of Brits can’t be bothered to return items

We hear from lots of readers about the problem of returns and eBay defects or Amazon seller metrics impacting sellers accounts through no fault of their own. However there’s good news, recent research by Doddle suggest that a huge £1.6 billion worth of unwanted purchases are piling up in British homes as shoppers can’t be bothered to return them, believing the task of returning to be too inconvenient and lengthy.

According to new research from Doddle, the purple network of parcel stores, over a third (39%) of Brits have purchased items that they then don’t want, but haven’t returned to the retailer. Brits each have on average three unwanted and unreturned items, leaving them £77 out of pocket.

When asked why they are failing to return their items, 43% said they couldn’t be bothered and 39% said they didn’t think the value of the items warranted the effort. A fifth (21%) say they are too busy, believing that it takes nearly half an hour to return something each time, suggesting that we’re valuing our time, much more than our hard earned cash. Confusing returns processes were also identified as a major deterrent to sending an item back for 22% of respondents.

Amongst the most commonly unreturned items were women’s dresses, shoes and trousers. That’s why Doddle’s introduction of changing rooms to a number of its stores, to make trying and returning online clothing purchases easier, is proving popular. Doddle’s changing room facilities allow customers to collect, try and return, online purchases, saving them a return trip to return an unsuitable item.

The top ten items people don’t bother to return are: Dresses; Women’s shoes; Women’s trousers; Women’s shirt/ blouse; Women’s jeans; Electrical equipment; Women’s jacket; Homeware; Jewellery; Women’s underwear.

Of course we probably shouldn’t be looking at the number of unreturned items and be grateful. Whilst it’s great to retain the cash, there’s a good chance that a disgruntled buyer will simply leave poor feedback if they’re unhappy but can’t be bothered to return the purchase.