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As a parent of teens who tell me they need things the day before they need them, online shopping is a big part of my life.
What size cleats do they need for softball? Unclear, so I order three pairs. Someone needs jeans? Women’s sizing is nonsensical, so I order a few to try on.
Am I part of the returns problem? You bet I am.
Retail returns have nearly doubled since 2019, reaching an estimated 15.8% of all sales in 2025, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). The online return rate is even higher, with retailers in 2025 projecting that 19.3% of online sales would be returned.
For shoppers, this shift is showing up in the form of new return fees, shorter return windows and stricter policies. In an October 2025 report from the NRF, nearly two out of every three retailers said updating their returns process over the next six months was a priority.
So what does this mean for you?
Why retailers are tightening returns
“Generous returns reduced friction and helped consumers take a chance on buying without trying,” said Jonathan Zhang, associate professor of marketing at Colorado State University, in an email.
But in recent years, as returns have increased, businesses have been tightening policies. Retailers like Target, Home Depot, Ulta and Sephora have shortened return windows. And in 2025, 72% of retailers surveyed said they charge for at least one return option, up from 66% the year prior, according to NRF data.
That’s “a pretty significant change and has definitely been a trend that we’ve seen,” says David Sobie, co-founder and CEO of return logistics company Happy Returns. “It’s costly to get all this stuff back.”
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Why returns are so expensive (and wasteful)
For consumers, buying and returning an item feels like bringing a product full circle: We came, we shopped, we returned.
But to retailers, returns are a drag on the balance sheet. There’s a cost to ship an item back to a warehouse, to inspect it, to repackage it and restock it — if that’s even possible.
“Oftentimes it’s more costly for retailers to take returns than to simply say to you, as a consumer, ‘Just keep it,’” says Simone Peinkofer, assistant professor of supply chain at Michigan State University.
Some retailers have resorted to a “returnless refund” for certain products because they can’t be resold, even if they get the item back. “If you’ve bought the sheets and you’ve tried them on, we really can’t resell them,” Sobie says. “Or I sent you that piece of patio furniture in a flat pack and you’ve assembled it.”
But consumers can abuse those policies if they know they can get a refund without having to return a product, Sobie says. An increasing number of merchants require people to return items but have them sent directly to liquidators instead of reshelving them.
How shoppers are adding to the problem
If you’ve ever bought three sizes of an item with the intention to return the two that don’t fit, that’s called “bracketing,” and retailers don’t love it. That said, they do prefer it to “wardrobing,” which is when consumers purchase an item with the intent to wear or use it once and then return it. (This is returns fraud, by the way.)
“Retailers now are having a more punitive return response, like paid returns,” says Lauren Beitelspacher, professor of marketing at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. “Or I’ve seen some retailers have really big tags on their clothes.”
Buying items online and then returning them also adds to your carbon footprint. There are emissions from transportation to and from retailers, plus packaging waste, and the waste that results if an item must be discarded instead of restocked.
“Returns are a sustainability issue,” Beitelspacher says. “Anecdotally, I can say that the majority of returned items, especially items returned from an online purchase, don’t go back into inventory to be resold.”
Retailers are also dealing with outright abuse: About 9% of returns are fraudulent, including sending back an empty box, returning a box with rocks in it (seriously), or counterfeit returns.
How to shop smarter (and avoid return hassles)
If you’re a frequent buyer — and returner — and you want to try to lessen your impact on both retailers and the environment, there are steps you can take that will help.
Read the product details carefully. Retailers often take great pains to describe how their clothing might fit different bodies — so look at the sizing information. Likewise, read the reviews carefully and take note of metrics like Amazon’s “Frequently-returned item” badge.
Return items to the store. If there’s a brick-and-mortar version of the retailer you’re buying from, returning directly to the store gives the product a greater chance of going back into circulation, versus ending up at a liquidator, Beitelspacher says.
If you’ve got time, shop slowly. If you don’t need a clothing item immediately, avoid buying multiple sizes. “Bracketing” might have made sense when returns were frictionless, Zhang said, but “going forward, that behavior will likely become more expensive and less reliable.”
Returns may not be as easy as they used to be, but some mindful shopping can save you time and money later. As Zhang put it, “Consumers should start thinking of returns as a real cost — not just for retailers, but increasingly for themselves.”
