Your Online Shopping Has a Startling Hidden Cost

The world is addicted to free returns. Here’s why that’s a serious problem—and what consumers can do about it.

Feb 5, 2019 · 6 min read

All photos: Guillaume Decock/courtesy Highway Fitting

By Elizabeth Segran

When I’m browsing for a new outfit online, I instinctively scan a brand’s website, looking for the words “free shipping and returns.” And if I don’t see…

To keep reading this story, get the free app or log in.
Read the rest of this story with a free account.

You’ll also discover more fresh thinking personalized to your interests and can follow your favorite authors, publications, and topics.

Open in app

Or, continue in mobile web

Already have an account? Sign in

Learn more.

Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours.

Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore

Share your thinking.

If you have a story to tell, knowledge to share, or a perspective to offer — welcome home. It’s easy and free to post your thinking on any topic. Write on Medium

About

Help

Legal

Get the Medium app