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Popular online fashion brand PrettyLittleThing has scrapped its free returns policy, leaving shoppers “devastated.” The brand joins others like Zara, Wayfair, Oh Polly and H&M who now charge for returns.
According to retail payment experts at Dojo, this move could be an attempt by the brand to mitigate the phenomenon of serial refunding and wardrobing. This is where consumers buy ‘hauls’ of clothes to try on, or wear clothes once keeping the tags in, only to return them.
Customers have taken to social media to share the news, with TikTok user @sjbrame sharing the update on her account. The post gained over 100k views and many comments from shoppers sharing their thoughts on the move.
Among them, one person said: “Omg I’m devastated” and a second wrote: “What so I pay for royalty but have to pay to return my parcels too now. Great.” A third shopper added: “Life is RUINED”, while a fourth said: “I noticed this earlier!! What a joke.” Another wrote: “This hurts more than a breakup!”
PrettyLittleThing previously offered free returns through popular couriers like Evri, Royal Mail and Inpost. However, these services now cost customers £1.99 to send a return in the UK, since the beginning of June. This amount will be deducted from the customer’s order refund. If customers use an alternative method, they are responsible for the cost of returning using their chosen alternative returns method.
Shopping experts at Dojo said: “High amounts of returns can prove very expensive for businesses so it’s no surprise that fast fashion retailer, PrettyLittleThing, has discontinued their free returns policy.
“Buy now, pay later has contributed significantly to customers buying more than what they usually would to try different sizes and colours without any money leaving their bank account. This causes mass returns costing brands money for the returns process.
“PrettyLittleThing is the latest in a long line of brands to start charging for refunds and we will likely see more brands following suit. This happened just weeks after Oh Polly announced customers would be charged up to £8.99 for returning items.
“This is a move to help decrease the amount of unnecessary returns customers are making and to help offset the business costs incurred during the returns process.”
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