With all the online stores and e-commerce sites in the world, people are buying products at blazing fast speeds. This inevitably leads to a lot of people returning their products for various reasons such as realizing its not what they wanted. This happens a lot in the surveillance equipment world, and this article seeks to give a broader idea of how product returns work and what consumers should know before purchasing items.
Buying Products & Return Policies
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When you first decide to purchase a product from an online site or e-commerce platform, it is always a good idea to know what that stores return policy is. Some stores will not allow returns on clearance sale items, while others may charge a restocking fee and you won't get a full refund. By knowing the rules applicable to the store you purchase from it will make the return that much easier.
Restocking Fees
Some online stores. especially in the surveillance equipment world, will charge what is known as a restocking fee. This is a fee that is used when a customer returns a product without exchanging it for another. The reason a lot of e-commerce platforms use this fee is because as soon as the product comes back in, it usually has to become what is known as a B-Stock item. Generally it is the smaller stores that use this fee, and if you are dealing with a company that does, you should really take the time to look at the product and make sure it's what you need. Furthermore most companies will wave this fee if you are just exchanging the product for something else or a replacement.
Another reason some stores will use this type of fee is if they offer free shipping. By using this fee it helps cover against the multiple shipping costs that the store will incur if a customer decides to return the product.
B Stock Items
When a product is returned to a store and it is deemed to be a B-stock item it greatly affects the ability to sell the product. The reason for this is because it no longer can be advertised as brand new; even if the product was only opened and not even used. This is one of the reasons for the restocking fee as described above. Generally b-stock items will sit on shelves much longer than their new counterparts, and it will take a strong price reduction to sell the item. This is especially a problem for smaller stores with smaller inventories.
Retail Returns Vs Online Returns
When it comes to returning a product to a retail store it can be much simpler due to the volume that these stores deal in. For example if you return a product to some big box type store they can just load all of their returns onto a truck and ship them back to the manufacturer. The reason they can do this is because of the volume of products they purchase. A smaller online store doesn't have this luxury and can get charged a fee for any returns they send back to the manufacturer.
Now there may be other product return policies and procedures at different stores, but these are a few of the more popular ones; especially when it comes to the surveillance equipment world. Ultimately this isn't meant to scare away consumers from purchasing products online, but it just a good idea to know these various terms and factors.