One habit I picked up from my mother was a deep aversion to return lines. I knew, rationally, that returning an item at customer service is usually simple and harmless. Still, the idea made me uncomfortable. More often than not I would shrug it off, accept the loss, and tell myself it was my fault for buying it. I’d rather not risk a debate about store policy or feel awkward about handing back a poorly repackaged item.
Then I met Sherry, who calls herself the Queen of Returns, and everything changed.
Sherry has the exact opposite view. If something doesn’t work—if it doesn’t fit, doesn’t match, or simply doesn’t perform as expected—she takes it back without hesitation. Maybe that confidence comes from years working retail on 34th Street in Manhattan, where she handled returns and store credits all day long. Whatever the reason, her no-fear approach has had a huge impact on our household: fewer “oops” purchases cluttering the house and fewer compromises on items that don’t feel right. Over the last four years I’ve become a much better returner. For example, we bought a pack of flashcards for our office clothesline at Barnes & Noble but later found cuter ones at Anthropologie, so the original pack went back.
In recent years I’ve stopped feeling guilty about returning things. Returns are now a key part of our DIY and decorating process. Some items need to be seen in the room or tried on in person to know if they’ll work. We’ve brought home multiple curtain samples to see what looked best in our bedroom, and we’ve returned surge protectors that didn’t play nicely with Mac devices. This try-and-return approach saves us time and stress: we avoid standing in the store for hours trying to guess what will look right, and we keep our home free of items that don’t belong there.
There’s also a financial upside. Returning things that don’t meet our needs prevents wasted spending. Yes, we spend time making returns, but we shop stores like Target and Home Depot so often that the trip to return something rarely requires a special outing. The small amount of time spent prevents unnecessary clutter and keeps our budget on track.
Fortunately, many of our favorite stores make returns straightforward. We haven’t memorized every policy, but we can usually breeze through Target or Home Depot returns because neither store always requires a receipt—Target can often look up purchases on a credit card, and Home Depot can do the same. That convenience reduces receipt clutter and the annoying bits of paper that pile up in wallets.
We know, for example, that Michael’s typically requires a receipt for cash refunds (otherwise you get store credit), while Wal-Mart can have long return lines, and Babies R’ Us often insists on a receipt. Still, most stores will accept returns without much explanation even if the item has been opened, as long as it’s not a sealed DVD or medicine. When a cashier asks why we’re returning something, a simple “we didn’t end up needing it” usually does the trick. I used to think elaborate explanations were necessary, but they rarely are.
Sherry, who enjoys chatting, often tells the cashier a brief backstory—“we bought a bunch of pillows to see which ones looked best, now we’re returning the ones that didn’t work”—and that usually sparks friendly conversation. Cashiers often share their own decorating struggles, sometimes promising to try the same trial-and-return method themselves to find the perfect piece.
These days, even when I feel a pang of guilt seeing a team of Target employees handling cartfuls of returns, I accept the return line as an essential step in our design process. It keeps our home uncluttered, helps us make better choices, and ultimately saves money.
How about you? Are you a return-line warrior like Sherry, or do you avoid returns like my mom? Maybe you work in retail and returning items feels different to you—either more frustrating or more justified. We’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts about returning purchases.