alt Hacker NewsI'm aware of how ecommerce got started. The fact that some businesses did the math to estimate that only a small percentage of customers are assholes, doesn't mean they aren't assholes. With apologies to patio11, "The optimal amount of return abusers is non-zero."
Buying 3 new-in-box $1000 cameras and returning 2 of them covered with your smudgy fingerprints is abuse, no matter how you slice it. If everyone did it, those cameras would cost twice as much. I'm saddened but not surprised people are defending that behavior here.
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FireBeyond • today at 3:53 PM
I remember common advice on HN (and indeed from Apple Store employees) when Apple repairs were taking a while was just "buy a new one and return it when you get yours back".
> Buying 3 new-in-box $1000 cameras and returning 2 of them covered with your smudgy fingerprints is abuse
I agree. What percentage of online returns do you think is similar to this scenario?
What percentage of "buy N and return N-1" return patterns (which you believe to be abusive) is people buying multiple $1,000+ pieces of electronics equipment, versus say 3 sizes of shoes or 3 colors of a dress?
My guess is the former case, which I agree is abusive, is <1% of such return patterns. Partially because it's a legitimately stupid way to shop for those types of items and requires significant credit, while buying multiple sizes/colors of items like clothing is a completely sensible way to shop.