For Jane Ainsworth
^Candelle a summer camisole top priced at £15.00 would cost half as much again in postal charges should it not fit. If I order two sizes, I still have to pay for the unneeded return
I think some people have rather unrealistic expectations.
If you’ve paid £15 for an item of clothing, how much profit do you think the online retailer has made, after they’ve paid for the goods from the wholesaler or manufacturers and tied up capital doing so, (and carried the risk that they will have unsold stock at the end of the season), paid someone to handle your order, paid someone to deliver it to you, paid credit card charges to whoever handled your payment, and paid someone to process the return when you’ve sent the one back that you didn’t want?
It’s amazing that anyone selling things so cheaply is in business at all.^
May I respond to your post above?
I chose a product at random from this manufacturer's webpage but in fact, currently, camisoles are on sale at between £6 and £10, reduced from £8.00 and £20 (they are selling off difficult to move sizes).
You ask how they expect to make a profit at all. Well, currently interest rate are around 1%; the company has its own manufacturing base, supplying almost 14,000 stores worldwide, so they have massive economies of scale. They have a good idea from previous experiences what will sell and what won't and one of their strategies is to entice a buyer in with a £6.00 camisole and then upsell at jacket at £160. I know, I've done it! They sell at the discounted price to recover some of their costs.
The company does not pay the delivery/returns company the rate charged to the customer as they have negotiated a contract with the parcel company. I do not know for sure but believe they could even make a small profit from these charges.
Credit card charges etc., are part and parcel of normal business practice and these are also built in to their costs.
At the moment, their shops are closed but could be open for 'click and collect' but they choose to make the customer pay for delivery instead, which I find annoying.
The volume of this business is such that they know exactly what they are doing but have deliberately chosen to annoy some customers used to shopping in an actual shop. The company does sell to mostly younger people than myself but their fabric quality is so good that I do (did?) like to buy from them.
If they reopen their shops and reinstate 'click and collect' with return direct to shop, I would have no problem with them.
I don't know if 'click and collect' will be reinstated but do know that their latest set of terms and conditions states that returns are no longer to be made at their stores - parcel return only at the customer's expense.
The nub of this argument is that on an item which is sold at £20, after direct costs, the company expects to make £15.00 contribution to fixed costs and profit. If they have to pay for return postage they make no profit but a negative contribution to their fixed costs and profit.
If the customer returns the item there will be no contribution to profit and there will instead be a loss. Historically, a company will trade off the likelihood of making a £15 contribution against a £3.00 loss, if the item is returned.
They have now decided that they would rather trade off the likelihood of a £15 profit against making no profit and no loss if the item is returned. They will likely sell fewer of the item with a risk of a lower aggregate contribution.
I assure you that this company is making money and will be interested to look at their accounts in a year's time (they currently make billions)!
I am sure that your points are relevant for a smaller company but not in the one I mention - everything is being slanted towards companies and the customer is being overlooked/taken advantage of!