CLEVELAND — If you shop online, chances are you've had to return some of your purchases.
According to the National Retail Federation, 17% of items sold online in 2023 were returned with a total of nearly $250 billion.
To cut shipping costs and processing fees, a growing number of retailers, including Amazon, Costco, Home Depot, Target and Walmart, are refunding customers and letting them keep unwanted items.
"I think for retailers, it helps their bottom line and it also kind of provides good customer service and it and it really builds customer loyalty," said Kyle James, founder of the retail blog rather-be-shopping.com.
Good Morning Cleveland anchor Mike Brookbank spoke with James about the type of items eligible for 'returnless refunds.'
"I've noticed it mostly on items that are $20 or less, on things like kind of your cheaper electronics, kind of gadget stuff, things that are that are fairly inexpensive, but they're big and bulky, and so they cost quite a bit to send back," said James.
James warns against getting free stuff with the 'returnless refund' policy because retailers can eventually ban you from making future returns.
