by Just in time for the purchase of Christmas gifts, Amazon is changing its return conditions.Image: dpa / Mohssen Assanimoghaddam
Money and purchases
For some it is clearly too early to buy Christmas presents. For others, it’s just the right time. It’s clear: If you take precautions now, you will likely save money. Plus, Black Friday (November 24) and Cyber Monday (November 27) are just around the corner. The perfect opportunity to get big discounts. Because during the Christmas period products usually become much more expensive.
Online trading has been booming for years – and not just at this time of year. To the detriment of the environment, but above all to the benefit of customers. According to Statista, Amazon is still number one on the market. The group is popular not only for its selection and speed, but also for the way it manages returns. Now customers can soon expect a change that will make them even more satisfied.
Black Week will once again encourage numerous customers to make purchases again this year.Image: AP/Julia Nikhinson
Amazon changes its rules for returns
If you want to do your Christmas shopping online during Black Week, you have a disadvantage: Most online stores offer a period of between 14 and 30 days to return purchased goods. If you don’t like or aren’t suitable for Christmas gifts, in most cases they don’t fit into this period. Stay seated on them.
Amazon now wants to score points and stand out from the competition again. The group is extending the returns deadline by several weeks. This means for customers that anyone who places an order on Amazon from now on will have the option to return the purchased goods or exchange them by January 31st.
Those who want to return goods purchased on Amazon now have more time.Image: dpa / Michael Kappeler
This applies to almost all products. Not only for those shipped by Amazon, but also for purchases on the Marketplace. These are goods coming from retailers who appear on Amazon, but issue an invoice and organize the shipping themselves.
Other retailers also offer longer periods, which benefits customers
Apparently Amazon is not alone in this decision. Other online retailers have also extended their return deadlines. Those who order from Mediamarkt and Saturn, for example, can exchange items until December 31st. Both things are possible in branch and online.
Otto also welcomes its customers here: Customers can return the goods offered there until January 30th. However, this only applies to goods sold by Otto himself. From a purely legal point of view, online retailers in the EU are only obliged to collect certain goods within 14 days. Most sellers offer a longer period as a goodwill gesture.
Watson is now on WhatsApp
Returns are crazy: about one in four packages is returned
With extra long periods in the weeks around Christmas, retailers can attract customers to their locations and at the same time free themselves from the Christmas rush. However, to respect the environment, it is better to buy in store and preferably from local retailers.
Germany is the “European Yield Champion”.Image: imago images / Michael Gstettenbauer
Because returns are a real problem: around one in four parcels is returned, as economists at the University of Bamberg have discovered. In 2021 alone, approximately 530 million packages with 1.3 billion items were returned to retailers. This makes Germany the “European returns champion,” the returns management research group said. The trend: increasing.
In the office, during sports or at the cinema: wherever you go you hear people coughing, sneezing and sniffling from every corner. Especially since the beginning of the Corona pandemic in 2020, every time you feel sick, a big question arises: is it just a cold or Corona?
