How do you handle returns?

Elaine and all,

My credit card billing slips say “30 Day Exchange or Credit, No
Refunds”.

Importantly, that statement is ABOVE the signature line. Once signed
the CC issuer and bank will honor it, period. If the statement is
AFTER the signature, it’s worthless. However, legally, in most
states all sales are final barring misrepresentation or
merchantability. No matter what disclaimer you use, the law always
prevails and Warranty of Merchantability holds in all states.

But if you offer only exchange or credit, the statement MUST be
above the signature line. Guess how I learned THAT hard lesson?

Wayne Emery

I work in a Mall Retail Jewelry store we have the following company
policies:

You have 60 days for Returns, Exchanges or Refunds (no fees for
restock and such). You have a lifetime guarantee on all workmanship.

As for Credit Cards… at this point only a fool doesn’t take Credit
Cards, our store has been open 9 am to 9 pm, 7 days a week for 6
months and so far we’ve had 3 checks, 4 cash transactions and all
the rest (and theres a lot) have been credit cards. Almost nobody
caryies more than 20 or 40 dollars cash anymore.

So how can you expect anyone to have 100, 300, 1000, 5000 in cash on
them to buy jewelry?

Sure it happens now and then, but rarely.

gWebber

Grace, from the beginning I was advised to have a “return for store
credit or exchange only” policy. What I did was go to an office
supply store and they sell these stamps with little alphabet letters
and you can make up your own words and stamp your existing invoices
that you give out at shows to customers. Later when I printed new
invoices I had that statement clearly placed at the bottom. I also
have the words typed in on all my debit/credit card receipts that
come out of the machine.

Once your customer sees that the terms are exchange or store credit
only, they will not benefit from returning any goods to you.

Hope this helps.

I am planning on not accepting credit cards for the very reason of
returns, and of course finance charges. 

In the UK there is a move to stop the use of cheques completely by
some banks and some companies (like BP service stations) have
already stopped accepting them and only accept cash or plastic.

If this trend carries on it will limit jewellery sales to only the
cheaper items as clients do not carry large amounts of cash. Trials
are going on now to use special plastic that you use for cheap items
such as newspapers, confectionery etc - These will accelerate the
demise of the dear old cheque.

At one show I lost at least two thirds more sales because I did not
accept credit or debit cards at that time.

Robin Key
Clavis Jewellery
Aberdeen
Scotland

I also think adopting this policy would force me to have to really
raise my prices as a cushion and I am trying desperately to keep
them down. 

I think you might be surprised if you begin tracking how such a
policy impacts sales. With a policy far more liberal than most I have
had less than 1% returns balanced against a minimum of 15% increase
in sales as a result. No brainer.

Worth mentioning…

  1. I do not “hard-sell” at all. I personally approach selling from
    the position of truly helping a person select what they want and will
    be most happy with. This significantly lowers “buyers remorse” which
    is often a result of someone feeling they were pressured or
    influenced into purchasing something they didn’t really desire.

  2. The boost in sales will only be tangible if you very actively
    promote such a policy. Every single serious prospect learns about
    this policy during our discussion of the work they are interested in.

  3. Even when I use the classic “puppy dog” close (“Take this home
    for a few days with no obligation to buy, I’ll only charge your card
    after 7 days if you decide to keep it.”) Even in this case I only get
    1 in 3 pieces returned. This tactic is reserved for occasions when
    someone is ready to walk away altogether. So this means 2 out of 3
    times I complete a sale I wouldn’t have made otherwise.

Bottom line lesson is… there is infinitely more effort involved in
returning something than there is in making an initial purchase.
This proven fact is what the entire business model of DVD, CD, and
Book clubs is built upon.

do you have the same liberal policy on custom work? If you
purchase the material and begin the work on a custom piece and the
customer just changes their mind, do you eat it and move on? 

Excellent question, and in most cases the answer is a definite “no”.

This liberal policy applies only to available stock on hand. Custom
work is something that always has conditions applied depending on
the nature of it. (non-refundable deposit, no returns only exchanges,
etc.)

In very rare cases I may offer to do a custom design without
limitations but only if it is a piece which I know can be easily
sold if the person decides not to take it.

Hope these clarifications are of some use!

Dante

The only solution to this is to not take credit cards. You then
have to decide which option will cost you the least.

When I suggested this as an option, I was merely suggesting that the
only way to completely avoid charge-backs is to not take credit
cards. The truth is, in today’s market, if you don’t take CC’s and
your average piece is more than about $20, you won’t make very many
sales.

I have to agree with Dante. I accept full returns, even on custom
work for whatever reason the customer deems appropriate. My attitude
is that if the customer doesn’t want it, then it does nobody any
good for them to have to keep it. If I don’t listen to them closely
enough during the design and manufacturing process, and they don’t
love the piece, it’s my fault, not theirs. Communication is
absolutely critical.

Sure, I get the occasional “renter”, but they only get to do it once
or twice. After that I offer to just loan them something for the
weekend. Usually it’s a piece and an audience I would love to get
together anyway. I’ve made more than one sale because of this policy.

I get very few returns. I have had only a couple of custom pieces
returned, although I have had to re-make a piece more than a time or
two, but it always makes for a very satisfied customer that will
scream my praises to the mountain tops. And also to her friends that
usually think “Wow! If they can make her happy, they can make anyone
happy!”

Try it. It works. Satisfaction guaranteed or your entire purchase
price happily refunded, including shipping.

Dave

Robin et al!

In Canada, we are getting into a cash-less society. For instance,
out of 4 couples who went for dinner, only one couple had enough
available cash to pay for the meal…all of the others used
’plastic’…To loose 2/3 of your sales is a real big number of lost
orders, change your atitude, get the CC-imprinter…The service
charges will be offest by the impulse sales ‘on the spot’!

Even a stone dealer where I buy my CZ’s now has a ‘debit-card’ and
CC sales machine, so why not you? If a retailer denies the client of
CC’s he is on his way of ‘closing his door’…fast! In my country
now,
to deposit a check takes only 6 days to clear and those funds are put
on hold until this process has been completed…If I,(in Toronto)
receive an American check the wait is ONLY 21 BUSINESS DAYS!..so
because of this, I have an American account across the border.

The end result of this post is, banking now is a ‘royal pain’.Credit
Card is NOW and immediate. If I give a store cash, they are allowed
to
scan each dollar for being counterfeit, do I need this?..

Gerry!

I carry a debit card. That is today's CHECK. 

This got me thinking that I’ve been meaning to call and ask my card
processor about debit cards, since I’ve been getting more inquiries
about accepting them at shows.

Turns out you can’t accept them unless you have some kind of
connected terminal, wireless or otherwise. I go the knuckle-buster
route at shows and enter the charges at home later on my Zon Jr., so
I don’t have the connection needed at shows.

I also learned that any debit card can be run as a credit card,
without a PIN #. But for those who aren’t fully connected at shows,
the paper check will still live on for awhile- but it does seem as
though I’m getting fewer lately.

Allan Mason

Hi Mark,

First of all, best of luck to you with your upcoming show! Regarding
credit cards, depending on your price point, I would say it’s not
worth avoiding those fees unless you also want to avoid some sales.
Now, if most of your pieces can be paid for with what cash the
average person carries with them, great, but if it’s higher, you
could be shooting yourself in the foot by not accepting them. Now,
I’m going to knock really hard on some wood as I say this, but I
personally have never had any problems with accepting them. KNOCK,
KNOCK, KNOCK!! (I say as I myself get ready for a show this weekend)

Lisa
Designs by Lisa Gallagher