ASOS Returns Are No Longer Free - Now Charged at $8.99

LSideshowLukePerry on 27/06/2023 - 10:20
Last edited 27/06/2023 - 10:20

Just discovered when placing an order this morning that returns are no longer free. I didn't receive an email from them to let me know of this change, nor did I notice anything obvious on screen when looking at items or placing the order so I'm assuming they want this to be as quiet as possible.

I jumped on their online support chat to ask for some details and they confirmed that all Australian returns will now incur the fee of $8.99 - regardless of whether you are subscribed to ASOS Premier or not. I also asked when this new fee was implemented and they refused to answer that question until I pushed them on it - started 'mid this month' (June 2023).

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Comments

  • Hybroid on 27/06/2023 - 10:24
    +2

    Interesting. If I recall correctly, they were one of the first clothing retailers in the UK to offer free returns (which wasn’t common thing early-2000s) and that’s one of the reasons they shot up in popularity. You could order 2-3 sizes to determine best fit and return the others.

    • SideshowLukePerry on 27/06/2023 - 10:36
      +1

      That's pretty much the only reason I would continue to shop with them - their sizing is all over the place these days, so you would need to buy items in multiple different sizes, just so you could try them on to work out which one actually ended up fitting.

      • muckingfuppet on 27/06/2023 - 12:55
        +5

        The amount of times I've bought certain sizing because the Model is 180cm and wearing M, and it looks baggy as hell… So I purchase accordingly… and its completely the wrong size…

      • SydStrand on 27/06/2023 - 15:30
        +2

        To be fair, it's not 'their' sizing, it's just all the brands they stock are out of sorts with each other. Unless you regularly buy from a brand and have a general idea of how they fit, it's almost always a shot in the dark.

        • eug on 27/06/2023 - 16:31
          +1

          Even within a brand, sizing can differ. e.g. I fit two different sizes for 2XU depending on the design. And let's not even think about shoes…

          • Boomstick on 28/06/2023 - 11:15
            +1

            @eug: Have had the same experience within brand depending on the ‘line’ or category. Under Armor and CK come to mind.

  • eug on 27/06/2023 - 10:25
    +5

    I guess too many people bought multiple items in multiple sizes and returned the ones they didn't like or didn't fit. Or maybe too many people bought extra items just to get over the free shipping threshold and returned those extra items when they arrived.

    It's a pity as it gets around the biggest problem with buying clothes online, but realistically it probably wouldn't be sustainable if they had to pay for return shipping and staff to do restocking for every other order.

    • SideshowLukePerry on 27/06/2023 - 10:34

      Yeah, I agree that it would be pretty costly for a business to offer free shipping and returns, especially when some customers buy a huge number of items and then return most or all of them. It makes sense that they then introduced their paid subscription service (ASOS Premier) to combat that somewhat but it's a bit disappointing that shipping remains free as part of this paid service but returns don't.

      In the end, it's a pity though because they have been able to do this (free shipping and returns) for many, many years but now they've decided to change their offering and didn't bother letting people know.

    • coffeeinmyveins on 27/06/2023 - 11:10
      +1

      but realistically it probably wouldn't be sustainable if they had to pay for return shipping and staff to do restocking for every other order.

      No company that does this is sustainable due to the cost of managing this. The return from one order wipes out the profit from several others.

      It's the Uber model where you come in with VC funding, operate at a loss, then rise prices.

      • Boomstick on 28/06/2023 - 11:17
        +1

        Wondering if there’s a balance point such as 1:5 purchases with free shipping is eligible for free returns or something.

  • [Deactivated] on 27/06/2023 - 10:32
    +1

    Wow, it was free this whole time? Meanwhile G-Star have been charging $10 since they left Australia.

  • [Deactivated] on 27/06/2023 - 10:51

    We had a good run (since 2016!) and with shipping being so exxy, it's no surprise that they reverted to free returns being applicable for ASOS Premier members only

    • SideshowLukePerry on 27/06/2023 - 11:06

      Yeah, true. Just FYI though - the new return shipping fee is for everyone, including those of us already paying for ASOS Premier.

      • [Deactivated] on 27/06/2023 - 11:09

        Oh - I checked & it's showing as still free returns for Premier members

        • SideshowLukePerry on 27/06/2023 - 11:12

          Ok, that's weird then. When I asked them about this specifically, they said "Yes, everyone needs to pay this fees for returns." I'm assuming they haven't updated their customer care page for Premier yet.

  • Drakesy on 27/06/2023 - 11:12
    +10

    This is what happens when people abuse a system.

    The number of girls i knew that would order $1000's worth of clothes only to return 80% of it was insane (multiples of the same items in different colours). Like they didn't even fathom that it cost the company return fees. It was more, get the company to send me the store and i'll send the store right back, rather than picking out 1 or 2 items that they knew would fit.

    • SideshowLukePerry on 27/06/2023 - 11:14

      Unfortunately, I think you're probably right :(

      Would have been nice if ASOS could have changed their policy to stop that kind of behaviour while still letting those who didn't abuse the system, get a good deal.

      • bargain huntress on 27/06/2023 - 17:57
        +2

        They had already put in rules to stop that though! When i stupidly signed up for premiere recently, it said that they can revoke it in cases of suspected abuse. And it said dont worry unless you buy and return rediculous amounts of clothes that even the most loyal asos fan would. Spending $2000 and returning $1600 or more on a regular basis like @Drakesy is alleging sounds ridiculous to me?

        Also if people were wearing then returning. The punishment for those people will be the cancer they get one day from absorbing all that fermaldehyde through their skin from wearing unwashed clothes.

    • djsweet on 27/06/2023 - 11:30
      -1

      You are right. But I wouldn't call it abuse. Its kind of the point of free returns isn't it? To make it as similar as possible to going in store, where you can see how different sizes fit and which colours you like etc. I never did this, not because I think its abuse, but because I couldn't be stuffed returning a bunch of items. I'd rather just hang them on the rack in the change room at the store than fold, repackage and post.

      • eug on 27/06/2023 - 12:05
        +3

        You are right. But I wouldn't call it abuse.

        I think there's 'using it in the spirit of the offer' and 'abuse'. OP's example of returning 80% of the order, I would consider abuse if it was done repeatedly.

  • djsweet on 27/06/2023 - 11:16
    +5

    The point of free returns was to make online competitive with going in store where you could try stuff on. Who is going to buy clothes without being able to try them on? For me, maybe a tshirt is a safe bet, but pants - no way. Maybe online clothes shopping just isn't as viable as what ASOS (and a lot of people) thought. I was never personally converted to it, but I know a lot of people who were. And I'm certain a lot of people will stop using ASOS because of this.

    Hopefully we will see a shift to local stores being more viable, and actually help our own people out instead of sending money off to the UK.

    • SideshowLukePerry on 27/06/2023 - 11:18

      Good point @djsweet - I'm probably guilty of not considering this aspect anywhere near enough so it'll do me good to spend my money locally more from now on.

    • eug on 27/06/2023 - 12:03
      +1

      Hopefully we will see a shift to local stores being more viable, and actually help our own people out instead of sending money off to the UK.

      Is it viable to have a store with a selection as large as ASOS in every state? How much would it cost to rent retail space of that size and hire enough staff to service it all? I imagine their prices would have to increase which would make it less attractive to shoppers and we're back at square 1.

  • Ghost47 on 27/06/2023 - 11:20
    +3

    Haven’t bought off ASOS in a long time but I did appreciate the free delivery when stuff didn’t fit well. Not surprised they went this way.

    • Gunnar on 27/06/2023 - 14:47
      +1

      Ditto - ASOS were excellent up to 5 years ago and then things went slowly down hill. Things really fell off for them around 2020 in both quality of products and their shipping policies. I haven't bought anything from them in 3 years from memory

  • Lunarboogie on 27/06/2023 - 11:29
    +1

    I'm an avid ASOS buyer but I hardly return items, so this change is not a major one for me. The savings I get from shopping there more than outweigh the risk of an occasional return.

  • payless69 on 27/06/2023 - 11:50
    +1

    Global "rag" margins are dropping like rocks from the sky!

    H&M is slowly quitting China, Zara feels a headwind and LVHM is starting to jitter!

    • Look Up on 27/06/2023 - 16:19
      +3

      Only sh*t retailers are feeling the pressure

      UNIQLO is going gangbusters and shares are near all time highs

      If ASOS had guts like Amazon, they would just close and ban the accounts of abusive returners rather than spread the costs across all customers

      Adding a new return fee is ASOS saying they are now steadily retreating from the Australian market

      • payless69 on 27/06/2023 - 16:32

        well the Taiwanese have always been the orderly people
        plenty of rogues in the "rag" trade…

  • reactor-au on 28/06/2023 - 09:26
    +1

    Probably abuse of the system plus the big increase in auspost fees

  • here2rock on 28/06/2023 - 14:56
    +1

    ASOS has been making massive losses due to returns, I guess they need to make it fairer. $8-9 for return is a fair price to pay.

  • here2rock on 28/06/2023 - 14:58
    +1

    Is the $8.99 per item or an order?

    • SideshowLukePerry on 29/06/2023 - 09:54

      Pretty sure it's per order but it may be per parcel. The order I placed earlier this week has been shipped in two separate parcels for some reason so I'll be able to let you know if I get charged twice if I make a return.

    • andylch on 19/11/2023 - 21:43

      Have you found out $8.99 per item or per order? @here2rock @SideshowLukePerry

  • mbrooks on 16/07/2023 - 19:05

    Wow just realised this. I am one of those that would buy a heap (maybe $600-800 worth) but might return sometimes 50-90%. Mostly because they were bad fit. Not even talking about buying multiple sizes for the same garment. It's too difficult to know if an item is too big/long/short/tight, etc. That was the advantage of ASOS - probably the main one. I'll now stop shopping at Asos because of this. Wonder how much sales they'll lose. I'm guessing many might be okay with it though.

    • reactor-au on 17/07/2023 - 09:56

      For $600+ spend, $9 for return shipping seems like a negligible amount.
      I'm also guessing you don't really intend on keeping the full purchase when spending that much on clothes in one go.

      • mbrooks on 17/07/2023 - 11:12

        As a % of spend, true. However sometimes I only like a few items. So if I spend $600, keep $100, then the fee becomes 9% of actual money spent which seems high.

        P.s. I do actually intend to keep all items of they fit, but they rarely 100% fit well. E.g. much like if I was trying clothes at a department store, I don't buy 100% items that I try. Actually sometimes I try on 10 items and buy 0. Etc.

        • reactor-au on 17/07/2023 - 11:16
          +1

          Well it would be interesting to see ASOS data on returns and spend. For most people I know, its not worth the effort shopping for clothes online, never mind the returns.

  • ASOT on 30/08/2023 - 21:00

    This is (profanity) up.

  • bargain huntress on 20/11/2023 - 18:01

    Should i bother trying to get a refund for premiere? What is the point of it now?

  • Summersunshine0 on 09/01/2024 - 21:22

    This is disappointing isn’t it? :(

    Sign the petition:

    https://chng.it/Dbqvt4pM5Z

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