The Bottom Line

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Factual: Money

Evan Davis hosts the business conversation show with insights from the people at the top.

BBC Radio 4 LW

The Bottom Line: Many unhappy returns

Many unhappy returns

BBC Radio 4 - The Bottom Line, Many unhappy returns

What really happens when you buy something online and then send it back?

What really happens when you buy something online and then send it back? Evan Davis and guests discuss the hidden costs of returns.

Some major fashion brands have started charging for online returns, or even banning customers who routinely send products back. The companies say that growing levels of returns are hitting their profits, so just how costly is it to process an unwanted dress, and what really happens when we pop it back in the post?

Evan Davis and guests take us behind the scenes into the hidden world of returns and the mini-industry that has sprung up to deal with the billions of pounds of items rejected by customers.

It's a growing problem, according to many retailers, with a small number of customers causing particular damage, so what's the best way to tackle it and does the responsibility lie with brands, shoppers, or governments?

Evan is joined by:

Robert Kulawik, chief operating officer, Everything5pounds.com;
Andy Rough, CEO, ACS Clothing;
Dr Regina Frei, associate professor of digital economy, University of Surrey. 

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Producer: Simon Tulett
Researcher: Paige Neal-Holder
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge

The Bottom Line is produced in partnership with The Open University.

(Picture: A woman putting folded clothes into a cardboard box. Credit: Getty Images)

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