If you buy your clothes online, how much of it do you send back?

[AtoB]

I just ordered four things from Next - a denim bag from Accessorise, a black jumper from Phase Eight, a Friends Like These skirt and a fluffy jacket from Joe Browns and I don’t like any of it!

The bag is huge, the jumper is not nice enough for £79, the skirt is too tight on the waist and the jacket is not my style. Add to that the too small boots I took back last week and the too big trousers, I am going to give up!

I can’t see me going round the shops and actually trying on clothes (not done that for years) so I’ll make do with what I’ve got until the spring I think.

How much of what you order do you actually keep?

I usually send back half of what I order as I always order two sizes,
I'm a bit in-between sizes

I return about one in five items I guess. The places I normally shop seem to have consistent sizing which definitely helps.

I don't send a lot back to be honest, unless it's Party dresses which I would normally buy a handful then keep the one I like!

I reckon I send back half, shoes I now need to order two sizes as I was a 5 but I'm creeping up to a 6 in some places - very odd! Clothes, I generally send back due to colour or fabric, quite often there's no details of the fabric or its been photographed in a bad light. I wish more companies would put a pit to put measurement and length too.

Nothing. The only time I order online is if I've seen it in real life first and tried it on/had a feel of it so I know for definite I won't need to return it (unless there's a fault).

Maybe 20% if that? Probably should send back more but get suckered into 'I'll just lose a bit of weight and it'll look amazing on me!' (Spoiler, it never does)

I try and mainly only buy repeats of things I've already got, otherwise I end up sending lots back, I still mainly shop on the high street for this reason (plus I just prefer it).

Usually, I send it all back as there's usually something wrong, i.e. too big, too small, too short, poor quality fabric, poor quality stitching etc. To be honest, it's more of a surprise if I actually keep anything.

TBH I keep very little. Probably around 80-90% goes back because it doesn't fit or doesn't suit me. I read reviews very carefully and study the size guides but it often dosen't help. As for shoes, about 99% goes back for the same reason!

Varies, but rarely from some companies and often from others. If items had actual measurements (like Uniqlo provide, along with the reviews which is really useful) then less would be returned. Issues are sizing, quality, alongside recently an item being dirty and obviously worn (M&S looking at you here!).

I would prefer to buy in the shops, but they often don't have the stock now, so I do my best and check reviews, but sometimes the sizes are all over the place, and sometimes things are just a weird shape (or I am, hem hem)... So I guess about 30%?

I usually don't return much.
But I just returned some party heels as the strap was very short & wouldn't do up around my ankle.

I don't even rememebr ordering them - it was during a night waking.
I don't even wear heels but somehow I thought these ones would be fantastic.

I probably sent about 75% back. I hate real life shopping so I buy a big selection including multiple sizes with the expectation that I will send a lot of it back.

Almost nothing - and I buy about 95% of my clothes online. Think I’ve had to return one thing in the last two years.

I shop more than pre-Covid, but probably not more than one item every 4 to 6 weeks. After 40 odd years of in person shopping and 20 years peering at a screen I’m relatively experienced. And know what to look for, and browse constantly, and always have a tape measure to hand.

I must say, if it’s purely a matter of fit, I’d much rather take something to be altered than queue at the PO or wait for a courier - the only time that couldn’t happen (last year) was with a long, knitted dress that really was too big and long and droopy and couldn’t be altered.

Generally I love the freedom and adventure of not being limited to what’s on the High St or in the nearest shopping mall. I discover somewhere entirely new to me probably at least once a week - and stalking things across new / discount / pre-owned sites is a highly absorbing pastime, so I almost never pay full price. But having just moved back to a city I’m fond of, I have taken to dropping in to the (imo) only decent clothes shop in town, as much for a chat with the staff as to browse the clothes.

I hate the hassle of returns, and hardly ever do it. But I tend to only buy online from shops where I am confident about the sizing.

I tend to order a lot from Next as there is one near me and I can collect and return for free.

Almost nothing. Apart from a small number of independent shops I buy almost everything online.

The very few returns I've had were where I was over optimistic about sizing and it wasn't a huge surprise. I never bulk order. The items that were too small were exchanged for correct size. I buy shoes and boots online and I can think of only 1 return in at least 5 years.

I send about 75% back mostly because of sizing I'm petite so trousers/ jeans are mostly too long, I did find some short jeans from m& s that fitted well, so ordered 2 more pair in different colours and they came up different lengths even though they are the same style of jeans,

i think i have a pretty good success rate with choosing items online that i don't have to return - i know what i like and what suits me.

The only exception is the Next sale. its really difficult to get a good idea of some of the items in the online sale, so i just buy on my account and take back if i need to.

Probably about 80%

I tend to shop in categories. If I want a coat for example, I will order a selection of styles and sizes and keep the one I like best.

I don't get how people can just order one of something and hope it's right without any comparison! Clothes need to be tried on imo.

I don't understand buying in bulk. I really don't. I don't need to compare items. I read the sizes thoroughly and am honest with myself about what size I need.

Last online purchase was this coat. It's beautiful on the website and it's beautiful in real life.

Cabbages & Roses Coat

I order a lot from Next Tall online...about 10 items a month and usually keep a couple. The sizing and length is all over the place. If you don't order the Tall stuff as soon as it comes out, it sells out.
I have to order footwear on line and usually return 80%

I don't understand buying in bulk. I really don't. I don't need to compare items. I read the sizes thoroughly and am honest with myself about what size I need.

No amount of honesty will spare a buyer from the fact that most retailers give very little or not useful size guidance. Most only give bust and maybe hip or waist.

The given bust sizes often appear to have no relation to the pit-to-pit of the actual garment: if I buy something for a 36 inch bust, I should be able to expect it to be 18 inches pit-to-pit at least, but sometimes it will be 15 or 16 inches instead. Hardly any retailer bothers to give shoulder width. How do you suppose I should be honest with myself about that, if I don't know to what extent I must size up from my small bust to cover my wider shoulders without ending up with half a metre of floppy fabric? Many retailers also don't bother to give a garment length and if they do, give it only by reference to a single size, while having the length increase progressively as sizes go up. If I'm a tall woman, how should I be honest with myself about how much to size up based on this? There is little logic and consistency in it.

From one retailer a few years ago, albeit in person, I bought in one transaction one shirt in size S and one ribbed top in size XL.

If you have body proportions which make the very limited size information of most retailers useful and therefore find it always easy to choose a size, I am happy for you, but others may not find it so without wilfully deceiving themselves that they might fit a smaller size. Personally, I find the waist and hip measurements of no use whatsoever, while measurements I would find useful are hardly ever given.

I also wouldn't describe getting two sizes as being 'buying in bulk'.

It varies but more than half on average. Most things I need to order two sizes and I don't generally end up wanting to keep every item. Colour and fit is very hard to assess from online images.

@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle

I don't understand buying in bulk. I really don't. I don't need to compare items. I read the sizes thoroughly and am honest with myself about what size I need.

Trouble is that some retailers have VERY inconsistent sizing, especially M&S where sizes are purely random. I can be happy with a specific size of a particular item from M&S and decide I want another but in a different colour, but the dimensions are significantly different, even within the same range. Sometimes I've even ordered the identical item for OH (say a work smart shirt), so everything the same, including bar code and their "T" number, but the second arrives and is clearly different when you lay one on top of the other. Same with various pairs of jeans I've bought from M&S - claimed to be the same size, but leg length, leg width, waist all clearly different when you lay one on top of the other.

That's why I send so much back, not because I'm in denial about what size I am!!