Generous return policies in the US have historically been significantly more prevalent than the author states. Stores like Nordstrom have accepted anything a cu

Generous return policies in the US have historically been significantly more prevalent than the author states. Stores like Nordstrom have accepted anything a customer would return up to and including tires which the do not and have never sold. Mercantile stores had a similar policy. Same with LL Bean. REI until recently had unconditional returns. North Face has repaired 20 year old products for me. Returns for credit only were primarily only enforced in specialty retailers and independents. Of course warranties and returns are figured in to the balance sheet of every company. It's not really free. The cost of such policies are baked into pricing decisions. Ultimately it is one component of a retailer's value proposition.