3 ms·

> Why not just sell discounted "non-returnable" versions They do. It's called a final sale. Clothing retailers do this frequently. Some are more strict on this

> Why not just sell discounted "non-returnable" versions They do. It's called a final sale. Clothing retailers do this frequently. Some are more strict on this than others. Bonobos, for example, often advertises as final but will accept returns (YMMV basis). What I'm curious about is sizing. Buy three pairs of the same size pants from Banana Republic and you'll get three pairs that fit differently. Their deviation is sometimes extreme. Same with Levis and others. You would think, in an online shopping world, that this would be the lowest of hanging fruit. I can't believe the cost of QA is greater than the costs of returns and reputational harm. Shopping online for clothes is just madness, and it's common to buy multiple items of the same size (or next size S and M) just to be able to return the ones that don't fit. Sometimes you may fit in S and an M from the same brand. Just different SKU/factory/batch. It's a total crapshoot.

lliamander 4y ago
I've been burned by that as well. I pretty much only by clothes on final sale if I have a high degree of confidence I will like the result (feel, fit, color, etc) and even then I've been disappointed by the variability in quality. BTW, Mr. Porter has a fantastic return process. They include the return label and invoice in the box. Some of their stuff is expensive, but I'm much more comfortable trying their products out because it's so easy to return.
seoaeu 4y ago
My understanding is that the problem isn’t QA but rather that manufacturing to a tight tolerances costs more. Specifically because you can stack a bunch of sheets of fabric and cut them all at once, provided you are willing to accept slight differences in the measurements on each.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Or even that it’s the same factory. The big stores/companies have factories around the world producing and that can lead to lots of variation. Some high end tailored clothes even sells you the entire bolt of cloth in case you want to match it later, because everything the same the bolts will vary slightly over time. This is also why so much clothes now is stretchy.

lliamander 4y ago

I've been burned by that as well. I pretty much only by clothes on final sale if I have a high degree of confidence I will like the result (feel, fit, color, etc) and even then I've been disappointed by the variability in quality. BTW, Mr. Porter has a fantastic return process. They include the return label and invoice in the box. Some of their stuff is expensive, but I'm much more comfortable trying their products out because it's so easy to return.

seoaeu 4y ago

My understanding is that the problem isn’t QA but rather that manufacturing to a tight tolerances costs more. Specifically because you can stack a bunch of sheets of fabric and cut them all at once, provided you are willing to accept slight differences in the measurements on each.

bombcar 4y ago
Or even that it’s the same factory. The big stores/companies have factories around the world producing and that can lead to lots of variation. Some high end tailored clothes even sells you the entire bolt of cloth in case you want to match it later, because everything the same the bolts will vary slightly over time. This is also why so much clothes now is stretchy.