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Without dealing with the morality, I think practically it doesn’t lead to good outcomes. How will you feel when customers do the same, and try to get as much a

Without dealing with the morality, I think practically it doesn’t lead to good outcomes. How will you feel when customers do the same, and try to get as much as they can for as little as possible? It’s free to buy an umbrella and then return it when it stops raining. Is that less ethical than surge pricing? It’s based on the same premise; their need for an umbrella now makes the umbrella worthless so they regret the decision. It erodes trust in the market. It shows consumers that businesses are willing to capitalize on their inelastic demands, which encourages responses in kind. I would wager consumers find it less unethical to abuse returns or steal from price gouging vendors. On a long enough timeline as a common enough practice, I think we all lose. Those frustrations become crippling market inefficiencies and both customers and producers are worse off.

gruez 2y ago
>It’s free to buy an umbrella and then return it when it stops raining. Is that less ethical than surge pricing? It’s based on the same premise; their need for an umbrella now makes the umbrella worthless so they regret the decision. That's easily solvable with a clause in the return policy like "no returns if the product is used". AFAIK electronics retailers have added similar clauses because people were buying TVs for the superbowl and then returning them afterwards. More likely though, a place that sells umbrellas, especially in tourist areas would have a "no refund" policy.
- everforward 2y ago
  Sure, you can argue with customers about whether it’s used or not. They’ll probably just file chargebacks and let you argue with their credit card company. The specific actions aren’t really the point, the point is that it rapidly becomes an antagonistic relationship, which is bad for the market in aggregate.
  - gruez 2y ago
    >They’ll probably just file chargebacks and let you argue with their credit card company. aka. "we do a little wire fraud" More seriously, if the merchant has a clearly documented "no refunds" policy they'll probably prevail in chargeback. Also, if you're the type of person who's going to chargeback a $10 umbrella, you're probably not going to have a credit card to do chargebacks with for long. >The specific actions aren’t really the point, the point is that it rapidly becomes an antagonistic relationship, which is bad for the market in aggregate. Having a "no refunds" policy is an "antagonistic relationship" now?
- averageRoyalty 2y ago
  A "no refund" policy isn't legal in places with strong consumer law, primarily due to past abuses by vendors.

gruez 2y ago

>It’s free to buy an umbrella and then return it when it stops raining. Is that less ethical than surge pricing? It’s based on the same premise; their need for an umbrella now makes the umbrella worthless so they regret the decision. That's easily solvable with a clause in the return policy like "no returns if the product is used". AFAIK electronics retailers have added similar clauses because people were buying TVs for the superbowl and then returning them afterwards. More likely though, a place that sells umbrellas, especially in tourist areas would have a "no refund" policy.

everforward 2y ago
Sure, you can argue with customers about whether it’s used or not. They’ll probably just file chargebacks and let you argue with their credit card company. The specific actions aren’t really the point, the point is that it rapidly becomes an antagonistic relationship, which is bad for the market in aggregate.
- gruez 2y ago
  >They’ll probably just file chargebacks and let you argue with their credit card company. aka. "we do a little wire fraud" More seriously, if the merchant has a clearly documented "no refunds" policy they'll probably prevail in chargeback. Also, if you're the type of person who's going to chargeback a $10 umbrella, you're probably not going to have a credit card to do chargebacks with for long. >The specific actions aren’t really the point, the point is that it rapidly becomes an antagonistic relationship, which is bad for the market in aggregate. Having a "no refunds" policy is an "antagonistic relationship" now?
averageRoyalty 2y ago
A "no refund" policy isn't legal in places with strong consumer law, primarily due to past abuses by vendors.