“Bracketing” is where a shopper buys more than one size or color with the intent of returning whichever doesn’t work for them. While not fraud, it still puts a return expense on the retailer.
Is that expense larger than maintaining a brick-&-mortar store, where the customer could have compared different sizes & colors without having to purchase them first?
I can’t say I feel guilty about having to try on new clothing this way.
And “wardrobing” most certainly happened before online sales took off.
ETA:
Come to think of it, this was part of the plot of the film* Moonlighting & that took place 40+ years ago.
*(not the TV show, though who knows, maybe they worked on a case about it)
Pretty obviously they do because when I return something to costco they put a sticker on the item I’m bringing in to show it was brought from outside. (I’m guessing that minimal system could be bypassed by switching the tag to a different product since they aren’t keyed to it, and not every costco seems to do it.)
For real. Addicts have been doing this for decades.
person A fishes up a long, fresh receipt out of the trash cans in front of Home Depot or some other big box store
person B goes in to Home Depot to shoplift the most expensive items on the receipt
Person A takes the shoplifted merchandise and receipt to customer service for a refund
Home improvement and hardware stores were preferred because they sell many highly priced small tools and other high dollar, small, easy to shoplift items. Many tools and small electrical parts could be $40-80 for something that fits easily in your palm or front pocket.
Calling it a “glitch” or a “loophole” or a “hack” is one of the most offensive parts of this story.
Dude, you’re a thief. Shoplifting isn’t a “lifehack,” it’s just a run-of-the-mill crime. If you’re going to do it, at least own it instead of pretending you’re some kind of genius innovator.
Even if someone found some kind of similar “hack” for unlimited free food that wasn’t outright theft, it would still seem pretty sketchy. I always think of this comic in those kind of situations:
Online retailer started offering this because people wouldn’t buy clothes or shoes otherwise. Pretty rich to complain about a process that ensure customers will actually buy clothes from them.
