‘A lot of these items never make it back onto the shelf’: What is the true cost of your free online return?

With social media driving our desire for a constant stream of new clothes, online fashion retailers continue to reign —but where do those items we send back end up?

Online shopping

It’s wedding season, and you’ve bought three dresses online, each in multiple sizes, hoping one will be the right fit. The rest you’ll send back to the retailer, who will ensure each is repackaged and put back up for sale on the website, where they’ll soon be snapped up by eager shoppers. Or so you — and the many others queuing with their returns at the post office each day — would think.