Alondra Alarcon doesn’t always return her holiday gifts. But when she does, it’s usually for a good reason.
“It was because they bought me the wrong size of shoes!” she said outside of City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake City. “So I had to go and I got the same one, but just the right shoe size.”
Her story isn’t a unique one — especially if those shoes were bought online.
“Consumers return anywhere from 20% to 30% of goods that they purchase online,” said Aaron Provine, president and CEO of Geartrade, a Utah-based outdoor equipment reseller. “[During the holidays] retail sees like 5% to 10% increase in returns. There is a massive amount of returns that end up happening in January.”
The reason is simple: people can’t see how something looks or fits in person before they buy. Even so, the convenience of online shopping just can't be beat.
“Waiting in the lines is the worst,” said Alarcon. “I can’t do that.”
Add in how everything about online shopping is seemingly designed to get you to buy more than you originally thought you needed, and you have a recipe for overconsumption.
“Without growth, [companies] are not meeting their financial objectives,” said Provine. “And ultimately what that entails is, from a buying standpoint, from a retailer standpoint, is you're kind of stuck in this hamster wheel where it's buy more, sell more, buy more, sell more.”
And those trends only grow during the holiday season. The National Retail Federation expects holiday retail sales this year to top $966.6 billion — up between 3% and 4% over 2022.
So what happens to all those unwanted holiday gifts?
Provine spent over a decade in retail before starting Geartrade in 2019. He said when something does get returned, one of three things usually happens. Either it goes back on the shelf and is resold as new, it is sold for pennies on the dollar to a third party or it gets destroyed.
“That doesn't even account for when consumers buy an item and the return window passes,” he said. “Do they throw it in the trash? Do they try to donate it? What ends up happening to that? And that kind of ends up becoming the million-dollar question.”
In part, that question is what prodded Provine to start Geartrade. The company and others like it — including brick-and-mortar gear exchanges, consignment stores or individuals putting their things up for sale — all help reduce waste and contribute to sustainability by giving unwanted items a new life on the second-hand market.
There are some things, he said, that should never be resold such as safety gear like car seats or helmets.
“You want the end user to be safe,” said Provine. “And it's a disservice to them to resell that product.”
If other items are still returnable, it’s in the consumer’s best interest to take advantage of that service, he said. But if something is used or the return window has passed, reselling or regifting could be the best option.
It could even be a great way to score an awesome deal on a like-new or lightly used item you missed out on during the holiday shopping rush.
“Especially as we go into January and February,” said Provine. “A lot of people tend to have New Year's resolutions and they want to get into an activity or sport and used and resale, you know, tends to offer a great opportunity for people to get into those activities at a low price.”
