Were Free Returns Ever Really Free?

Welcome to Make Good Things Happen, a podcast for makers in business presented to you by Angela Dalton and Renee Baker. Welcome to Make Good Things Happen, Season 3, Episode 3. My name is Angela Dalton and as always, joining me is the gorgeous Renee Baker. How are you, Renee? I’m very good. How are you? Yeah, I’m good.
um i’m good i’ve had a very busy week for a variety of reasons but i um yeah i’m good it’s good to be here on the pod and before we do get cracking into a whole lot of really interesting stuff for you this episode i do want to thank you again for your incredible response to this season we’re very grateful to see how many of you are downloading and listening we’re completely chuffed
This episode we are starting with From Scroll to Cart, our segment where we discuss social media, its connection to e-commerce, but also things like websites, user experiences, and general trends that we find happening out there in the online world. One of the things that caught my eye recently, and I shared an article written by Maggie Zhou.
in broadsheet melbourne the title of which is online retailers are ditching free returns which might be a good thing the sub title is free returns aren’t the future frictionless returns are we were talking about this article before we started the recording and the gist of it is that online returns or free online returns are dropping fast
And in 2018, approximately 49% of online retailers offered free returns and that has dropped.
in 2025 down to 14 percent what the article goes on to discuss is that customers are kind of okay with this because they are valuing the ease and the certainty of a friction free returns process over the free return requirement that used to be kind of the way of the internet
particularly in the early days, because that was the way to attract people away from the shops and into the online stores was by making sure it was as similar an experience as possible. We’re seeing a very mature shopping internet understanding that perhaps paying for a return, $10, for example, seems to be a common charge across several retailers, which are mentioned in that article. Customers are comfortable with it because they understand in some cases that
either they’re small businesses, but they also recognise that it saves a lot of packaging and prevents.
things going into landfill because sometimes what we do is either return them after a wear and then the retailers can’t necessarily resell that item so often they have to give it to charity ultimately this sounds like a good thing renee for our community and i was thinking that it’s important for us to consider what the best thing is for our business but of course also what our customers are going to
prefer yeah and that’s very true because i think what comes to mind when i look at this article is thinking about the culture of online shopping and like you say the way that that’s shifted over time and i think the reason that shipping is such an important thing to get right both in the price of your shipping
to send the purchase but also in managing that returns process is so important is because it’s such a huge barrier for purchase so like you said we are trying to compete with and in some ways replicate an in-store experience but shipping is always going to mean that shopping online is more expensive even with free shipping you are paying for it somewhere as we’ve talked about before in the podcast so I do think it’s interesting to see that there’s been a culture shift in that
over time I know there’s been lots of conversation about how wasteful it can be to shop online there’s been you know podcast series dedicated to it I think even TV series as well about how we got particularly through COVID I mean we had no choice to shop online but very much in the habit of just buying a whole bunch of things almost for the sake of trying them on and then returning them and so
we learned through that process that that doesn’t necessarily mean going straight back on the rack i do think it’s very interesting and like you say how this connects back to makers because it’s been one of those things that we’ve all been aware of that
It’s a massive competitor for us as makers building online businesses when we have stores that have this process where they offer free shipping to start with, free returns. It’s just very hard to compete with that. So I think the change is going to, like you say, Angela, be a positive one. I think there is, as always with these sorts of things, I like to look at both sides, an opportunity as well to think about your returns process overall and whether or not you do or don’t offer a free process.
I’m not necessarily saying it should be, but I do think if it’s something that people are moving away from, it can actually be a point of difference that you can highlight in the opposite direction. But really what, like you also pointed out, I think is worth reiterating is that frictionless process because I heard a statistic somewhere, I have no idea where, but it was recent to say how much easier it is to actually add something to cart than it is to return it. So many more steps involved in returning a product than there is to buying it online.
And so reducing that for the consumer, I think, is also a really ethical choice to make in business as well. I think the other thing to consider on top of those other statistics in terms of the free online returns dropping from 49% to 14%, which is from Shippits 2026.
report. ShippIt is a logistic software provider. They also mentioned that the expectation, and this is reading verbatim from Maggie Zhou’s article, the expectation has shifted from free returns to smooth after-sales experience, and almost four in five Australians rank the post-purchase experience, which is tracking delivery returns, as very important or extremely important.
In line with that data as well, not only is there an opportunity for you to make sure that your returns policy and your returns process is robust and smooth, but also looking at the functionality of your website.
and the way it might be connected to your logistics provider or your postage provider. So whether or not you have set up on your e-commerce platform a connection to, for example, Australia Post, so that the person who has made the purchase can follow that parcel all the way from your business to their house or their PO box, that’s also considered very important.
It’s a good opportunity for you to work out what the right thing is for you and your customers while this change is going on, while people are already learning about new charges here and new charges there, whether or not you want to be part of that or not. And there’s no right answer. I’m just saying it’s the opportunity for you to look at your target market and your business model and decide what’s right for you. One of the other interesting parts of this article, Renee, was that
There is also a new platform called Refundid who are offering or providing a returns and exchanges process on behalf of retailers to allow those retailers to essentially outsource that process. The benefits.
of this is the data and i know you renee love data because it allows you to make better decisions some of the things that they’re talking about data that can provide insight on you know refining fit making sure product descriptions are accurate and
providing that data to impact future behavior and buying behavior and giving the business a chance to solve the reasons for the return in the first place. So you’re looking at data that will prevent the returns from happening potentially. I mean, not at all. You’ll never do that. I’d be very interested to see how that business goes. That’s a real niche. That data is going to be invaluable. I think the iconic of whether it was that business or.
it was their own software or something else but they’ve definitely had something like that built in to the site for a while for example when you go to purchase something you can do a bit of a virtual fit you can say i’ve bought this from this brand before and i’ve bought that from that brand and it sort of can graph and chart where you might fit in terms of the size so i think that’s also pulled in from returns data as well but yeah it’s interesting that it’s kind of expanding it may be
Too sophisticated for certain maker businesses who probably do find themselves having a fairly low turnover of returns, I would imagine, which is another great positive for our community. It’s not generally speaking that high turnover, fast process. And so returns are usually less. It’s interesting. The other thing that it made me think of too, of course, is that more recently we had Sendall no longer offer postage services. So that’s, I guess, something that has impacted returns and sending and so forth. But that Australia Post…
prices have increased significantly in those last five to ten years I know there’s a lot of people that do have a lot of strong opinions about Australia Post I’ll say that I’ve noticed that
The technology and the service has actually improved significantly, I feel, like you say, from a tracking perspective. I never seem to have to wait more than a couple of days, even for something regular post. Yeah, I love the app and the notifications and all of those sorts of things. With all of these added features and benefits, we do have to expect that that’s going to come at a cost somewhere. And so whether that’s passed on to us as consumers or not, I guess, yeah, it’s just an interesting conversation. So thanks for bringing it up because I wasn’t aware.
of this shift I am probably of the mindset of still thinking that it’s reasonable to have free returns but I have possibly been convinced otherwise. For small businesses in particular if they’re paying for let’s say someone’s paid for the shipping the first time possibly the customer then they return it to you if you’re paying for that and then paying for shipping again.
That’s quite an expense, particularly for a small business. And as you’ve pointed out with the increase in postage in this country in particular, it starts to have a stronger effect on your cash flow than it used to. And it sounds like it’s not unheard of. We’ll share the article so that you can get more of an idea of which retailers are doing this.
also which ones aren’t we’ll also link to ship its 2026 report because there is probably other data in there that i think would be useful and of course if you have any feedback on how you feel about returns policies and charging money we’d love to see your comments either on your podcast platform or through the blog events breakdown this segment
is generally a review of an event that we’ve gone to but we’ve decided this week because our maker community needs your support we wanted to spruik events that are coming up that are going to be great for shopping so if you’re not a maker and you’re listening get to a market support this community let them know
that you love them support your fellow artists and makers if you are already a maker but of course these events are also ideal to do a little bit of research if you’ve ever thought of participating in them that might be a matter of being in the crowd assessing the target market that the market or the event itself attracts find out if they’re a match with yours
and also have a look around and see who’s doing things similarly to you how do they display their work it’s going to give you a bit of an edge when you do your store design so that you can stand out or look different and make sure you can highlight your uniqueness in these very crowded situations the Perth makers market happening on the 12th of April as well as the makers and shakers market in Melbourne on the 18th and 19th of April
Ballarat Craft and Design Week. Obviously, this is one that I’m heavily involved in. The program of events is getting published very soon. That happens from the 1st to the 10th of May. The main event happens at the Ballarat Mining Exchange, but there will be a series of satellite events, exhibitions, workshops and so on. So stay tuned to creativeballarat.com.au to find out more about that one. It’s looking awesome what I’m seeing online as well. So that’s…
Very exciting. We have a couple of Sydney markets happening in May. So on the same weekend, there’s the Finders Keepers Sydney market. So I’m sure you’re familiar with that one. That’s happening the 1st to the 3rd of May across the weekend. Then we have for the first time in Sydney, the Great Artist Market, which has been a hugely popular event in Brisbane as part of the Felons Brewing Company series of events. And that’s going to be at the New Felons Barrel Room.
down in Manly so I’m really keen to check that one out actually because I’ve heard lots of great things about the event up in Brisbane and this one’s actually a little more close to home so hopefully I can get down to that one on Saturday the 2nd of May.
The affordable art fair is heading to Brisbane in May. They are going to be there from the 7th to the 10th of May. That’s a place where you can grab yourself some, as it says on the tin, affordable art. And of course, Melbourne Design Week at the NGV series, again, of a whole lot of stuff that you can do in Melbourne from the 14th to the 24th of May. And last on our list, but it’s certainly not the last one that’s coming up is the…
big design almost winter melbourne market on the 22nd to the 24th of may if you have any other events that are on that we haven’t mentioned or you would like to promote your event you have a couple of channels that you can do that through us we’d love to support events it’s sort of our thing that we’ve always loved doing we’ve in the past run an events calendar on our website and more recently we launched the australian makers directory which is an online platform that you can create
a profile and actually submit your own event that you’re hosting or that you’re part of on the website so that it appears on our calendar and I really really encourage you to think about doing that and consider doing that if you’re a maker or if you run an event or any other kind of market or festival it’s a really great place to make sure that we’ve got all of these awesome activities in one place because I know for myself I just don’t have the time necessarily to be either looking at emails or scrolling through
Instagram. I just want to go to a place where I can find what’s on this day when I’m free. Our goal is to create a hub for people to do exactly that. So that is the Australian Makers Directory and we would love you to create a profile and check that out. And if you want any help with setting something up or you’re not quite sure how to do it, please just reach out.
The next thing we’re going to discuss is making news. We’re going to let you know the latest updates in the community announcements about a variety of things that we’ve seen across the board. The first one is that the environment…
Art and Design Prize managed by the Northern Beaches Council are taking applications currently. You do not have to live in the council area to apply for the Art and Design Prize. Obviously, we’ll be providing links to all of these things on our show notes. And if you feel like you might be interested, have a look at that one. It’s always such a beautiful exhibition. There’s always works from all different genres, ceramics, photography.
fashion, sculpture. Yeah, it’s always a great one to check out. So if you’re thinking about it, look at it because it’s worth it. This last week, the city of Sydney announced that they are looking for young
sellers so people who make things and they’re keen to get into the market scene young people being people aged between 15 and 25 that live in the city of sydney lga are able to apply to be included as part of this market event which sounds great i love hearing that we’re encouraging younger people to get into the scene i saw this it was very cool very fitting for city of sydney too so well done that’s great in other good news the
Australian Fashion Council have announced a national manufacturing strategy in partnership with RM Williams. Because Australia’s wool is currently exported for processing before returning as a finished textile product ready to use, they’re looking at re-establishing the capability.
to manage that wool within Australia in areas such as scouring and spinning and things like that and it’s a very interesting encouraging and refreshing strategy to hear because one of the things I’m very passionate about is that tier of manufacturing being brought back into Australia because we do end up losing skills and we end up becoming a nation of consumers as opposed to creators so I’m really pleased to hear about that one.
Speaking of markets and events, if you’re looking to get involved, Rose Street markets that are based in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria are currently taking applications. It’s a really friendly marketplace that’s, I would say, for…
not for necessarily newbies but certainly not as overwhelming as some of the bigger markets can sometimes feel so it’s a good one to ease yourself in if you’re thinking of getting started in the world of markets i’ve seen a lot of designers work in rose street regularly as a progression through their phases of business
is known to be, I would call, an incubator for designers of a certain level who are ready to commit to doing markets regularly and who find that their target market are going to Rose Street Market because they can find regular income and a degree of certainty that allows them to develop their business to the next level. It’s a very supportive environment and highly recommended if you’re able to do something along those lines, get amongst it. Salvo Stores.
in the last week have unveiled
their new textile recovery facility in Brisbane, which is the first of its kind in Australia. The Queensland government have invested, I think something like $5 million, supporting Salvos to establish a circular economy textile hub. So this will allow the textiles in pre-loved clothing to be reused as kind of stock to encourage people to reuse the materials to make something else with it. I think this is really helpful, gives people a chance to see the fabric.
brick as a blank slate from a creative perspective yes and I’ve been seeing people they’ve been buying jumpers from op shops and just pulling the wool out to remake something else which I feel in two minds about because I feel sad for the person who once made the garment but at the end of the day if it’s sitting there unused it’s better off being turned into something else so yeah it’s actually interesting it’s becoming that kind of resource for the fashion industry and the craft industry as well as a place to find things
The other thing we’ve seen is that Qantas have a grant application open, which is for businesses who are looking to positively impact regional community. It’s actually open for individuals, groups or non-for-profit organisations who are seeking funds. There is an example of an eligible applicant here that’s actually listed as an event organiser applying to promote their event to a broader audience in collaboration with Qantas. That feels…
right in our genre of conversation for this episode. So that’s something we’ll link to as well if you want to do a bit more research as to what’s involved and how to apply and so forth. Not only are they offering money, but sometimes it’s marketing or flights. That’s to support regional community, which is always fantastic to see more of.
The last thing on our making news list is I actually was just driving today and saw in Brookvale on the Sydney’s northern beaches a new venue that has opened called Clay Ground. I have said that correctly, C-L-A-Y Ground. It’s taken over a large warehouse space that used to be one of my favourite cafes. They’ve turned it into what looks to be a…
pottery workshop space exhibition space but also a bit of a venue I think there’s a bit of a vibe and I had a quick look on their website and saw that this is I believe their second venue they had one or they have one sorry in Rosebury and they’ve just now launched this one in Brookvale so literally all I did was drive past but
I have seen that they do have an opening afternoon happening on Saturday, April 11th from 1 to 4pm where they’re having free beer on tap and live music, pottery demonstrations. I just thought that sounded pretty cool if you’re in the neighbourhood and want to check that out.
Now for this week, I, and on that note, this last Saturday, I was lucky enough to be invited to the VIP opening of the Pottage, Shelby Sherratt’s new location where she has opened up in Bridge Mall in the centre of Ballarat and opened up this extraordinary space. It’s very large and it will be used for workshops. The same as the previous Pottage, she will have…
pre-bisked pieces for you to glaze that she will then fire and you can go back and pick those up etc I think there’s about 10 wheels so she’s also now going to be doing wheel throwing workshops there’s going to be a little cafe in there and she’s also going to have a retail space where she sells some of her pieces but also some pieces by other Ballarat makers and crafters early start it was 9 30 in the morning so there were mimosas on offer and some lovely
snacks and cute cookies. Shelby was very busy. There was a lot of things going on because she was also opening to the public for the first time at 11am. So it was kind of like we were there for a preview, if you like. I got to see some friends of mine, which was really lovely. But yeah, as I was leaving, I saw the queue. It was phenomenal.
was just so happy for Shelby to see that not only is she going from strength to strength, but that the people are coming out to support her, not only the local community, but the broader community as well to come and visit and find out more. I think it’s going to have a really positive impact on the ceramics reputation of Ballarat because it’s already got one and this is only going to make it stronger. And it was lovely to…
just be amongst the community and all of the joy i think that shelby radiates personally but also within the space that she’s created it was really lovely and if you’re interested in finding out more about either
the pottage or clay ground of course we will have all of those links in our show notes and yeah a huge thank you to shelby for inviting me yeah i look forward to getting in there i’m actually keen to maybe have a stab on the wheel at some point it’s pretty fun i got to make a tile at the
VIP opening. She’s got this beautiful range of glazes that you can choose from. It’s just a nice spot to hang out and chat and do things with your hands. I was going to ask you what you made because I did see a photo of you doing something. Yeah so we were all given a small tile that we could paint whichever way we liked. Yeah it was fun. Lovely. Oh thanks for sharing. And on that note a big thank you to you for listening.
We will upload all of the details of everything we’ve talked about, which is a lot. There’ll be a lot of links. There’ll be a lot of links in the show notes this week. If there’s anything you would like us to talk about on the podcast, including your event, please feel free to email us or contact us through social media or comment on the blog. We’ll see you soon. Goodbye. Bye. Thanks for listening to Make Good Things Happen.
If you enjoyed this episode, why not write a review or share it with a friend? For show notes and more, head to mgth.com.au. This has been a Dalton Baker production.

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