(AP) – It is one of the least publicized policies of some of the the largest retailers in the US: Sometimes they give customers full refunds and let them keep them unwanted items too.

Refunds without returns are a tool that many retailers use keep online shoppers happy and to reduce shipping fees, processing time and other bloat costs from returned products.

Companies like AmazonWalmart and Target have decided that some items are not worth the cost or the trouble of returning. Consider a $20 t-shirt that might cost $30 in shipping and handling to recover. There are also single-use items, such as a packet of plastic straws, that might be difficult to resell, or medicines that might be unsafe to market again.

Analysts say companies that offer refunds without returns do so somewhat sporadically, usually reserving the option for low-cost items or those with limited resale value. But some online shoppers said they were allowed to keep more expensive items.

Dalya Harel, 48, recently received a non-returnable refund after ordering a desk from Amazon that cost about $300. When the desk arrived, she noticed it was missing several key pieces and would be impossible to assemble, Harel said. She was unable to request a replacement and receive it within a reasonable time for her New York lice detection service office because the item was out of stock.

Harel, who routinely buys towels and other products from Amazon for her business, said her team contacted the company’s customer service line. She was pleasantly surprised to hear that she would get a refund without having to send the desk back.

“It’s one less headache to deal with,” Harel said. “It was really nice for us not to have to make an extra trip to the post office.”

She used the desk scraps to create makeshift shelving in her Brooklyn office.

A mysterious process

While the retail practice of allowing customers to keep merchandise and get their money back isn’t exactly a trade secret, how it works is shrouded in mystery. Companies are reluctant to publicize the circumstances under which they issue non-returnable refunds because of concerns over the potential for return fraud.

Even though brands don’t detail such policies on their websites, no-return refunds are expanding in at least some corners of retail.

Amazon, which industry experts say has engaged in the practice for years, announced in August that it would expand the option to third-party sellers who drive the majority of sales on the e-commerce giant’s platform. Under the program, sellers using the fulfillment company’s services in the US could choose to offer customers a traditional refund on purchases under $75, with no obligation to return what they ordered.

Amazon did not immediately respond to questions about how the program works. But publicly, it offered non-return refunds more directly to international sellers and those offering cheaper goods. Items sold in an upcoming section of Amazon’s website that will allow U.S. shoppers to buy discounted goods shipped directly from China will also be eligible for refunds without returns, according to documents seen by The Associated Press.

In January, Walmart offered a similar option to merchants selling products on its growing online marketplace, letting sellers set price limits and determine whether or how they want to participate.

founded in China e-commerce companies Shein and Temu say they also offer no-return refunds on a small number of orders, as do Target, online shopping site Overstock and pet-products e-tailer Chewy, which some customers said they- encouraged to donate unwanted items to local animal shelters.

Wayfair, another online retailer cited by some customers as offering refunds without returns, did not respond to a request for comment on its policies.

You decide who’s eligible – and when

In general, retailers and brands tend to be careful about how often they allow customers to keep items for free. Many of them implement algorithms to determine who should be given the option and who should not.

To make the decision, the algorithms evaluate several factors, including the extent to which a buyer should trust based on their previous purchase – and returning — models, shipping costs and product demand in the hands of the customer, according to Sender Shamiss, CEO of goTRG, a reverse logistics company that works with retailers like Walmart.

Optoro, a company that helps streamline returns for Best Buy, Staples and Gap Inc., has observed retailers assessing a customer’s lifetime value and extending no-return refunds as a kind of unofficial, low-key. loyalty benefitaccording to CEO Amena Ali.

The king of online retail appeared to verify that the process works like this.

In a statement, Amazon said it was offering refunds without returns for a “very small number” of items as a “customer convenience.”

The company also said it was hearing positive feedback from sellers about its new program, which authorized them to tell customers they could keep some products and still get a refund. Amazon said it was monitoring signs of fraud and establishing eligibility criteria for sellers and customers. He did not provide further details about what it contained.

Online shopping and the cost of returns

Some retailers are also strengthening the liberal return policies they’ve long been committed to encourages online ordering. Shoppers who liked to shop on their computers or mobile phones used to charge their digital shopping carts with the intention of returning these items he came to dislike it.

Online shopping also increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when consumers at home reduced their trips to stores and they relied on sites like Amazon for everyday items. Retail companies have talked in recent years about revenue becoming more expensive to process due to rising volume, rising inflation and labor costs.

Last year, American consumers returned $743 billion worth of merchandise, or 14.5 percent of the products they purchased — up from 10.6 percent in 2020, according to the National Retail Federation. In 2019returned merchandise was valued at $309 billion, according to loss prevention firm Appriss Retail.

Last year, about 14 percent of returns were fraudulent, costing retailers $101 billion in losses, according to a joint report by the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail. The problem ranges from low-level forms of fraud – such as shoppers returning pre-worn clothing – to more sophisticated schemes by fraudsters returning stolen goods or items bought with stolen credit cards.

to discourage excessive returnssome retailers, including H&M, Zara and J. Crew, have started charging customers return fees in the past year. Others have shortened their return windows. Some shopping sites, such as Canadian retailer Ssense, have threatened to kick repeaters off their platforms if they suspect they are abusing their policies.

However, retailers don’t see all frequent returns the same way. Such customers could be seen as “good returners” if they buy — and keep — many more items than they send back, Ali said.

“A lot of times, your most profitable customers tend to be your most profitable,” she said.

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