I want to discuss about this things. You don‘t. Got it. No need to tell…
You bring up a good point. It just comes across as selfish, and so wasteful. All that packaging, effort put on by the workers who may be over worked already, and then the possibility of taking away something someone else really wanted but now cant get because of stock shortages. I’m totally down for sending something back that doesnt work as advertised, or that is damaged, but to not put the time into figuring out if this is something you really need and aren’t just impulse buying comes across as a dipshit move. From a business standpoint (exec level) I see the point. If you can get people to impulse buy stuff, a good percentage are going to end up keeping said stuff, but from where I’m standing, it’s still kind of shitty.
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Used to annoy the crap out of me - especially hearing the people who have a pattern of getting multiple stuffs to play with and sending most of it back screaming blue murder at any retailer that had the audacity to have sent them something open-box (accidental or otherwise).
Anyways, I was getting all ready to compose an epic rant about entitled wankers when a simple thought crossed my mind. This sort of thing is just another wart growing on the empty facade of consumer culture. Purveyors of luxury goods will do whatever they can to convince the masses to keep their wallets open and the masses are changing their own behaviours as a result.
Consumers gonna consume.
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It’s the price online retailers pay for driving physical shops out of business I guess.
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Personally, I think a long time before ordering and do not send things back, even if I should. I guess it has to do with the projection in the research phase and with cognitive dissonance, ie difficulty of admitting to myself that I have made a mistake. Without going to consumerist extremes, pure trial-and-error, etc., buyers who are able send back items that do not work for them are doing the right thing, I believe.
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I mean GAS and wanting is the culprit in many cases.
Yah, I generally try to buy locally from brick & mortar stores and they don’t have such a forgiving returns policy - so I gotta be a bit more discerning if I don’t want to take a financial hit.
True. I’ve certainly had my fair share of post-purchase regrets. But I’d also say that GAS for new products has often been heavily influenced by a whole chain of people who want us to keep buying stuff. Finding a way to keep them on ignore has been surprisingly helpful for deflating GAS a wee bit.
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This is just the world we are living in now. I can place an order for a bottle of shampoo through Amazon, receive it within a couple days, and if I don’t want it after it is delivered, then I can simply return it. People like to debate the ethical morality of the situation. At this point, everyone from shampoo makers to synth makers, along with Amazon and other retailers, should have this all fixed into their cost. I’m not saying this makes it right, but what I am saying is that both pizza and fried chicken are my favorite things leftover straight outta the fridge.
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I don’t send back that often, cause I usually need more time to decide if something is for me, than the return policy allows, but I sell a lot of things after a while, in order to purchase other stuff.
Youtube videos and manuals don’t give you a real feel. It’s always different if you use it yourself, you have to touch it, try to include it into your workflow. There is no ultimate device, they all have flaws, and since we’re spoilt with alternatives, I think it’s natural to have the desire to try other options. There is just simply too much great accessible gear out there these days.
I have to drive about 1,5 hours to the next music shop that sells synths. And I hate to try things in shops to be honest. Too hectic, too many people, too much background noise. That’s why I buy, try and sell a lot, and if I can make my opinion on a device within 4 weeks, I return it ocassionally.
I never really disliked any device. They all have some potential, and things they do better than others.
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This is a strange thread…
Anyway, if buying shit and using it with purpose (for a track, gig, video, etc) and then returning it then that isn’t on in my opinion.
If buying shit to try it out especially in the current climate, not liking it and then returning then that absolutely is acceptable.
Personally I tend to buy stuff, not gel with it and then sell it. But I have returned things to stores before. A Digitakt was sent back because I was fed up with a sticky key, for example. Ruined the whole experience for me,
Not sure I understand the OP’s problem though? Youtube and manuals only tell you so much. It’s the way of the world now with buying online. Does it breed “bad behavious”? Not for me.
One thing I will say though - people who buy stuff on Ebay 2nd hand and try to return it as they’ve clearly decided they don’t like are dicks. Possibly double standards but those sorts piss me off.
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never bought a gear without preliminary studying the manuals and demos — so never had to return it.
I wont buy from retailers that push easy returns, I assume that at some point I will get a second hand unit dressed up as brand new. Also B stock prices are not cheap enough to make up for the fact that they are used items, there are plenty of second hand items out there that still look mint but I wouldn’t buy them at 10% less than new.
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I’ve bought enough absolutely pristine b-stock from Thomann to trust that they’re not just feeding returns back into new stock. But I can’t speak for other retailers, and there’s certainly potential for dishonesty from the store’s side.
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How do you do that?
hahaha right there with ya, buddy! 
it’s pretty rare I’ll do the “order two and return one” with that as the intention. but it’s pretty much only ever with clothing. and even then, it’s purely a matter of “I’m not sure how it will fit or look on me until I get it” sort of thing. many retailers do in fact expect this, and some even have such an item within a list of reasons for why you’re returning. in other words, our wives do have a point: lots of clothing companies expect this, especially those that don’t have a strong presence of physical stores, where you can try things on before purchasing.
you could extend that same philosophy to gear purchases, but I just never have. mainly because I generally purchase used gear and almost always only at a price where I know I’ll take little to no hit on it, should I choose to re-sell it. I do purchase new things sometimes, and I have also purchased and returned gear. but it’s rare, and I’ve never done it with that intention going in. just seems kind of wasteful I guess (all the shipping resources involved, plus time). not to mention if it’s an expensive item, you’re out that cash or you have the charge sitting on your CC while you decide what you’re keeping. nah… not for me.
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I purchase product knowing I have an opportunity to return them if it doesn’t meet my expectations. I’ve only returned a few items but feel for the price I pay for gear there should be an insurance package.
buying the latest 3 wavetable synths and figuring out which ones to return is not something my production process has been missing. sounds like their loss
Not sure you understand consumer rights laws, when you as (private) end user buy something you enter a contract with the dealer/retailer/webstore.
The terms of that contract is partially controlled by consumer right laws and some of the conditions can vary.
In most of EU you have 14-days return policy for online purchases, that’s the minimum, and it’s specified for an unused product in it’s original packaging.
But as you know many offer a very generous return policy on top of that which is a part of the contract you enter when you pay for gods.
So it’s of course not a matter of abuse or exploit since it’s within the terms of the contract between two parties.
Now it might be you’r opinion that it not something you would do, but that is pretty much irrelevant in terms of wether it’s abusing the terms or not.
Retailers who offers these generous policies have of course crunched the numbers and knows that the terms are beneficial for them in the long run.
Clothing online shops like Zalando has extremely generous return policies, some of them even encourage their customers through to buy with the intent to return what you do not like.
So what’s the difference between checking if a pair of shoes will fit, look good on you compared to see if a synth will fit your style, setup or if you like to work with it ?
Nothing really, it’s the terms of the current market.
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yeah man this is a strange thread whod’ve thought people would complain we’ve got too many rights. we don’t really live in a world of brick and mortar mom and pop shops any more. if someone is lucky enough to compete with the giants who basically have a monopoly over things at this point then the’yre gonna eat some of the hassles that come with that. in this case dealing with some returns. its just business imo. if we’re gonna get angry lets blame capitalism not the people. punk mk2.
obviously be good to second hand market and the rare small businesses that do exist, but in regards to large businesses its foolish not to understand that it is 100% a case of us vs them. if they could charge you twice as much with no returns at all they absolutely would 10 out of 10 times, why fuel their fire?
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Prolly starting to get a bit offtopic here. But basically: spending less time online mindlessly browsing, unsubscribing from emails, turning off Youtube autoplay, running adblockers, keeping my browser free from cookies, and avoiding online discussions surrounding teaser campaigns and product launches. You could say that last one has nothing to do with them, but I’m including it since it could be described as viral marketing.
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