Are you a keeper? Or a returner?
There are two kinds of people in the world. Keepers. And returners.
I am a keeper. I don’t care how much I hate the carved wood kitty cat ring holder Aunt Edna gave me, I will never, ever return it. I will try to make it work in several rooms, on my dressing table, and even next to the kitchen sink. But eventually, those beady little eyes will get to me and the thing will go in a box in the garage to either be regifted (unlikely), sold in a garage sale (doubtful) or to be moved from one residence to the next until someone, years from now, will have to deal with it after my ultimate demise. Maybe by then it will be in style.
I know returners. There are days I WISH I were one of you! To return with no guilt, no remorse. That must be a very freeing feeling. If a gift receipt isn’t included in the package, these returners make an educated guess and take the item to the most likely store in an attempt to return or exchange. Mostly they are successful.
Keepers fear returners are returning their gifts. Keepers put a lot of thought into each gift, trying to reduce the chance of its being returned. Returners don’t care a whole lot. After all, “if she doesn’t like it she can always exchange it,” they say.
Keepers are in the majority, but barely. According to a survey by the National Retail Federation, 37.6% of consumers will return some part of their gifts after the holidays. Doing the math here, that means that one of every three people I will give gifts to will make a return. Sigh. Oh bother.
Check out the article for some helpful tips on returns and exchanges after Christmas. Probably the most useful one is to ask for a gift receipt. Most retailers provide them, and they’re easy enough to tuck into the package with the gift.
(By the way, if the ring holder appeals to you, it can be found at colorfulcritters.com and retails for $9.99. I’m not kidding.)
So, are you a keeper or a returner?
Returning Gifts, Christmas Gifts, Return Policies, Gift Receipts, Cat Ring Holder
December 12th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
Returner.
But, I’m kind of different, because I put a lot of thought into my gifts, too. And the only reason I return, when I do, is because whoever gave the gift obviously didn’t put thought into it, if it’s going to get me off my lazy ass to figure out where it came from so I can return it.
December 12th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Keeper.
I’m sentimental to a fault.
December 13th, 2006 at 7:50 am
I really hate the whole return policy thing, too. I get that retailers have to protect themselves from fraud, but you feel like you’re facing some sort of inquest when you have to produce documents. It’s like “yes, yes, I have a receipt and I can also name names.” Ugh. This alone may have turned me into a keeper…