I was also thinking about returns when the good have been faulty. That's when I've really struggled to get all the aspects sorted at a single point, order number, packaged item, note explaining, free returns label printed and in the same place as the package,. On two occasions I've just accepted the faults because it seemed so much trouble. Much easier to return faulty items to a shop in my experience.!

JAileen -- I find that STP's customer service has gone waaay downhill. They got bought by the TJMaxx group last year and I suspect there was a big shake-up in management and policies, because my experiences there recently have not been great. The blacklisting is so unfortunate -- not a good tactic, IMHO. There's a new brick and mortar STP in my hometown (about 2 hours from where I live now). I've been in once and was not impressed by the selection.

Gradfashionista -- I only have a car part of the week, and it does make life more complicated. I have to plan my errands carefully, and I'm learning how to take full advantage of the bus route. Luckily, my toddler loves riding the bus -- car-free days are actually his favorite!

Aziraphale -- I definitely contact CS re: garment measurements on a regular basis. I'm almost always right between XS and S, or right between petite and regular, so knowing the exact inseam/hip/shoulder/etc can be make-or-break.

Thistle -- Shoes sizing fluctuates so much, even within a single brand! I've bought the same trail runners three year in a row, and each year I've been a different size -- but lined up next to each other the three pairs look identical. I find it frustrating that athletic shoes now seem to get redesigned (revamped -- literally!) every year; I'm always worried that the shoes I love will have disappeared by the time I need to replace them.

Aziriphale brings up a great point -- calling the customer service or reading reviews very carefully can make all the difference to online success. I tend to do that pretty rigorously before ordering.

I think my highest rate of clothing/shoe returns is from Amazon but since I buy so many other things from them my overall rate there is low. Second would prob be Nordstrom but I think they're used to it, and my return rate is lower than many others'.

I don't order online too often from "mall stores" as I have most of them nearby. (I have nordies too but they are in the suburbs and the good one is somewhere I rarely go). Even if they don't necessarily have my color/size at least I can try things on for fit first.

I'm with others here who do not consider sending back an item's sizes that don't work but keeping the one that does a "return." IMO that's just the cost of doing business when shopping has gone largely online, especially when, as Thistle brought up, the stores don't carry your size range at all (a frequent situation for petites). I used to agonize over trying to pinpoint the exact ONE size that would work for me, and I still do scrutinize reviews and measurements, but it has been so much better to order up to 4 possible variants--for me, it's usually XS, S, SP, and XSP if they have all those--and see which one, if any, works.

For myself, I define a return as something that is a fail in any form and just goes back, and I do track those. This year it has been 16% in terms of number of items. I'm a better shopper than I used to be, but I don't have a goal to reduce returns for retailers' sake. Fewer fails saves time and effort on my end and increases closet happiness. The aim is always to get an item we'll love, right? Good intentions. But we can't help it if something just doesn't work, and I don't feel any guilt in sending it back.