The Daily Valet. - 8/18/23, Friday
✔️ Never-Ending Returns
Friday, August 18th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
This newsletter is best enjoyed in a quiet environment.
Today’s Big Story
Never-Ending Online Returns
Ecommerce has definitely changed the way we shop—and made “reverse logistics” into a booming new industry
There's a special thrill you get when the alert hits: “Your package is out for delivery”. Right now, nearly 3/4 of Americans are regularly shopping online. In 2022 alone, there were a total of 268 million digital buyers in the United States and by 2025, this number is likely to reach 285 million. With all the buying online comes another wave: Customer returns are way up over the past couple of years.Of course, the seasons play into this. According to Salesforce data from earlier this year, there was a 63% increase in holiday returns in 2022 compared to 2021. And some stealth shoppers hit that buy button, knowing full well that they'll be sending the item back after a use or two. A forest's worth of artificial Christmas trees goes back every January. Bags of green plastic Easter grass go back every spring. Returns of large-screen TVs surge immediately following the Super Bowl. People who buy portable generators during weather emergencies use them until the emergencies have ended, and then those go back, too. It's sad, but true.Returns like this might seem simple, and often they're free for the consumer. But managing those returns can get costly for retailers, so much so that many returned items are simply thrown out. Fortune reports that returns cost retailers about $816 billion in lost sales last year. That's nearly as much as the U.S. spent on public schools and almost twice the cost of returns in 2020. The return process, with transportation and packaging, also generated about 24 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions in 2022.Most online shoppers assume that items they return go back into regular inventory, to be sold again at full price. That rarely happens. Most are junked or destroyed. According to the New Yorker, returns are expensive for sellers, since shipping alone often costs more than the items can be resold for. Many retailers have responded by shrinking their refund windows or by imposing fees for postage or so-called restocking. Some sellers offer store credit only. Roughly two-thirds of retailers charged for returns as of March, up from 60% in September, per Insider. Even Amazon, long the poster child for free delivery and returns, now charges customers $1 for returning items at UPS stores if there is a closer returns point, such as a Whole Foods or Kohl's, nearby.But despite the cost of these so-called “reverse logistics”, retailers worry that discouraging returns discourages buying in the first place, driving revenues down. Easy returns are like free shipping: they can be a dealmaker or a deal-breaker when a consumer is deciding where to shop. Which is why there's now a whole segment of retailers simply refunding purchases—no need to send anything back. “When you ship a hundred-pound bag of dog food, you're probably losing money on it already,” one store's director of returns told the New Yorker. It makes sense, of course, but it also seems like a guarantee that those disingenuous buyers of big TVs could try to score that screen for $0.00 (and free shipping!).
FYI:
One recent study found that a third of repeat consumers said they wouldn’t buy again from a retailer where they had a difficult product-return experience.
Pick Your Poison
Marijuana and hallucinogen use, binge drinking reached record highs in middle-aged adults
The world can feel like it's spinning out of control lately, so it's not exactly surprising that marijuana and hallucinogen use have now reached never-before-seen levels in the U.S. Call it an “all-time high” for America.A new study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that more middle-aged adults were binge drinking, using marijuana or consuming hallucinogens than ever before, according to a new report. Cannabis use surged among young adults under 30, alongside historic rates of vaping, as well. For Dr. Joseph Palamar, an associate professor and substance use expert at NYU, it isn't surprising that marijuana use has continued to climb, given the increasing acceptance and legal availability in many states. What Palamar, who wasn't involved in the new study, found especially notable is that marijuana use among middle-aged adults is nearly the same as that reported by high school seniors.But, according to the New York Times, the implications of what drugs a generation tends to use can be significant. For instance, a recent study found that alcohol-related deaths continued to increase among people 65 and older, with deaths among women in this age group rising at a faster rate than among men. However, overall rates of alcohol use—including daily drinking and binge drinking—have been on an overall downward trend for younger adults between 19 and 30 years old, the report reveals.
Meanwhile:
Bloomberg reports that a ‘poor man’s cocaine,’ costing $3 a pill, is threatening to proliferate in the U.S. and U.K.
Mortgage Rates Soar
It’s making it harder for buyers to afford homes, which are already in short supply
In other not-so-great news, U.S. mortgage rates surged this week, rising to their highest level in 21 years. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked up to 7.16%, up from 6.96% the week before, according to data from Freddie Mac released Thursday. A year ago, the same fixed-rate was 5.13%.Axios shares a calculation from ING's Chief International Economist, James Knightley, to illustrate the issue: With a 7.16% mortgage rate, the monthly payment on a $417,200 loan (that's the average mortgage amount taken out last week) works out to $2,820, he says. But at the prevailing mortgage rate back in 2021, you'd pay that amount for a $670,000 loan.Rising interest rates not only make it harder for first-time buyers to become homeowners. They also discourage people who already own homes from trading up. “If you're a homeowner who's got a 2% or 3% mortgage, you're not in a hurry to put your home up for sale because that would require a higher mortgage rate,” Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, told NPR. “So resale inventory is about half of what it should be.” As for when we might see some relief, analysts expect rates could slowly start to ease by next spring or even by the year's end, coming down to 6.5%—but that's still more than double the rate in 2021.
Protect Your Ears
They might seem counterproductive, but some sound-dampening ear plugs will come in handy
Should you be wearing earplugs at a concert? At first, it feels a bit like wearing a blindfold at an art museum ... you came here to hear the music, right? But noise-induced hearing loss—which is believed to affect at least 10 million young Americans and is, in all cases, irreversible—can start to occur whenever your ears are exposed to sounds above 70 decibels for prolonged periods of time.And depending on a venue's size and structure, live music can reach up to 110 decibels or more. At such high levels, hearing loss (both temporary and permanent) can start to occur in as little as five minutes or less. So yeah, you should probably pack some auditory protection at a concert or sporting event (or if you're doing other loud activities, like mowing the lawn). “A good rule of thumb is to wear hearing protection if you have to shout or significantly raise your voice to be heard,” one doctor told Health. “Or if you can't hear someone about an arm's length away.”Thankfully, there are a slew of options for earplugs that dampen sound while allowing you to still hear. Wirecutter has tested dozens and their editors have consistently ranked Loop Experience Earplugs as the ones they'd most want to regularly wear. Those were also the top choice of the Consumer Reports crew, so that's what I think I'll rely on for any sound-minimizing needs.
In Other News
He will not show new “evidence” of fraud, citing the advice of his attorneys.
Have you heard about ...
A Weekend Pairing
‘Physical’ + a Watermelon Kombucha
There's so much good stuff streaming at the moment, right? I can't keep up. Physical, Apple TV+'s dark comedy series, came back for its third and final season at the top of August, but I'm just now getting to it. Perhaps you've been missing out, too? The show follows the delightfully diabolical Sheila Rubin (played by Rose Byrne), a woman in 1980s California battling mental demons and eating disorders while trying to succeed in the newly-emerging world of aerobics.During the last two seasons, we've seen Sheila evolve from a raging, lost housewife with bulimia who hates her life to a tormented business owner who hates her life less, but is still grappling for control. This season is apparently the final jazzercize sculpted leg of her personal journey and entrepreneurial path. It's seemingly going well until, predictably, it's not. Her status as an emerging TV fitness star is challenged by rising celebrity exercise goddess Kelly Kilmartin (Zooey Deschanel), who becomes not only a professional threat but an intimate one. The reviews have been glowing, with Decider saying the show expertly proves “that perfection can be a prison.”
Pair It With
What to pair with a slightly dysfunctional show about fitness and personal demons? Maybe not alcohol. This bubbly kombucha has that fermented funk you get from an alcoholic beverage, and the juicy watermelon flavor also satisfies all my fresh cocktail cravings.
Also Worth a Watch:
‘Cocaine Bear’ on Prime Video; ‘Avatar’ on Max
Shopping
What We’re Buying
Penny mules
Easymoc's penny mules have all the style of loafers without the blisters that come with breaking them in. They're made in the U.S. from Horween chromexcel leather, and finished with a Vibram camp sole for durability and an Ortholite footbed for added comfort.
Get It:
Penny mule, $285 / $213.50 (w/code EASY25) by Easymoc
Morning Motto
Make sure to have some fun.
▾
Follow:
Share today’s motto:
