Why wealthy shoppers generate more retail refunds

Shoppers with higher incomes are more likely to return retail purchases they make, a new report finds. 

Higher-income households had the highest percentage of retail refunds, at 5.3% of their purchases in 2025, according to a recent report by the Bank of America Institute that compared higher-, middle- and lower-income shopper return behavior. The analysis is based on aggregated, anonymous transaction data from U.S. debit and credit card holders who made at least five transactions per month.

Lower-income households had the smallest percentage of retail refunds at around 3.7% of their purchases, according to the report.

Higher-income shoppers are less cash-strapped than lower earners, the report notes, so they are more likely to “buy items speculatively,” especially if they know they can “return it later if they decide it’s not right for them.” 

This behavior is similar to what shopping experts call “bracketing,” or the act of ordering multiple products in different sizes, colors or variations with the intention of keeping a few and returning the rest.

“That’s likely to be somewhat easier for someone who has a higher income to do,” said David Tinsley, lead author of the report and senior economist at the Bank of America Institute.

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Bracketing is not really new, said Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and founder of ConsumerWorld.org.

“It’s really been around as long as the internet has been around,” Dworsky said. “Unlike walking into a department store — going into Macy’s and trying on something there, or seeing things in person — you’re buying much more blindly online.”

More shoppers are making more frequent returns. Nearly half, or 46%, of consumers return purchased items multiple times a month, according to a 2024 report by Optoro, a returns solutions company. That’s a 29% jump from 2023.

While consumers value the ability to return products, experts say retailers have been tightening their return policies in recent years to mitigate the high costs. 

About 76% of surveyed respondents consider free returns important when deciding where to shop, per a 2024 report by the National Retail Federation and Happy Returns, a returns shipping company.

Nearly as many respondents, 67%, stated that a negative return experience would deter them from shopping with a retailer again. 

The survey polled more than 2,000 consumers who had returned at least one online purchase in 2024, and 249 e-commerce and finance professionals from retailers with at least $500 million in revenue.

Despite shoppers’ desires, returns can be costly for retailers. In 2024, retailers expected that about 16.9% of their annual sales would be…