IF expectations collide with reality, the result can be expensive!
New research suggests the average American wastes over $ 70,000 on disappointing online purchases over a lifetime.
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Americans spent over $ 70,000 on disappointing purchasesPhoto credit: Getty
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The main complaints are unsatisfactory color, quality, or sizePhoto credit: Getty
In a recent survey, 2,000 U.S. respondents said they typically spend an average of $ 899 a year on disappointing online purchases, with clothing (60 percent), tech (27 percent), and toys / children’s products (25 percent) being the Head the list.
Specific disappointments are often the quality (64 percent), size (46 percent) and color (31 percent) of the purchase upon arrival.
One respondent bought a leather jacket that turned out to be plastic, while another got steaks that tasted like shoes.
And people aren’t the only ones experiencing disappointment. “I ordered a Cat Cave bed for $ 60,” one respondent recalled.
“It got rave reviews and sounded like something my cat would love to sleep in. She slept in it one afternoon and finished with it. When she moved in it it collapsed so it wasn’t as advertised.”
The study carried out by OnePoll on behalf of Fakespot also examined the influence of product reviews on purchasing decisions.
51 percent of those surveyed tend to trust bad reviews rather than good reviews when shopping online.
Respondents also cited 20 ratings as the minimum threshold required to be considered trustworthy.
65 percent said they usually trust online reviews when making a purchase decision.
The average respondent writes their own reviews of online purchases around four times a month; 54 percent feel obliged to do so.
And 67 percent said they trust product reviews with pictures or photos more than those that only contain text.
However, 55 percent think that people who post reviews or pictures of the products they buy deserve some kind of reward.
“Our study found that while people trust online reviews, they don’t always read them,” said Saoud Khalifah, CEO of Fakespot.
“Consumers may be unsure about the legitimacy of the reviews and may want to find out for themselves, or they might just fall for a deal too good to be true.”
More than half of respondents (56 percent) said they would return their disappointing purchases, while 30 percent throw them away and 29 percent choose to give them away as gifts.
Meanwhile, three in five assume that a returned online purchase will be resold – and only two in five knew that product returns increase CO2 emissions.
Although the average respondent is expected to make 314 returns over their lifetime, only 28 percent of respondents knew that returned products sometimes end up in landfills.
“Product returns are not immediately associated with an environmental impact,” added Khalifah.
“Increased awareness of which sellers, products, and reviews are legitimate can lead to more informed consumer choices. That means more online purchases that meet people’s expectations and a cleaner earth. “
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Consumers trust bad reviews over good onesPhoto credit: Getty
