Consumers with higher incomes are more likely to return purchases than lower- or middle-income shoppers, according to a new report by the Bank of America Institute.

Higher-income households had the most retail refunds (5.3% of their 2025 purchases), while lower-income households had the least (3.7%).

The report said that while shoppers nationwide love the flexibility of returning what they’ve bought—76% consider “free returns” an important factor in where they shop—the practice is wreaking havoc on retailers, who lost $890 billion from returns alone last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

In fact, return rates have more than doubled since 2019 among large retailers.

These return costs come at a time when retailers are already struggling due to inflation, higher prices,

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