Daytripper

Gee, thanks for that pearl. And all this time I thought it was.

bwvanh114

O rly?

Daytripper

What exactly is that supposed to mean?

ericn101

You should have added a POLL to this thread asking: "Is it Immoral to return an item to Target that was purchased on Amazon?"

Daytripper

Foolish me. Trying to have a serious conversation about this here. Mods, feel free to close this anytime.

Cheato

Go buy one from Best Buy, and one from Target. Take the price tags off, and dump them in the trunk of your car. Ask your spouse to go get a copy out of the trunk so you can watch it tonight. The next day, return the unopened one to the place that charged more. Illegal? Don't make me laugh.

The OP isn't talking about opening it up, watching it, shrinkwrapping it, and returning it. The store's getting back exactly what was sold: an unopened copy of the movie that they can then try to sell to another person.

If there's an obvious difference, like the one movie is damaged (a loose disc you can hear, a broken case, etc.), and the other isn't, then there's a problem. You shouldn't reward one company for selling you something damaged at a lower price and then punish the other for having taken better care of their merchandise. That's bad economics for everyone except you in the short term, and will eventually hurt even you in the long run because of the prisoners' dilemma model.

mr. b_dvd

Rental service? That does not make sense. He bought two copies of the same movie, both new, both sealed, but from different retailers. They happen to have the exact same UPC. The only difference is the timing as to when he will get them, and the security device being de-activated in one. How is that a rental service if he is taking a sealed copy of the movie back with the receipt?

Anyway, I actually had a dilemma this past Father's Day where I did this very same thing. I picked up the Planet Earth Boxed Set on-line for a Father's Day gift, but it was taking forever to get here. Father's Day was already upon us, no boxed set in the mail, so I went to Target 'cos it was on sale. I actually picked up the last copy. My dad was happy, and when the boxed set finally came in, I returned it to Target with no issues. It was sealed, had the exact same UPC, and it was in the same condition I bought the other one(hell, I think it was actually in better condition). If it would have had a different UPC, or been damaged, I would have just kept it for myself. I didn't set off the alarms when I walked in, but I thought it might happen.

SeymourGams

That actually answered a question for me. I've always wondered what the return policy at B&M bookstores were. I thought they might be mostly nonexistent because what stops someone from buying a book, reading it, and returning it?

fujishig

I doubt it's illegal or anything, but it is a bit dishonest, if only because I suspect if you owned up to what you were doing with the CSR, they would deny the return. As long as you're not doing returns in bulk all the time (which they track), it's probably ok.

BTW, the cost is NOT zero to the company you're returning it to. Depending on how long you had it and how popular the item is at launch, you may have bought the item at a "high demand" time and returned it when it's in much lower demand, depriving them of a possible sale. Also, they have to pay the guy to take the return and restock the shelf... I know people will say that they'll do that anyway, but it is a cost. See the "banned from Best Buy" thread from earlier this year (you'll find it if you search for "unicorn").