Yes, it is. That's because companies like trying unpopular policies in America first before moving them to Europe.

You guys don't drunk-order a bunch of useless shit then expect to return it for no cost once buyer's remorse sinks in?

Mankind will die out before vanity sizes do.

I'd argue that in those cases the product is straight-up defective. I mean it was falsely advertised. Expecting me to pay returns in that case is absurd.

an understandable personal policy, but a lot of small businesses can't compete with these companies. my margins are thin and my products are expensive, so if I accept a return from a customer i am losing money. the cost of producing the item that got returned is not recuperated it's just gone.

If free shipping on returns disappears, I won’t shop online anymore

The thing I'm most likely to stop buying online without free returns would be clothing. Online clothing retailers should 100% know that a purchase is never final until the person gets it and tries it on. It's too common to have to send items back for fit - I'd just start going to the store and trying it on there again instead of paying for each return.

Exactly. It would be more acceptable to have paid returns if 1)clothing photos and descriptions were more accurate and 2) if sizing was consistent within and across brands.

But I should not get punished because your company wants to make your size 6 in the measurements of a typical 10 so that you can inflate egos and sell more stuff.

No, it’s not. You have the right to return it (Dutch: herroepingsrecht) but the cost of returning can be at the expense of the buyer when stated on their webshop. Check their ToS

Where consumers and employees have rights.

But that's what happens when you make your clothes to sizes that have no relation to the bodies that go in them. Especially for women. What the fuck is a 12?

When I go to a shop, I try on maybe ten pairs of shoes that are all my size before I find a pair that fit my feet and I can actually walk in.

There's no waste there, it's like one extra journey to your house when you buy something, no matter how many things you're sending back. The real waste is when the shop just throw it away because it's cheap shit not worth processing back into stock.

If it's such a hassle, maybe don't sell clothes online. Put it back in the high street where it belongs.

That sounds like more effort than just going to the fucking store.

Or better yet a thrift store. There is for a massive surplus of clothes and even Goodwill's have brand new brand name clothes for a few bucks, all over the place.