Overstocked retailers are cutting back on lenient pandemic-era return policies heading into the holiday season.

Many companies during the pandemic worked to make online returns easy and free to appeal to homebound customers, fueling a habit of buying several items at once and returning unwanted items. But the pattern has become costly for retailers, with the National Retail Federation estimating about 17% of all merchandise bought in 2021 was returned, totaling $761 billion.

For retailers coping with excess inventories, the sight of goods coming back is proving too much too bear. the Wall Street Journal reports that brands including J.Crew, Gap and Zara are shortening their refund and exchange windows and charging customers restocking fees to discourage returns. 

One survey shows the number of retailers offering free returns has fallen by half this year, suggesting easy returns is another trend unlikely to outlast the pandemic.