Gift returns in Colorado Springs bring crowds to stores on day after Christmas

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The day after Christmas is the busiest day for bringing back presents that were the wrong size, wrong color or otherwise unwanted.

There were enough customers returning merchandise to fill store aisles in Colorado Springs Thursday, although some shoppers told KRDO that they didn't need to return gifts.

"I think people are getting better at choosing the right gifts," one shopper said. "I also think more people are going with gift cards and eliminating the need for returns."

According to several surveys, nearly 80% of Americans will return at least one gift this holiday season, and nearly 30% of all holiday gifts will be taken back to be exchanged or refunded.

Stores have a variety of return policies; some have limited times for providing cash refunds while others give gift cards.

A growing trend for the day after Christmas is to return packages at delivery stores such as the UPS Store in Stetson Hills on the city's northeast side.

That rush actually started on Christmas Eve, a manager said, with hundreds of parcels being shipped back to suppliers.

"Most of those packages aren't gifts, but things that people buy for themselves and don't work out for some reason," the manager said. "Sometimes that means shipping a package to another country, and that can be expensive."

However, the manager said that the popularity of Amazon as a supplier makes returning packages quicker and easier.

"Amazon uses bar codes for everything," he said. "We scan it and it's ready to go, and Amazon covers shipping costs. More than 75% of the packages we'll handle are Amazon packages. It wasn't like that five years ago."

There were no lines at the UPS Store, but there was plenty of foot traffic at the nearby Target store and at Chapel Hills Mall.