DoorDash is launching Dasher Returns, which lets shoppers pay $7.99 to have an eligible retail purchase picked up at home and returned to the store.
No box or shipping label is required, and DoorDash says a Dasher can arrive in as little as 30 minutes, although timing isn't guaranteed.
Before using it, check the retailer's return policy. DoorDash can take your purchase back, but it can't make a retailer accept it.
DoorDash is launching a new service called Dasher Returns that lets shoppers pay someone else to take an unwanted retail purchase back to the store.
For a flat $7.99 fee, a Dasher can pick up an eligible retail order at your door and take it back to the retailer. There's no need to find a cardboard box, print a shipping label, or make the trip yourself. DoorDash says pickup can happen in as little as 30 minutes, although pickup and delivery times aren't guaranteed.
The service is available now in select cities and is expected to roll out across the U.S. in November. It’s pretty convenient timing with the holiday shopping and returns season right around the corner.
How DoorDash returns work
The new service is for eligible retail orders purchased through the DoorDash Marketplace. You can't use Dasher Returns to return something you bought in-store, or directly though a store's website.
You simply schedule the return, pay $7.99, and hand the item to the Dasher. DoorDash says the Dasher brings it back to the store, where the return is processed on the spot and the merchandise can go directly back on the shelf. Your refund should arrive within days, although DoorDash says the timing can vary.
There's an important catch: DoorDash is providing the ride, but not changing the retailer's return policy.
Before scheduling a pickup, make sure your purchase is still within the retailer's return window and isn't excluded because it's final sale or falls under another restriction. ConsumerAffairs' return-policy guides can help you check the rules at major retailers before sending your purchase back to the store.
Think of DoorDash as your return chauffeur, not your return loophole. If a retailer won't take something back from you, sending a Dasher with it isn't going to change the rules.
Is it worth the $7.99?
This is where I'd do a little math to see if it’s worth it. If you're planning to head to the retailer tomorrow anyway, paying eight bucks for someone else to make the trip doesn't make much sense.
But imagine the store is 15 miles away. Now factor in a 30-mile round trip, gas, traffic, parking, and potentially standing in a return line. Factor all that in, and $7.99 starts to look like a good trade for your time.
Pro tip: Bundle your errands before paying for convenience. Check whether you have another reason to visit the store or shopping center within the next week. If you do, make the return yourself. If the return requires a special trip, that's when the $7.99 fee becomes much easier to justify.
DoorDash is becoming more like a mall
Returns aren't the only retail expansion DoorDash announced.
The company is adding Macy's, Anthropologie, The North Face, Vans, and Timberland to its retail marketplace. Macy's merchandise will be available through more than 350 stores nationwide, Anthropologie through more than 220, and The North Face, Vans, and Timberland through more than 350 combined locations.
They join retailers already available through DoorDash, including Costco, Barnes & Noble, Gap, Kohl's, and SKIMS. DoorDash says more than half of the National Retail Federation's Top 100 Retailers now partner with the company.
Don't let $7.99 cost you more
There's one psychological trap worth paying attention to.
Say you bought a $30 shirt you don't want. It's tempting to look at the $7.99 return fee and decide it's not worth returning.
But keeping the shirt costs you exactly $30. And that's probably the best way to think about Dasher Returns. You're not paying $7.99 to return something, but you're paying $7.99 to make an errand disappear from your to-do list.
Whether that's a bargain depends on how much that errand is worth to you.