The "official" start of the holiday shopping is the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) and this year consumers in the market for electronics will be checking return policies before buying according to the opinions of over 8,000 consumers in BIGresearch's monthly Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey (CIA).

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When asked if they agree with retailers who charge a restocking fee for returns of large purchases such as electronics, appliances and automotive merchandise, 82.9% said no and 17.1% said yes.

"Consumers are skeptical of restocking charges and see it as another way for the retailers to make an additional buck at their expense," said Joe Pilotta, VP Research of BIGresearch. "Many said they would not shop stores that charged restocking fees while others felt it was good customer service for retailers to take back products consumers aren't pleased with and not charge for it," said Pilotta.

The 82.9% who said "no" to restocking fees differed from the 17.1% who said "yes":

	No	Yes
Average Age	45.2 Years	43.2 Years
Men	46.0%	58.2%
Women	54.0%	41.8%
Average Income	$48,039	$44,842
Stores Shopped most often for Electronics
Best Buy	27.6%	27.0%
Wal-Mart	25.2%	21.8%
Circuit City	8.1%	7.4%
Sears	3.5%	2.7%
Target	1.7%	2.8%
Census Regions
Northeast	18.8%	15.8%
Midwest	25.5%	23.1%
South	32.6%	37.3%
West	21.1%	20.1%

"Retailers need to be mindful of the potential impact on customer relationships store policies can have before instituting them. What may look good on a spreadsheet could have long term impact on store traffic. Educating customers on policy rationale can go a long way towards softening negative attitudes of customers," said Pilotta.