If your Purchasing Department has to deal with manufacturer/vendor returns, you know what a nuisance and time-taker the process becomes.
A tip to dealing with them is to try to avoid them contractually to the highest extent possible. For example, in your office supply contracts, negotiate a clause specifying that returns must only be made if the dollar value of the item exceeds a certain amount.
I have seen this work quite well, and indeed I have seen it offered by the office supply company itself, which had determined through heir own internal cost accounting that returns below a certain dollar value ate up more in soft costs than the worth of the item.
You might be surprised to find manufacturers and vendors of higher ticket items also agreeing to this same policy since processing returns on their end is as much of nuisance to them as it is to you.
In what industries have you negotiated such an agreement?
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