I have been a LH customer for years and when they first brought in their '365 day no quibbles returns' policy I was somewhat skeptical as it sounded too good to be true.
However it really is that amazing! But it got me thinking how the hell is it actually possible?! Especially sex toys and lingerie where obviously unlike many other shops they cant simply be repackaged and resold (I sincerely hope anyway lol).
For rubber sex toys I can see they are probably melted down, treated and remoulded, so there is minimal loss. However they are many items on the store that cannot be easily be recycled I imagine (sex machines, clothing, lube, steel toys etc).
Do sex toys have such a huge markup that the actual value of the items is tiny so it doesnt matter if they lose a few sales? When you think about it £30 for some molded rubber, that happens to be in the shape of a penis, is pretty crazy!
Also from a finances point of view it must be hard for them to value their company exactly, knowing that theoretically every sale in the past year could be nullified. Have LH ever declined a return? How do they stop people abusing the system?
Just found it interesting as its unique to any other store Ive ever used 
I'm not entirely sure, but if I were to hazard a guess I'd say part of the reason they can afford it is because it encourages so many more people to buy from them, so they end up making more money off the back of their returns policy.
I'm a prime example of this, I've sadly had to send 2 items back because I wasn't happy with them, and as guilty as I feel about that I'd also say I've been a lot more daring with my purchases and bought a lot more stuff from them that I normally would have, most of which I've ended up keeping! The thought that you can just return it if you don't like it probably encourages more people to purchase things on their wish list they've been pondering for a while, and LH have a very strong and loyal customer base now because of their returns policy. I'd never go anywhere else :)
We even passed a well known high street sex shop today and my partner looked at me as if to say 'do you want to go in', but just shook his head and said "nah, you belong to Lovehoney now!" :p
i agree with Boo it's alot to do with their fantastic care. As in they care so deeply for their customers that they keep coming back...and for example i have in the past month got three friends to join and they are now addicted too...
I would never go anywhere else unless it was something LH didnt stock and never planned on stocking. But even then i would ask them first.
Well they charge a lot more than the competition does, the main reason for that is so they can provide the level of customer care they do and the returns policy :) Basically you pay more here, which is like paying for insurance almost lol.
I am unsure how they do it but you have to remember as well the return per parcel wouldn't be what we would pay to send it as they use a business returns policy!
Also they are competitive with there pricing that I have noticed with things I have bought or looking at buying and if you find anything alot cheaper from a company you may not have heard from just because it looks and is called the same it may not to once you have received it as you can buy the Tenga 6 pack from a website a lot cheaper but I would pretty much guarantee you it is a cheap Chinese product so won't have the same quality or feel.
It's nothing to do with a huge mark up. I hope a staff member will pop along soon, as I've seen them explain this before on other threads but I can't quite recall. You basically have to think tiny mark ups (like under £10, sometimes even pence) on THOUSANDS of orders...what was it, 27,000 odd a week they send out currently? It all adds up! And they obviously get some form of compensation (though I think they said they don't get profit?) from recycling, which they can do with most of what they sell here. Plus I'm sure they can do what we would do if we bought a faulty toy from a company and get a replacement, i.e. if I were to send back my faulty Tenga Fliphole and it was under warranty they would get on Tengas case and get a replacement sent to them, which would then replace the one they gave me from their own stock and overall they'd lose maybe postage costs but not the price of a whole fliphole.
Basically though no, they aren't outrageously overcharging to make up for the costs.
ive sent two packages back in the past and im contemplating a third return possibly but im worried now!
I'm worried too! I'm hoping having valid reasons for returns and having a reasonable length of time between returns/reasonable ratio of returned items to kept items counts as not abusing the system? But then what is reasonable... D:
Ah wait ok, Jennifer got in there before me...that makes sense...except I now still worry as I've left it close to a year for a couple of items (I'm going to worry regardless though lol)
Ok panic over! I was worried because i exchanged 2 items that did nothing for me (buzzy weak bullet and le reve rabbit ears) along with a jelly vibe now i know how unhygenic they are! I exchanged them for the fsog love egg but was thinking of sending that back because after a few uses i get nothing more than meh, and for that price i was expecting mind blowing orgasms!
But i didnt want to look bad by sending back an item that was a replacement! I will give it a few more weeks/months and see if it gets any better before making a decision.
i have my greedy girl to send back too when they are back in stock to get another! My waterproof bung came undone twice in the bath, and although it still works (admittedly sometimes a bit louder than usual!) i was advised to send it back because the water might have damaged the insides and could take months until it finally breaks.
Thanks Jennifer, for the clarification! That makes me feel much better about returning stuff, which I've done a few times, because I know I don't fit in that bracket. PHEW. It's nice to know LH are as generous and great with customer service as they always seemed to be!