Updated September 30, 2026

What is Free returns?

In short

Whether a brand pays the return postage when you send an item back, which is different from a refund.

Free returns mean the brand covers the cost of sending an order back, so a size or fit mistake costs you nothing beyond the delivery fee you already paid. A refund and a free return are not the same thing: you can get your money back and still be charged postage. In this group Altra, Decathlon, KEEN and Merrell all send returns back at no cost, while BeLenka Europe does not. Shoes are hard to judge from a description, so a free return policy is often worth more than a small discount when you are between sizes.

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