Returns to retailers up this season

Ah, the warm feelings of the holidays: Comfort and joy. Good cheer.

And buyer's remorse.

People who rushed to snag discounts on TVs, toys and other gifts are quickly returning them for much-needed cash. The shopping season started out strong for stores, but it looks like the spending binge has given way to a holiday hangover.

Return rates spiked when the Great Recession struck and have stayed high. For every dollar stores take in this holiday season, they'll have to give back 9.9 cents in returns, up from 9.8 cents last year, according to the National Retail Federation's survey of 110 retailers. In better economic times, it's about 7 cents.

This time of year fractions of a penny add up. Stores are expected to take in $453 billion during the holidays. Merchants make up to 40 percent of their yearly sales in the last two months.

Returns are typically more associated with January than December. That hot pink sweater with yellow stars may not be exactly what your sister had in mind. But these days, more is going back before it ever gets to Santa's sack.

"When the bills come in and the money isn't there, you have to return," says Jennifer Kersten, 33, of Miami. She spent $300 the day after Thanksgiving on books, movies and clothes for her nephews. Last week she returned half of it.

Some reasons for the many unhappy returns:

Shoppers are bingeing on big discounts. Stores are desperate to get people in the door. But the same shoppers who find a "60 percent off" tag too good to resist may realize at home that they busted the budget.

Stores have made it easier to take things back. Nordstrom is letting online shoppers return items at no extra charge this year. It used to charge $6. Other stores are offering more time to return or rolling out "no questions asked" policies -- no tag or receipt required. But that can backfire. "Spurring more returns wasn't part of the plan," says Al Sambar, a retail strategist for consulting firm Kurt Salmon.

Stores are undercutting each other in a tough economy. Wanda Vazquez spent $39.99 at a New York Target on iPad speakers for her 12-year-old daughter, then returned them when she found something similar for $16.99 at Marshalls.

Consumer electronics, in particular, are being returned at a rapid clip. Stores and manufacturers are expected to spend $17 billion reboxing, repairing, restocking and reselling electronics this year, up 21 percent from four years ago.