Americans love to return things. It's part of our shopping culture. Try buying something in Asia and then returning it a few weeks later because you decided the color just wasn't right. They'll look at you like you're crazy!
Return policies become especially important to us around the holidays. If you bought an expensive dress for your wife on Black Friday, you wanted to make sure she would have plenty of time to return it when she opens it on Christmas morning and nearly gags at its pure ugliness, right?
And while many retailers only offer a 30-day return policy, don't forget that you may be entitled to an even longer return period if you used your credit card to make the purchase. American Express, Visa, and MasterCard all offer this type of service on many of their credit cards, so check your card's return protection policy before doing your holiday shopping this year.