This made me think of something. Once I bought something from another retailer that was shipped to my house. It came nicely packaged in a gift box with lots of stuffing and stuffing around the gift box, and then the entire thing in a huge box. It turned out the SA had been mistaken about the size of the purse, so I had to return, but they said I had to pay return shipping. Well, I calculated how much it was going to cost in that gift box and that huge box, and decided I didn't want to pay it. I was mad that the SA had misled me; basically I didn't think it was my fault so I was mad about having to pay for shipping. So I kept all the stuffing in and around the purse, but didn't use the gift box or the huge box, and put it in a smaller box. If they had paid for return shipping, they would have gotten the whole shebang.
I also think some bags are given as gifts and the stuffing is removed, and if you buy in store, they usually remove all the stuffing, so when you return, you don't have the stuffing.
Hi whateve, I think having to pay shipping out of pocket is another story altogether! What ridiculous person was in charge to demand that?? Especially when it's not really your error about the sizing. I usually buy online now, after moving to a town that's nowhere near a Coach store; back when I lived close to several, I don't mind buying in the brick and mortar locations, since I can examine items on the spot. Without that luxury, purchasing from JAX is the safer bet; I've had stuff shipped from store with pen marks and whatnot before.