Returned Products - What Happens to Them?

[sns2]

When goods are returned to stores, if they are not able to be put back out and resold, what happens to them? Does the retailer eat the loss? Are they sent back to manufacturers? Just wondering.

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[Lefty-Canuck]

Some stores like Costco send those items to auctions.

LC

[EZM]

It really depends on if the product is undamaged and the package is still good and can be re-sold it usually is re-sold.

Some very large retailer have deals with the suppliers (manufacturers) where the manufacturer takes all risks and must absorb and eat the loss. Home Depot and Walmart are famous for this type of leverage.

[Crankbait]

it's claimed and refunds usually occur. most companies after just say toss it after repaying the dealer. walmart donates much of the damaged but not damaged stuff to charities or auctions towards a charity. some stores are not allowed to try and resale but do anyways. one store down s alberta sells it in a type of garage sale, stunning deals for some things that have no more than a chip of paint missing. certain things that might cause injury or death don't go to donation if defective, such as bikes.

[Grizzly Adams]

Gotta wonder, sometimes they must take a real kicking. Doing a bath room right now. The lady ordered a deluxe, vanity from Lowes, around 1300. Wait 4 weeks for delivery and when we opened the box, thoroughly packed in styrofoam, there's a chip out of the top, dead center in the front. Inspected by Veronica. First they wanted to send out a new top, which was rejected on the premise that the cabinet might be damaged during replacement. these things are really stuck on there. So now, they're picking up the old unit and sending out a replacement. Thinking they're gonna go in the hole on this deal.

Sears used to have liquidation store where they sold damaged and returned merchandise.

Grizz

[CaberTosser]

I was just in a store on Thursday called Last Chance Trading, it had been probably 5 years or better since I last stopped in, I was checking the truck accessory store next door so I walked over. The place has all manner of random merchandise from various retail outlets and grocery stores. They have canned foods quite cheap and for those who really want to save, they even had some damaged cans. I saw some odd things there such as a 4l jug of Dairy Queen Vanilla syrup and Orange Julius watermelon syrup. There is also clothing and furniture and hardware, a real hodgepodge of stuff. I couldn't look at 1/2 of the clothing section due to that area being so disorganized though. Lots of the stuff there is recognizable as being from Costco, especially the Kirkland Signature or BC Clothing items. I also saw some food from Western Family so they obviously source from auctions, shipping damage claims, etc. The day I was in the coincidentally had a 30% off the entire store sale, I spent about $40 on food items.

[Rastus]

I was in Wal-Mart and I saw a woman throwing away about 5 of these boxes, you know they have a coffee table and two end table which you have to put together. When questioned on these boxes she said that they are from the dealer and Wal-Mart gives them so much time to sell them after that the wholesaler or dealer is asked what to do with them. It was cheaper to throw them away rather then pay for the shipping back to the dealer, OH WELL!!!!!!

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by Rastus

I was in Wal-Mart and I saw a woman throwing away about 5 of these boxes, you know they have a coffee table and two end table which you have to put together. When questioned on these boxes she said that they are from the dealer and Wal-Mart gives them so much time to sell them after that the wholesaler or dealer is asked what to do with them. It was cheaper to throw them away rather then pay for the shipping back to the dealer, OH WELL!!!!!!

Lot of waste in our society, we've gotten used to it, just regard it as normal. Pull it out of the dumpster and probably be charged with theft.

Grizz

[calgarygringo]

I have worked the retail scene for many years in the past.

Some stuff goes back and they fix the issue and is brought back out into what the call refurbished status. This is sometimes a great area to save on electronic items if you get one that has not been used and beat up.uite often stuff doesn't work right out of the box and it is only a minor fix to the problem and then they sell it at a discount. Watch for those as I have saved many myself on those deals.
Sometimes good deals on customer returns where they try something for a day or 2 and don't like the item so they return it. They go back out on a discount as well.
Some gets sent back to the factory for credit too.
Some goes through the compactor as they don't want staff or anyone getting something for free so the trash it and they take the hit on it. Some of these are warranty items. Example my last retail gig several of the vendors give an extra discount to the retailer and the retailer is responsible for all defective product. Trouble is retailer fights with the customers a lot because they really don't want to take the items back and take the hit on them. It is quite common in the fishing world to do this and have had to deal with some of you personally I am sure over cases where we were not sure if your fishing rod was broke slamming the truck door of broken legit. If mfg return it wouldn't be questioned but a store hit there would be a discussion on it and some are easy to swallow and some not so much.

[jstubbs]

Some stuff that’s returned I’m positive some retailers will put back on the shelf. Three or four years ago I bought a headset for my Xbox from Walmart and when I got home, noticed one of the seals on the box was off. Open it up, and the cord and end of the headset were all chewed up by a dog or something, went and returned it and they seemed dumbfounded how that happened and assured me they don’t put returned items back on the shelf.

Thought it was a one time incident until I had a buddy who bought a jug of oil from Walmart, brought it home, and then realized the seal was ripped off. Inside was pure used oil.

Soo.. not sure what the deal is.

[tirebob]

A few years back we had guests coming into town and we were a bit short on sleep space so we went to Walmart to pick up a air bed. We bought the best one they had and went home to set it up and when we opened it we discovered a cheap junk one someone picked up for probably 30 bucks somewhere and swapped it out with the couple hundred dollar one we intended to buy and returned it to the store like it was never opened. They took it back immediately and apologized and said that kind of stuff actually happens quite often. I asked why they don't check the boxes before refund and replacement on the shelf and she just shrugged and said that the employees couldn't be bothered. I just shook my head and said thanks.

[trapper1981]

Costco fills totes up of all the returned items and sells them to who ever will buy it all at about 50% off

Used to be a liquidator in Calgary that bought it all and would get a delivery every week (usally 6-10 skids of returns a week per store)

You can't pick and choose, you take it all or nothing

I used to work in trucking and would pickup and deliver the skids

The guys at the liquidation would make money sometimes and sometimes brake even, all depends what people returned, can be quite a gamble

[tri777]

Canadian Tire actually has a little section dedicated shelf of returns,
missing pieces/ or parts of the returned/damaged item & states right
on the package what is wrong & has reduced the price because of it's condition.

[amosfella]

There's a place in Vulcan that sells a lot of Costco returns.

[Skoaltender]

A fella I worked with used to pick through superstore garbage bin and would find several new bbq’s per week. He would rebuild them, replace any missing parts and sell them on kijiji.

[drhu22]

I discovered that sales on Shoppers Drugmart electronics etc are often used/opened. The crappy thing was they wouldnt admit it even when it was obvious that accessories etc had been opened, or chords not re coiled properly as well as boxes not being sealed.

[sewerrat]

I remember a few years ago there used to be Liquidation world, and XS cargo, and even Princess Auto Surplus.

[Ken07AOVette]

Bestbuy sometimes repackages and sells them as new, sometimes sends to an auction site. Can Tire here puts stuff missing parts on a 'discount table' and sells them as is no returns for a few% off, total joke. Princess auto just stopped selling out of the back room, now it goes monthly.

[tri777]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

Bestbuy sometimes repackages and sells them as new, sometimes sends to an auction site. Can Tire here puts stuff missing parts on a 'discount table' and sells them as is no returns for a few% off, total joke. Princess auto just stopped selling out of the back room, now it goes monthly.

Was that under the sale name 'Surplus' at the time?

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

Some stores like Costco send those items to auctions.

LC

It depends. I worked for Costco and many companies ask Costco to destroy the products and dispose of them into the baler/ compactor. We threw out brand new couches just because some decided to return them a day after buying them. We cut up most of the items and throw them out. Some items do in fact get sent for credit but Costco usually eats up the loss since customers need to be happy. For example Apple products get destroyed and Costco eats the loss.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by trapper1981

Costco fills totes up of all the returned items and sells them to who ever will buy it all at about 50% off

Used to be a liquidator in Calgary that bought it all and would get a delivery every week (usally 6-10 skids of returns a week per store)

You can't pick and choose, you take it all or nothing

I used to work in trucking and would pickup and deliver the skids

The guys at the liquidation would make money sometimes and sometimes brake even, all depends what people returned, can be quite a gamble

Now Costco sends most of their products that they can send out legally to an auction place near Saskatoon.

[HalfBreed]

I've been thinking of having a table explaining the tax dollars used to make the outdoors a better place when all I need is to have a table of reduced wares. Jk.

Tax dollars matter.

[ghostguy6]

Originally Posted by tri777

Canadian Tire actually has a little section dedicated shelf of returns,
missing pieces/ or parts of the returned/damaged item & states right
on the package what is wrong & has reduced the price because of it's condition.

I was dumb enough to buy one of their Huskavarna chainsaws once. You know the ones that are now made in China When it would start after 15 minutes of trying and barely stay running I returned it. I watched the kid put it right back on the shelf so sell to some other sucker. No mention or it being returned, defective or any price reduction. They did however put a new seal on the box.

[Masterchief]

I went thru a stint of Canadian Tire stuff where half of everything I bought was previously opened, some was ok, but some were missing parts or didn't work, this really made me angry, so now I inspect every box before I make a purchase. At one point I went thru half a pallet before I could find one that was not previously opened.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by Masterchief

I went thru a stint of Canadian Tire stuff where half of everything I bought was previously opened, some was ok, but some were missing parts or didn't work, this really made me angry, so now I inspect every box before I make a purchase. At one point I went thru half a pallet before I could find one that was not previously opened.

I had this happen with at least one product which had obviously been returned and not inspected by store staff, it was missing a major piece, though I can't remember which store that was. Another time I had purchased an enameled cast iron Dutch oven at Canadian Tire as a gift and when that was opened it turned out to have a lot of enamel flaked off. I returned that and had an employee join me as I wanted to open a box to ensure the enamel was intact and we had to go through perhaps a dozen or more to find one that was OK, and then I was quite leery of the enamel quality. It was probably crappy enamel and a forklift was handling the pallet roughly in -35 weather. And the trucker went off-roading. That shipment of Kitchen Aid pots was an absolute disaster, I can't imagine how many returns they'd have had after that Christmas.

[hayseed]

Lol ....
Here's a gooder. I'm not much of a scotch drinker, don't mind the odd snort though.
Was my cousin Scooters birthday, so popped into Superstore liquor store to find a nice fairly expensive bottle of scotch.

So picked one out,was like hundred bucks or whatever, was some years back....
One of those bottles that come in the round cardboard case with lid....

Long story short, went for a bday shot, inside was like a bottle of rotgut old crow bourbon or crap booze of some sort..... someone pulled the old switcharoo and I waaaaay overpaid for liquid to clean up paint brushes. Lol...

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by Masterchief

I went thru a stint of Canadian Tire stuff where half of everything I bought was previously opened, some was ok, but some were missing parts or didn't work, this really made me angry, so now I inspect every box before I make a purchase. At one point I went thru half a pallet before I could find one that was not previously opened.

exactly my point on the scotch reply yep. Look at every purchase now!!