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The Painful, Costly Journey of Returned Goods -- and How You End Up Purchasing Some of Them Again (cnbc.com)
Buyers return a huge number of packages they buy from Amazon and other e-commerce sites, so much so that retailers are sometimes left with little choice but to get rid of large swaths of inventory at a cost. Last year, customers in the U.S. returned about $351 billion worth of items that they had purchased from brick-and-mortar retailers and online stores, according to estimates by National Retail Federation. CNBC: There's a good chance that the $100 printer, the $300 wide-screen monitor, or the $170 router you recently bought from Amazon weren't supplied to the e-commerce giant by their original manufacturers. In fact, the order may have been fulfilled by someone like Casey Parris, who resells items that customers previously returned to retailers. Based in Florida, Parris spends about five hours each day visiting thrift stores and scanning auction and liquidation websites for interesting items, he told CNBC. Sometimes he finds auto parts, other times it's a pair of sneakers, and occasionally he purchases printer cartridges -- all with the goal of reselling them.
Walter Blake, who lives in Michigan, does the same. For years, he's been selling electronic items on Amazon that he acquires from a network of places. Blake and Parris are part of a growing cottage industry where dealers acquire discarded items at very low prices, only to resell some of them back on Amazon and eBay at a premium.
Walter Blake, who lives in Michigan, does the same. For years, he's been selling electronic items on Amazon that he acquires from a network of places. Blake and Parris are part of a growing cottage industry where dealers acquire discarded items at very low prices, only to resell some of them back on Amazon and eBay at a premium.
4-If the item is listed as refurbished, any batteries must have been replaced with brand new batteries...if not, its USED, not refurbished!
I used to buy refurbished products but I don't anymore. Refurbished doesn't always mean refurbished anymore. Quite frequently used products are sold as refurbished. Unless it is refurbished by the manufacturer itself, I don't trust that Refurbished actually means Refurbished.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
No, you didn't purchase these "from Amazon". You purchased them "through Amazon". That's referring to an independent seller.
As far as Amazon direct sales, they are transparent about it. Returns are sold through their own refurb department. (I think they have just rebranded this "Amazon Renewed"?) I have purchased several items and all were good deals in great condition. They disclose in advance anything cosmetic defect, missing item, etc. with photos. It is usually no more than a cosmetic defect to the BOX.
I bought a high-end garbage disposer that had a scratch on the bottom. I really don't care if the plumber's eyes are offended by the scratch. ;)
Usually I get new items if the seller is Amazon. But occasionally even Amazon will sell you a used item as new. Maybe it's because they made a mistake, or because they inventory items from 3rd party sellers who are less scrupulous, and you got that one. If I get a used item from Amazon that I purchased as new, I give Amazon customer service a choice. I will return it for a new item, or they can knock the price down to the used price listed on their site. This is of course assuming it is just an open box and not damaged item.
Wow, you're a shitty person!
That's not the complaint. It's fine reselling it. But reselling it as *new* is fraud.
I don't mind buying refurbished stuff either if it's marked and priced accordingly.
** IF ** it's marked and priced accordingly.
That's the problem. Too much deliberate fraud. Too many used/damaged/refurbished things being sold (and priced) as new.
I wouldn't buy a used hammer. What possible reason could someone have for returning it other than it was defective?
They found their other hammer that they thought they lost in that one drawer in the garage that they didn't check because why would it be in there?
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
I'm probably from a different country, so I don't know how these things work, but can you do that without paying postage, and do these shipping boxes fit in a typical post box?
It's called "Reply Paid", "Business Reply Mail", "Freepost", or even "International Business Reply Service", and exists in several countries. More information is on Wikipedia: Freepost.
In general, being able to return items without paying postage depends on where you live and who you bought the item from, but it certainly does exist. In the Netherlands, where I live, it's part of the competitive advantage of webshops: next day delivery is so ubiquitous that not having that actually means you lose customers, so your return policy becomes m ore important.