But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Amazondumps or destroysreturned itemsone UK warehousemarks 130,000 items as ‘destroy’ every week.
Meanwhile, buyers use the generous returns policies of online shopping as a kind of try-before-you-buy option.
Bench Accounting / Unsplash
Knowing the consequences, is it ethical to buy just to test something and then send it back?
Return to Sender
Online shopping is extremely convenient, especially if you work from home.
“B-stock shopping should be the norm.
Claudio Schwarz / Unsplash
It’s good for the environment and prevents the store from suffering losses as well.”
And the easy returns, as Smarty’s Porwal says, are part of the appeal.
With Amazon, you drop the parcel at the post office and let them scan your return QR code.
That results, he says, in almost 6 billion pounds of landfill waste every year.
And yet Amazon now offers aTry Before You Buyservice to Prime members.
Clothing arrives with a pre-paid return label, and you just send back what you don’t want.
B-Stock and Open Box
The answer is to resell those returned items.
you could return for any reason and pay nothing (spending on where you are in the world).
Claudio Schwarz / Unsplash
In Thomann’s case, B-stock has no stigma or worry attached.
In fact, it’s the opposite.
B-stock is seen as a way to save hundreds of dollars without the risk of buying used.
And this kind of confidence is essential.
And they’re up against other challenges, too.
According toa report fromthe National Retail Federation, more than 10% of returns in 2021 were fraudulent.
And yet the savings could be worth it.
Returns added up to $761 billion in lost sales last year.
“B-stock shopping should be the norm.
“Shoppers also get the option of saving their money on these items.
There’s no reason buying open-box or b-stock items should have any sort of taboo or stigma attached.
In fact, environmental groups should encourage buyers to go for these products.”
