What does it really happen to them?

Returning an online order has never been easier.It is often free for the customer, some retailers even allowing customers to keep the item while offering a full refund.

Amazon returns can be placed at Kohl’s, UPS or Whole Foods without packing it or even printing a label.

But there is a darker side with a record number of returns flooding the warehouses after the holidays.

"Of all these returns, there are now nearly 6 billion pounds of landfill generated by year and 16 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions as well," said Tobin Moore, VSEO of the solutions providerBack Optoro."It is the equivalent of waste produced by 3.3 million Americans in one year.»»

Moore claims that online purchases are at least three times more likely to be returned than items purchased in a store.In 2021, a record of $ 761 billion in goods was returned, according to estimates of a new report from the National Retail Federation.

This report indicates that 10.3 % of these declarations were fraudulent.Meanwhile, Amazon third -party sellers told VSNBVS that they ended up throwing around a third of the returned items.

« Quelqu’un doit payer pour ça»», a déclaré Micah VSlausen, qui vend des fournitures de fête et des articles pour la maison sur Amazon dans un magasin tiers nommé Iconique."He falls back either on Amazon or on the third party seller.It follows from their results and inevitably increases the prices.»»

UPS provides that the 2021 holiday season will see a 10% increase in returns compared to the period of the previous year, which results in more waste - and expenses - for all online retailers.

At the head of the peloton, Amazon is the subject of increasing criticism concerning the destruction of millions of articles.Maintenant, le géant du commerce électronique dit qu’il « travaille vers un objectif de zéro produit à jeter»».Last year, he launched new programs to give sellers like VSlausen new options to resell returns or send them at auction on the liquidation market.

Meredith Diggs, head of consumer marketing at Liquidity Services, explains a way in which electronic commerce has standardized purchasing habits that lead to more feedback.

« Armoire [is] où les gens commandent la même chose dans trois tailles différentes pour voir laquelle convient, puis ils retournent les deux autres, sans se rendre compte que la plupart du temps, ces deux autres ne reviennent pas sur les étagères de ce détaillant»», a déclaré Diggs.

« Des catégories comme les vêtements voient des taux de retour vraiment très élevés dans les 10 %»», a ajouté Raunak Nirmal, qui travaillait chez Amazon et dirige maintenant un agrégateur Amazon.Acquo, with more than 40 third party brands.Its return rate is closer to 3 %.

« S’il s’agit d’un nouveau produit, Amazon permettrait à ce produit d’être revendu sur la liste comme neuf, mais il doit vraiment être en parfait état pour que cela se produise et c’est plus rare que prévu, même si le client n’a pas utilisé le produit du tout»», a déclaré Nirmal.

When an item cannot be sold as new, Amazon offers the seller up to four options for what you need to return: each with costs: return to the seller, elimination liquidation or (by invitation only for the moment)Shipped by Amazon classification and resale.

With the return to the seller option, the return leaves Amazon's warehouse for several other stages on a truck, a plane or a cargo.He returns to the seller for subsequent treatment, then he can go to another Amazon warehouse for sorting and re -efficient, then to a new customer, who can always choose to return the article again.

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"You are essentially forced to decide if you wish to recall this inventory in your warehouse-which is an expensive process-to recondition it yourself, then send it back to a warehouse to sell it, which does not make sense, Iwould say 80 % to 90 % of the time. Ou vous pouvez choisir de vous en débarrasser»», a déclaré Nirmal.

Arrangement is a far too common fate for returns from most of the largest online retailers.Dans un communiqué, Amazon a déclaré à VSNBVS: « Aucun article n’est envoyé à la décharge.We work towards a goal of zero elimination of products and our priority is to resell, to make a donation to charities or to recycle unsold products.As a last resort, we will send the items to energy recovery, but we work hard to reduce to zero the number of times it happens.»»

La « récupération d’énergie»» signifie souvent qu’elle est brûlée.Under the terms of the American environmental protection agency, it is "the conversion of non -recyclable waste in heat, electricity or fuel usable by a variety of processes, including combustion, gasification, pyrolization,anaerobic digestion and the recovery of landfill.»»

« Honnêtement, ce qui m’a vraiment choqué, ce sont les objets que le système informatique vous dit de détruire»», a déclaré Shay Machen, un travailleur saisonnier dans un centre de retours d’Amazon dans le Mississippi."I brought back a book, it was a children's book, and the customer said he was broken on arrival and folded, and that was not the case.And no matter what I put in the system, he said to destroy the article.And that was a little heartbreaking.»»

Elimination of returns is a widespread practice in electronic commerce.Les marques de luxe comme Burberry a été critiqué dans le passé pour avoir brûlé des millions de marchandises invendues pour protéger leurs marques, une pratique Burberry a déclaré à VSNBVS qu’elle avait cessé en 2018. Une chaîne de télévision danoise a rapporté H&M brûlé 60 tonnes de vêtements neufs et invendus depuis 2013, une affirmation selon laquelle H&M a déclaré à VSNBVS était un malentendu.Un porte-parole de H&M a déclaré: « Les produits auxquels les médias ont fait référence avaient été affectés par la moisissure ou ne respectaient pas nos restrictions chimiques.»»Des réclamations similaires ont frappé Entraîneur, Pourvoiries urbaines, Michael Kors, le secret de Victoriaet JVS Penney.

« VS’est la chose la plus simple à faire et parfois certaines marques le font parce que, vous savez, elles veulent protéger leur marque et ne veulent pas d’articles de moindre valeur sur le marché»», a déclaré Moore.

VSertaines marques, comme Nikeont trouvé des moyens créatifs de recycler les retours, en les transformant en de nouveaux articles de valeur.

« VSertaines des chaussures qu’ils ne peuvent pas vendre pourraient finir par être broyées et transformées en chenilles»», a déclaré Moore."It takes energy to grind and transform objects into other objects.I think above all that if you can sell it in its original form, this is the best scenario for the environment.»»

Amazon has a series of programs intended to do exactly this.For some electronic devices such as Amazon devices, phones and video games, it gives customers the possibility to send them to a certified recycler or exchange them in for Amazon gift cards.And since 2019, its FBA donation program has allowed sellers to automatically offer eligible overstocks and returns to charitable groups via a non -profit network called Bon360.Amazon says more than 67 million articles have been given so far.

Amazon also announced two new relocation programs last year after the British broadcaster ITV reported that the company destroyed millions of articles such as televisions, laptops, drones and hair dryers in a British warehouse.

First, there is liquidation which now offers optional sellers rather than elimination.

Amazon and other large retailers combine with liquidation markets such as liquidity services and Bqui shares solutions put auction with the unwanted inventory to resellers at the palette or even full loading.

« Vous pouvez récupérer environ 5% de votre prix de vente si votre produit peut être liquidé»», a déclaré Nirmal."And at the end of the day, he will end up in the hands of someone who will be able to use it.

The creators of YouTube as Hope Allen built a suite by finding online offers, and the liquidation pallets have become a popular trend.Last year, she paid $ 575 for a palette of Amazon returns to liquidation.com supposedly worth almost $ 10,000 and unpacked it on its channel, where it spends hopeful.