What happens to the gifts you return to the store after the holiday season? – KHOU.com

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HOUSTON — Presents are making their way out from under the tree and into the return pile in a post-holiday rush to give back what doesn’t fit or isn’t wanted.
But what happens to all those returns?
You may return those items to retail stores, but oftentimes they don’t make it back onto the rack. Stores will sell or consign merchandise by the truckload to companies like sliBuy.com, an online auction company that also operates a deeply discounted dig store and fixed-price warehouse sale in Shorewood, Illinois.
“Probably the strangest thing I’ve ever seen is a full-size hot tub come off the back of a truck,” sliBuy.com CEO Steve Fitzgerald said.
His company buys what retail stores don’t want to restock.
“A lot of cases, things get returned and there might be box damage, or missing screws, or missing directions,” Fitzgerald said. “And retailers really want to protect their customer experience and they want that to be perfect.”
Once processed, items ranging in condition from slightly imperfect to pristine go up for bids.
“It’s anywhere from 50% to 90% off of regular retail,” Fitzgerald said. “Everything starts at $1. There’s no reserve price and the market determines what it’s worth.”
Braidwood, Illinois, resident Josh Comer has snapped up hundreds of deals from sliBuy.com, spending more than $50,000 in his first year of bidding. He said he resells most items and keeps a few things for his kids.
Other shoppers, like Edward Ware, take advantage of warehouse finds in the massive, 140-thousand-square-foot space.
“You find a little bit of everything out here,” Ware said.
The reverse-logistics ecosystem, as it’s called, is mindful of both the planet and the pocketbook.
“It’s affordable, and in these times, that’s what people need,” Ware said.
More online shopping in recent years has increased return volume. According to the National Retail Federation, $102 billion worth of online orders were returned in 2020. That number more than doubled to $218 billion last year.
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