posted on September 2, 2001 04:41:00 PM
Okay, here goes:
<complain>
I just started in the business of selling store returns. There are many on eBay, and I am sure many here at AW who do this. I have found some of these "store returns" to be outrageous!
I had a box of 50 ink cartridges. Of those 50, 48 had been opened, used, and returned as "dried out".
I had approx. 100 pair of car speakers. Of those 100 pair, approx. 35 pair were speakers that someone had torn out of their auto and returned.
I had a boombox. This boombox was so beat up that it was no wonder that half the functions no longer worked! It had paint spilled on it, and half the buttons were missing!
I can't believe some of the nerve that consumers have! This is outright stealing! I am sure they think, "Nobody is getting hurt. It is a big chain store. They can afford it." What they don't realize is that people like me are purchasing those returns to clean up and resell.
I would go as far as to call this blatant fraud. Shame on you, Mr. Consumer, for doing this shameful thing!
posted on September 2, 2001 05:21:44 PM
how do the stores allow these consumers to return the items??
are you sure they are not junks the seller of these returns put into the lot themselves from salvage ??
after xams,dept stores have to brace all kind of returns,some will make their own clothes and sew on macy label and return for some money>>
please tell us your ebay id so we wont bid on your items.
posted on September 2, 2001 05:30:57 PMplease tell us your ebay id so we wont bid on your items.
Jeez! How nice of you!
No, these are not just "junks the seller of these returns put into the lot themselves from salvage". These are ACTUAL STORE RETURNS with return tags on them. This is not an issue of who I am purchasing my items from. This is an issue of consumers returning USED items to stores.
FYI, I thoroughly test my items to make sure they function properly, and junk all items that do not, so the items I am selling are quality items, UNLIKE SOME OTHER SELLERS who are selling these types of items "untested"
posted on September 2, 2001 05:46:56 PM
Beanie Baby buyers were the worst when it came to bogus store returns.
The would buy beanies at several different stores and sometimes the secondary market and then return them to nordstroms if they couldn't unload them elsewhere.
posted on September 2, 2001 05:52:19 PM
My question would be: are you making enough money on the stuff that *IS* good to balance what you paid for the load. Perhaps you need to find a better supplier?
I applaud your courage in tackling the "selling returned loads" business. I don't think I could do it, I'd be too afraid of getting a load of totally worthless junk.
I sell a lot on designer clothes and shop often at a outlet in my area.
They get a lot of returns, and most of them are marked, 'dry cleaned'. They usually look fine.
I found one dress, however, and first of all I couldn't believe the customer had the nerve to return it and secondly the store had the nerve to put it on the floor!
It was a sleeveless silk dress with VERY obvious, VERY large, and VERY DARK perspiration (sp?) stains in the underarm area!
posted on September 2, 2001 06:26:46 PM
It's true. Some people do use items and return them later when they need money for whatever. Or more often, they can't get a cash refund (no receipt) so they exchange it for new merchandise.
I was returning an electric cooler to Walmart once because it quit working. Ahead of me in the line was a couple that were returning obviously used boots that were dirty. Heck, they had mud caked on the soles. I kid you not. Very nervy.
Walmart took those boots in exhange. If I would have been that store's manager they would have been taking those boots back home.
I said it before rewassago. What you're trying to do is too scary for me. I want to hand pick my merchandise and know what I'm getting. Heck, even by hand picking the merchandise I occasionally make a mistake. But hopefully, just a bare minimum of mistakes.
posted on September 2, 2001 08:29:22 PM
one time i bot a deep fryer and used it to fry bean curd.
since i dont do much frying,they dont turn out nice and crisp like restuarant ones.
i drained most of the oil and returned the fryer to the store,the clerk cheerfully accepted the return and we both cussed the manufacturer for a lousy product.'
i hope you did not find my fryer in your lot.
posted on September 2, 2001 08:33:03 PM
Wow, more responses than I expected, so I will take them one by one:
roofguy said: I'd suggest that your vendor has stuck it to you, and sells the "good stuff" to customers who can return them.
The items I am purchasing were purchased by the pallet. They were items that were returned to a major NATIONAL store chain. When the company I purchased them through sold them to me, they warned me that approx. 30% of the items are "damaged goods". I expected it, and it appears that this is what I got. I just didn't expect that they would be damaged in that way (from months or even years of use). My vendor does not "cherry pick" the lots as many suppliers do. That is one of the reasons I went through this company.
wbbell said: My question would be: are you making enough money on the stuff that *IS* good to balance what you paid for the load.
I don't know yet. That is one I can't answer till the dust settles and all the payments are in. So far, every item has sold except for one, and most of them have sold between $30-$100. I have had 3 deadbeats (that I am aware of). I really can't answer that question until all the merchandise is gone, and I calculate all my eBay fees. I am keeping tight records, since this is my first shot at this.
capotasto said: Gee, maybe you have found the reason you can buy this stuff from the stores for so cheap.
There is really nothing cheap about this. I have several thousand dollars invested in this currently, and when I am up and running full time (if everything works out and I show a decent profit), I will be investing approx. $6500 PER WEEK just in purchasing the items I sell. That is BEFORE eBay fees, shipping supplies, storage, etc.
posted on September 2, 2001 10:20:32 PM
It makes me really angry too. I used to be a retail store manager at a store where the customer "was always right". I'd have at least one return per month that would leave me steaming mad. (But, it is worth noting that most people are honest and honorable.)
What makes me even more upset is that after these returns take place, the retailers will often turn around and charge back the manufacturers. (with clothing especially.) That is one of many reasons why it is so hard to be a clothing manufacturer in this country. Profit margins for manufacturers are often very low to start with.
And people wonder why so much manufacturing has gone offshore, and why there are fewer and fewer jobs here...
posted on September 3, 2001 12:52:46 AM
rewassago,
Apparently you've never had your own store or ever worked retail. The things you're talking about are common and well-known to anyone who's ever clerked a store.
I grew up working my parents' fabric store, and 30 years later I still distinctly remember women returning fabric slashed with scissors (which they had mistakenly cut in the wrong place, rendering it useless for their needs)....or returning half-used spools of thread or cut-up patterns or garments they'd made, worn, and stained (claiming the fabric was stained when they bought it). My mother always told us to refund but she sure didn't LIKE to---because we ate the loss.
Some items, like Sears tools which carry a lifetime warranty, can justifiably be returned to the store long after being purchased and used, but most things can't. There are always a few bad apples in every barrel---and retail stores have to factor the losses from fraudulent returns in when pricing their merchandise, just like they factor in shoplifting and breakage.
Everyone who's ever clerked has stories to tell---some that would make your hair stand on end.
posted on September 3, 2001 04:42:23 AM
Ok, I'll 'fess up. I did this about 10 years ago (maybe more). I bought a printer for about $400. The stupid thing started acting up about 24 hours after I could have returned it for a refund. I really felt ripped off, so I went and bought an identical one and returned the one-month-old one.
Did I know I was technically cheating? Yes. Did I feel guilty? No.
I know there are people who leave tags on clothes so they can return them. And people who take advantage of stores with no-questions-asked return policies. I don't do that. But presented with a situation like the above, I'd probably do the same thing.
Good luck to you on your new venture! I'm interested how it works out for you.
posted on September 3, 2001 06:21:37 AM
i have been noticing good quality items with no defects are harder to find on ebay these days??
are more and more sellers turning to sell used,defective,seconds,returns ??
can you still make money selling mint in box quality items?are there any customers out there who want nice quality items mint in box,not returns,seconds,defective,stained,chipped,cracked,used etc
posted on September 3, 2001 06:46:26 AM
To be honest, I don't think that bidders want to pay the "brand new" price that new items require. They can do that many other places other than eBay. They are looking for a deal.
posted on September 3, 2001 07:17:06 AM
the problem with such deals is that they are often disenchanted with what they receive.hence there are so much squabbles on ebay.
read the thread on buying laptops from romanian dealers and used car salesman
posted on September 3, 2001 07:34:45 AM
I still think there's a market for both. I have a few NIB, NWT items for the holiday season. But these are things I can sell below retail (even w/shipping) and still make a nice profit.
As to cracks, chips, and stains - yuk. Nice second hand items are fine and I enjoy buying and selling them.
A good source for NIB/NWT items: just married folks who got duplicates as wedding presents.
But, I'm just a small seller trying to make a little more than my bills each month. I'm not as ambitious as some folks. A pallet of inventory would probably overwhelm me.
posted on September 3, 2001 07:43:06 AM
pallet of inventory and 6500 dollars a week,thats big business in my book!!
plus time to sort things out,clean and test them.
if you are willing to plough so much time and money in,why not be a regular retailer and contact some reputable wholesalers for their merchandise?
posted on September 3, 2001 08:09:36 AMif you are willing to plough so much time and money in,why not be a regular retailer and contact some reputable wholesalers for their merchandise?
First of all, as I have said countless times in this thread, my supplier is reputable. Some of the people returning items to these stores are the ones who are not.
Second of all, this is the type of business I have decided to go into, and I am willing to take the risks involved (which includes getting these "returns" that people have fraudulently brought back to stores). This thread was just a "gripe" of the less than honest intentions of some consumers who defraud major store chains.
posted on September 3, 2001 10:18:15 AMMy vendor does not "cherry pick" the lots as many suppliers do. That is one of the reasons I went through this company.
posted on September 3, 2001 10:57:55 AM
reputable supplier who does not cherrypick,he just sent you pallets of returns ,many of them are dried up ink cartridges,items used over a year ,boombox which is all ripped apart??
6500 for pallets of returned goods,good luck!!
posted on September 3, 2001 10:59:41 AM
then,some of us do enjoy going through pile of junks looking for a nice surprise,all that suapense,you never know what you will find,it is like xmas without that HAPPY!!
posted on September 3, 2001 11:30:58 AMyou never know what you will find,it is like xmas without that HAPPY!!
And that was kind of the point of my question. If he paid $6500 for a load and sold the good stuff for $13000, then what a great deal, and who cares about the junk.
That is why selling unseen loads is not for the faint of heart - you know there will be some unusable stuff on there. THat's the nature of the business. But what % of it will be good stuff is the clincher. And I really think that depends on the supplier and I hope revvassago continues to have success with his current one.
posted on September 3, 2001 11:49:34 AM
true,no cherry picking from the supplier could mean feast or famine.
but then if a supplier continues to pass on junks without cherry picking,prices will have to come down else he will have no customer left.
but on must factor in the hours of work involved in sorting out the good ones-testing and cleaning,time is money,so that time should be factored into his profit,i think this is a she.
i sell mostly new items,they come from all over ,reputable makers and dealers and they dont really become dated,so unless i break them or damage them in storage,i can sleep well at nite as they will sell someday,worse is i break even and get my capital back and move on to something else.
lower manhatten is packed with stores with returns,symms is very popular clothing store for working women
posted on September 3, 2001 12:00:09 PM
I have been down this Store return pallets road my self. While sometimes you can do very well, I have found from the store to the supplier of theses pallets,there are enought crooks along the way that this game is like playing the lottery.I hate trying to guess why the customer really returned the item,alot of times its hard to determine if the item is really good or bad.And with the case of Baby pallets,you can be sued for selling any item which has had a recall on it.I will stick to buying new items from a wholesaler, I get to pick the items and can get my money back if a customer returns them to me.I feel more like I KNOW what I am selling.
posted on September 3, 2001 01:41:06 PM
I thoroughly test all my electronics prior to listing. I know what works and what doesn't. 9 times out of 10 the non working items are tossed in the trash. The 1 time out of 10 that they aren't, they are listed as non-working.
My vendor does not sell items individually, therefore has no reason to cherry pick. For example, they purchase 10 truckloads of electronics from XXXXXX major chain store, then sell 5 truckloads by the entire load, and 5 loads by the pallet. They break the truckload down into pallets, and ship it out.
I can also purchase items by the lot, which includes a manifest from the original Chain Store of what is in the lot. Most of these sell for 1/3 of wholesale price.
Why do the chain stores do this? Simple. They don't want to clutter their shelves with items that they cannot legally sell as new. They aren't in the business of selling used merchandise, so they sell it bulk to others. Sometimes they put out a few of the higher priced items, but if they don't sell within a week or two, they get shipped off to one of my suppliers, and then I purchase from them.
I have found items that sell for several hundred dollars in my pallets. I have found items that sell for less than a dollar. The key to doing this is testing, testing, testing. I know of one seller on eBay who is selling the EXACT same items I am (from the same chain store), and they sell everything as NON-WORKING. Their ending prices generally are half of what mine are.
posted on September 3, 2001 03:05:14 PM
so we are back to the business of TIME IS MONEY.
how much is your time worth,if you factor in your time and the test equipment deployed,you should get higher prices.once you established a good reputation that you sell returns tested to be working,people will bid with confidence.
where do you put all that stuff and do you get help??
