Germany Pushes For eCommerce Returns To Be Resold Or Donated

In an effort to regulate eCommerce merchandise returns, a proposal is set to be put forward in Germany that aims to cut back on the quantity of unwanted products that are destroyed. The environmental ministry is reportedly visiting various eCommerce merchants in order to gain a sense of how many returned goods are thrown out, Bloomberg reported.

Stephan Haufe, a spokesperson for the environmental ministry, said per the report, “The goal is very clear: return goods must be either be resold or donated.” And Haufe noted that rendering a product useless should be “the absolute last option.” The news comes after it was reported earlier this year that the holiday season, for instance, brings in a staggering number of returns for eCommerce sales.

Some of those unwanted products, however, do end up in the hands of entrepreneurs who scour auction and liquidation websites for items such as televisions, routers and printers. These sellers then reportedly list these items back on the websites of online retailers to offer up for a profit. Consumers can visit sites such as Liquidation.com to buy lots of items, which works with big eCommerce and brick-and-mortar retailers to combine returns into pallets and boxes that are sold at a deep discount.

The manager of the company’s Garland, Texas warehouse said per previous reports that the offerings are full of surprises: “You don’t know what you’re going to get, and you’re pretty sure there’s something there you’re going to like. You just don’t know what it is yet.” Products arrive in warehouses — like Liquidation.com’s Texas location — by the truckload.

However, other items are salvage goods or so-called shelf-pulls: They are items that are surplus or have become obsolete by something new and improved. Even so, the manager said that 28 percent of all gifts bought during the holidays last year were returned and created “a gold mine of inventory for our buyers, and of course at great prices.”