The holiday season can be a time for joy and celebration, but what happens when you receive a gift that you don’t like or want to return? Unfortunately, it could end up in a warehouse auction, once the store’s return and exchange period has elapsed.
When you shop in-store or online, retailers will usually reserve the right to dispose of or otherwise resell any item that’s brought back after their return window has passed. Many big-box stores will keep the item in stock, as if nothing had happened. But for others, the item will make its way to a warehouse auction facility. From there, the item is sold off to the highest bidder, while the store pockets the proceeds of the sale.
What this means is that, if you intend to return a gift, it’s important to ensure you do it in a timely fashion to avoid the item ending up in an auction warehouse. If you’re unable to return the item to the store, then it’s better to donate it to a charity or other organization, rather than have the store send the item off to be auctioned off at an unknown location.
By returning the gift in a timely manner, you can put the item back into circulation and the store can recoup some of its expenses associated with stocking the product. After all, shops would rather sell items directly to customers than to have to pay resale fees to auction off a returned item.
All things considered, the best way to handle returning unwanted items is to exchange them before the store’s return period ends. If not, then donating the item is your next best bet, before it ends up at an auction warehouse.
