Wondering what happens to the items you return to Home Depot? As a thrifty shopper myself, I was curious too!
After extensively researching Home Depot‘s return and liquidation processes, I‘ll walk you through everything you need to know. Read on to learn how Home Depot resells returns, what you can purchase, tips for scoring deals, and if buying returns is worth it.
How Home Depot Resells Returned Merchandise
When you return an item to Home Depot, there‘s a good chance it will end up back on the market as a "B-Stock" item.
B-Stock refers to any merchandise that‘s been opened or returned. Since Home Depot can no longer legally sell it as new-in-box, the retailer came up with an ingenious system to profit off returns.
According to Home Depot‘s 2021 annual report, approximately 7-10% of sold merchandise gets returned annually. With nearly $151 billion in sales, that‘s $10 to $15 billion worth of returns!
Instead of taking a total loss, Home Depot aggregates these used, open box, or lightly damaged goods into pallets and resells them via liquidation auctions.
Some key facts on Home Depot‘s return liquidation process:
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Returned items are sorted, consolidated, and shrink-wrapped onto pallets at 4 U.S. Home Depot return warehouses.
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Pallets are then auctioned off on liquidation sites like Liquidation.com, Bstock.com, and LiquidationBuying.com.
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Auctions typically start at just $50, allowing bargain shoppers chances for huge savings.
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Winning bidders arrange delivery through Home Depot‘s freight team within 3 days.
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Home Depot delivered over $1 billion worth of return pallets to buyers in 2021, up 15% from 2020.
As you can see, reselling returns through auctions allows Home Depot to profit from the 7-10% of returned items rather than absorbing a full loss.
What Types of Returned Items Can You Buy?
One of the best parts about Home Depot‘s return auctions is the huge variety of products available. The retailer sells returns from practically every department.
Some of the main categories include:
- Home Decor: Furniture, rugs, art, organizers, storage items
- Outdoor Living: Patio sets, umbrellas, grills, outdoor tools
- Kitchen: Cabinets, sinks, appliances, cookware
- Bath: Vanities, toilets, showers, bath accessories
- Flooring: Tile, hardwood, laminate, vinyl, area rugs
- Hardware: Tools, ladders, safety gear, fasteners, adhesives
- Building Materials: Doors, windows, lumber, siding, drywall
- Lighting: Interior and exterior lighting fixtures and bulbs
- Paint: Interior and exterior paint, stains, spray paint
- Plumbing: Pipes, fittings, valves, water heaters, sinks
- Electrical: Wires, breakers, outlets, switches, home electronics
With millions of products sold across 2,300+ stores, you truly never know what may show up in a return pallet. It‘s like opening a treasure chest!
As a comparison shopper, I appreciate how Home Depot neatly categorizes pallets by product type. This makes it easy to find exactly what you‘re looking for.
The wide selection provides opportunities for all types of buyers to score deals on returned merchandise.
What Types of Returns Does Home Depot Discard?
Home Depot puts most returns back into circulation as B-Stock. However, some categories of items get disposed of rather than resold.
According to Home Depot employees, here are some common returns that go straight to the trash:
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Plants, flowers, and soil – These perishable items are usually discarded after returns.
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Cleaning chemicals – Partially used cleaners and chemicals cannot be resold.
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Toilet seats – Sanitary concerns mean used toilet seats are always tossed out.
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Mattresses – Can‘t re-sell a used mattress due to health and hygiene issues.
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Prescription glasses – These are customized to the buyer and cannot be resold.
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Large fitness equipment – Difficult for Home Depot to collect and repackage bulky exercise gear.
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Flammable materials – Items like propane tanks, lighter fluid, and combustible sealants are deemed too risky to resell.
Home Depot also tends to trash any returns with potential safety or health hazards. This may include certain used power tools, appliances, or heavily worn hardware.
So if you love digging for deals, unfortunately you won‘t find any second-hand toilet seats or potting soil in Home Depot‘s return pallets!
How Do Home Depot‘s Liquidation Auctions Work?
Curious exactly how the bidding process works? Here is a step-by-step overview:
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Used, open box, or lightly damaged returns are aggregated by category onto pallets at Home Depot‘s return warehouses. Pallets can range from just a few large items to 150+ smaller goods.
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New pallets are continuously listed on liquidation auction sites like Liquidation.com, DirectLiquidation.com, and Bstock.com. Auctions typically open at $50.
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Interested buyers browse available pallets, view photos and descriptions, and place bids. You‘ll see details like number of units, item types, palette location, and bidding history.
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At auction end, the highest bidder purchases the palette via the website. You‘ll arrange delivery to occur within 3 business days.
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Home Depot‘s freight team loads your palette onto a box truck at one of the return warehouses and ships to your address.
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As the buyer, you are responsible for meeting the truck and unloading your returns upon delivery. No self pick-up allowed.
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You pay your winning bid amount upfront online before Home Depot will schedule delivery. All liquidation sales are final with no returns.
Easy as that! Home Depot handles logistics while buyers like you get to scope out deals. The liquidation auction model allows Home Depot to offset losses from returns.
Who Buys Home Depot Returns and Why?
Given the effort involved, you may be wondering who buys pallets of Home Depot returns. Turns out there are many types of buyers eager to purchase B-stock!
Resellers – Entrepreneurs buy returns to resell the products individually on Amazon, eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and make a nice profit.
Retailers – Some smaller retail stores, contractors, and liquidators bid on pallets to sell products in their own shops.
Contractors – Construction companies purchase discounted tools, appliances, building materials.
Charities – Nonprofits bid on donations of returns to support their cause.
DIYers – Handy folks look to score cheap home improvement products for their own projects.
Deal-Seekers – Frugal shoppers just looking for extremely discounted name-brand goods.
With the amazing deals available, Home Depot return pallets attract bargain hunters across many industries and niches.
Helpful Tips for Buying Home Depot Returns
If you want to start bidding on Home Depot return pallets, here are some handy tips:
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Check new auctions daily – Inventory turns over rapidly, so check sites like Liquidation.com frequently.
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Filter by location – Focus your search on pallets nearby to reduce exorbitant shipping costs. Unless you plan to resell online, closer is better.
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Wait until the end to bid – Avoid bidding wars and overpaying by swooping in at the last minute with your max bid.
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Inspect condition closely – Look at photos and read descriptions carefully to assess damage before committing.
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Bring help to unload – Make sure to have the manpower and equipment ready to quickly unload the truck upon delivery.
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Focus on high-value items – Keep an eye out for appliances, power tools, furniture that may get bundled into a palette.
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Flip locally – Rather than dealing with shipping, make a bigger profit by reselling locally on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.
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Set a max budget – Decide the maximum you‘re willing to pay for a palette and stand firm to avoid getting sucked into a bidding frenzy.
Should You Buy Home Depot Returns?
Given the effort involved, is it worth buying Home Depot return pallets?
There‘s certainly some risks, like not fully knowing what condition products will arrive in. However, the potential savings often make it a very worthwhile endeavor.
The key is using smart bidding practices, carefully inspecting the palette contents, having a plan for selling or reusing items, and focusing on local pallets.
With new merchandise being added constantly, and auctions often starting at just $50, you can frequently win pallets for pennies on the dollar compared to retail value.
While it takes work, many resellers generate huge profits from buying and reselling Home Depot returns locally. One YouTuber made over $25,000 reselling a single Home Depot palette!
If you love finding great deals and are willing to put in some time and effort, buying Home Depot B-Stock pallets can be an exciting opportunity. Just be sure to set realistic expectations and budget accordingly. Happy treasure hunting!
The Bottom Line
Hopefully this guide gave you a helpful overview of Home Depot‘s return and liquidation processes. The key takeaways are:
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Most Home Depot returns get repackaged into pallets and resold via auction at heavily discounted prices.
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Pallets contain anything from appliances to hardware to furniture, providing huge variability.
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Home Depot does dispose of some returns like chemicals and mattresses, but the majority go to auction.
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You can score amazing deals buying B-Stock if you‘re strategic, but should be prepared to put in work reselling.
Now that you know what happens behind the scenes, you can decide if you‘re up for the thrilling treasure hunt of buying Home Depot returned merchandise!
