Where returned items actually go

January is peak return season. Maybe you got holiday gifts that weren’t quite right, or you’re just clearing out the things you over-ordered. But where does all that stuff actually go?

In this episode, Deputy Editor Annemarie Conte walks us through her investigation into the hidden world of returns. For her reporting, she bought a 450-pound, six-foot-tall pallet of returned goods to see what really happens to the items people send back. She explains how the secondary market works, why so many returned goods never make it back on shelves, and the pure chaos she found inside her return pallet.

This episode covers: 

• Why returns don’t always go back on shelves. Items may be reshelved, sent to clearance, or liquidated for pennies on the dollar. Annemarie describes what actually happens inside return centers, including Amazon’s claim that all returns are inspected—something her pallet contents cast doubt on. 
• The size and growth of the secondary market. Nearly 16% of retail sales were returned in 2025—about $849.9 billion worth of goods. Annemarie walks through how these items trickle down into liquidation warehouses, bin stores, flea markets, and discount shops. 
• What a pallet of returned goods actually looks like. Annemarie explains how she bought a 450-pound pallet of returns containing 430 packages and 582 individual items, including 68 pounds of pure trash. She breaks down the categories of what ends up on pallets—unclaimed mail, overstock, returned goods—and why so much of it is “excess” that never gets resold. 
• How fraud shows up in the returns pipeline. From boxes filled with rocks to pallets layered  with junk on the bottom, Annemarie explains how both retailers and resellers get scammed—and why the whole ecosystem is vulnerable to bad actors.
• How to be a more thoughtful online shopper. Annemarie shares simple ways to reduce unnecessary returns like reading product descriptions closely, checking one-star reviews, and pausing before buying multiples just to try them on. She also emphasizes that some categories (like plus-size clothing) still require online shopping, and returns aren’t a moral failure.

Additional reading:

• We Bought a 450-Pound Mystery Pallet Packed With Returned Goods From Amazon and Beyond. Here’s What We Found Inside.
• We Sent Ralph Nader Some of Our Favorite Pens. He Dismissed Them All.
• Ralph Nader Has a Pencil Eraser Problem. We Investigated.

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The Wirecutter Show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel.Engineering support from Maddy Masiello and Nick Pitman. Episodes are mixed by Catherine Anderson, Efim Shapiro, Rowan Niemisto, Sophia Lanman, and Sonia Herrero. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Elisheba Ittoop, and Diane Wong. Wirecutter’s deputy publisher and general manager is Cliff Levy. Ben Frumin is Wirecutter’s editor-in-chief. Hosted by Rosie Guerin, Caira Blackwell and Christine Cyr Clisset.

Find edited transcripts for each episode here: The Wirecutter Show Podcast