My wife has been addicted to watching dumpster diving videos where people end up finding brand new expensive things thrown away by retailers. It made me remember reading somewhere that the reason they do this is because it’s cheaper for them to throw away or destroy their inventory than it is to give it away or sell at discount. HOW???
I don’t see how they could possibly save money by destroying inventory rather than putting it on extreme discount. Surely they could make more money selling at an extreme discount versus no money at all by destroying .
In: Economics
Shelf space and transportation are things that cost money.
Having a product on the shelf that isn’t selling is taking up space for another product that will.
Shipping costs to move it to another location or warehouse also costs money. So it may cost more to re-sell or move a product to another store than to simply toss it.
Many of those items that are thrown away have already been on sale or discounted heavily but still didn’t sell. So into the trash it goes.
Certain products/brands also have rules that prevent them from being discounted. This is to ensure the product is de-valued.
Some products also have expiry dates and such, after which it’s actually illegal for a store to sell said product.
Latest Answers