Where Do Amazon Returns Go? The Liquidation Pipeline Explained

The Scale of Amazon Returns

Amazon processes somewhere between 200 and 300 million returns every year in the United States alone. That's a staggering volume — packages flowing backward through the supply chain 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each one of those returned items has to go somewhere.

For a long time, the answer was largely: landfill. Amazon and other major retailers destroyed billions of dollars worth of returned merchandise annually because it was cheaper than the logistics of reselling it. A 2021 investigation found Amazon UK alone destroying 130,000 items per week.

Public pressure, regulatory changes, and improving economics have shifted that calculus. Today, a growing portion of Amazon returns flow through a liquidation pipeline that ultimately ends at bin stores across the country. Understanding this pipeline helps you shop smarter and appreciate the remarkable journey these items take.

Step 1 — The Return Is Filed

It starts when a customer clicks "return" in the Amazon app. Amazon issues a return label, the customer ships the item back (or drops it at a UPS Store, Whole Foods, or Kohl's return point), and the package enters the reverse logistics system.

At this point, Amazon knows almost nothing about the actual condition of the item. The customer might have said it was defective. They might have changed their mind. The item might be perfectly fine, or it might be broken. That determination happens at the next step.

Step 2 — The Returns Processing Center

Returned items arrive at one of Amazon's many Returns Processing Centers (RPCs) — dedicated facilities built specifically to handle inbound returns at scale. Workers at these centers open packages and assess each item.

Amazon grades returns into several categories:

• Like New / Resellable: The item is unopened or shows no signs of use. Amazon relists these on the main marketplace, sometimes as "Amazon Renewed" or through the Amazon Warehouse storefront.
• Good / Acceptable: The item works but shows wear or has been opened. May be relisted at a discount or sent to Amazon Warehouse.
• Damaged / Non-functional: The item is broken, missing parts, or otherwise not suitable for resale. These go to liquidation.
• Unsellable / Restricted: Some items can't legally be resold (certain health products, for example) and must be destroyed or donated.

The items that end up in the liquidation stream are mostly in that third category — but not always. Overstock, slow-moving inventory, and even some perfectly functional items end up in liquidation simply because it's more efficient to move them in bulk than to process them individually.

Step 3 — Amazon Liquidation Channels

Amazon sells liquidation inventory through several channels. The largest is Amazon Liquidations, a direct program where approved buyers can bid on pallets and truckloads of returned merchandise sorted by category.

Other major liquidation marketplaces that handle Amazon merchandise include:

• B-Stock Solutions — Amazon's primary liquidation auction partner, handling huge volume
• BULQ — Curated manifested pallets, popular with small resellers
• Liquidation.com — Owned by B-Stock, open to individual buyers
• Direct Liquidation — Another major platform with Amazon and Walmart returns
• Regional wholesalers — Companies that buy truckloads and break them down for smaller buyers

Merchandise at this stage is typically sorted into broad categories — apparel, electronics, home goods, toys — and sold in large lots. A truckload might contain thousands of individual items. Buyers bid without knowing exactly what's inside, though some platforms provide partial manifests.

Prices at this level can be as low as 5 to 15 cents on the retail dollar, which is why the economics work even after multiple middlemen take a cut.

Step 4 — The Wholesaler and Pallet Auction Level

Between Amazon's liquidation platforms and the bin store sits another layer: pallet wholesalers and regional liquidators. These companies buy truckloads from Amazon's liquidation channels and break them down into smaller lots — individual pallets or half pallets — that are more accessible to smaller bin stores.

These wholesalers make their money on volume and logistics. They might buy a 26-pallet truckload for $8,000 and sell individual pallets for $400-600 each. Smaller bin stores and pallet resellers buy at this level.

The condition of merchandise shifts at each handoff. Sorting happens, some items are culled, and lots are repackaged for resale. By the time goods reach a bin store buyer, they may have passed through two or three intermediaries.

Step 5 — The Bin Store Receives Inventory

A bin store owner — or a buyer working for a regional bin store chain — purchases pallets of mixed merchandise. This might be a full truckload for a larger operation, or a few individual pallets for a small shop.

The goods arrive mixed: clothing next to electronics next to kitchen gadgets next to toys. Bin store staff unload pallets and sort items into the store bins. Some stores do light sorting (separating clothing from hard goods), while others dump pallets directly into bins for shoppers to dig through.

What bin store owners know that shoppers don't: the category and approximate source of the inventory, sometimes a partial manifest, and the rough percentage of items expected to be functional. They price their bins and per-pound rates based on the value of their inventory load and their margin targets.

What This Means for You as a Shopper

Understanding the pipeline changes how you approach bin store shopping.

Condition is genuinely uncertain. Items have been opened, assessed, shipped, stored, and handled multiple times. Something that looks fine on the outside might be missing a key component. Electronics especially carry risk — test before you commit if the store allows it.

New and near-new items are real. The pipeline includes overstock and lightly used merchandise, not just damaged goods. Brand-new sealed items appear in bin stores regularly. When you find them, they represent extraordinary value.

Seasonality and category waves matter. Amazon's return volume spikes in January (post-holiday returns), after Prime Day, and after Black Friday. Bin stores downstream from the pipeline see corresponding inventory waves a few weeks later. If you're looking for electronics or toys, shopping in January or February often yields better selection.

Not all bin stores source the same way. Some stores buy directly from Amazon's liquidation programs or from B-Stock. Others rely on regional wholesalers with less consistent quality. Asking your local bin store where they source can give you useful insight into what to expect.

The Environmental Angle

The liquidation pipeline, for all its complexity, serves a genuinely useful environmental purpose. Every item that flows through a bin store is an item that didn't go to a landfill. The secondhand and liquidation economy diverts hundreds of millions of pounds of merchandise from destruction annually.

When you buy at a bin store, you're participating in a system that extends product lifespans, reduces waste, and gives useful goods a second chance. That's worth knowing.

Use Bin Store Map to find Amazon return bin stores near you and put this knowledge to work on your next shopping trip.