3 ms·

There is societal expectation. Frankly no one wants opened/used products, so you know those will be sold at significant discount, or refurbished, or thrown away

• dheera 6y ago
  "Frankly no one wants opened/used products" Um ... When I buy for myself I look for open box products all the time. Steep discounts (sometimes 25% or more) are awesome for something that is essentially new. I don't give a shit about the unboxing experience unless it's a gift for someone else.
• xvolter 6y ago
  No one wants used products for "new" prices, but plenty of people would be willing to buy open-box items at discounted prices. It's a huge thing for appliances. In most situations, however, things are simply repackaged and sold as new. Clothing, for example, is commonly returned; then hopefully re-washed before selling again as new. In most situations this applies to electronics as well, although electronics can be different. There are stories out there of people buying new SD cards that had photos on them. Most companies have a return center that processes returns, inspects them, resets them, and repackages them to be sold again as new. Exceptions are when returns are sent to stores… like Amazon or Best Buy handle returns differently than returns going back to the manufacturer.
  • drfuchs 6y ago
    In the USA, "simply repackaged and sold as new" is illegal for all products, even if the first purchaser hadn't even opened the box. You have to sell it as "refurbished" or some such.