What Happens To Returned And Unsold Kitchen Appliances At Home Depot?

Many large, big-box stores accept returns as seamlessly as possible to encourage customers to shop. At Home Depot, most products can be returned within 90 days, while major appliances can be returned within 48 hours after delivery if they are damaged or defective. All of these returns can cause its inventory to build up, so what actually happens to all those returned or unsold kitchen appliances?

Neu Appliance, a website that coordinates liquidation sales, reveals how Home Depot uses a program called the Home Depot Appliance Truckload Liquidation Wholesale Program to sell excess returned inventory. The program conducts truckload sales to registered vendors that are able to inspect, repair if needed, and sell kitchen appliances as used or scratch and dent items. Products included in the sales are sold in bulk for a flat rate and include customer return appliances, scratch and dent appliances, loaner items, and floor models. 

It's similar for many of the big-box appliance retailers. If you ever wondered what Costco does with unsold and returned appliances, it has a similar strategy of bulk liquidation, often through scratch and dent pallet sales, and when it comes how Sam's Club handles its returned kitchen appliances, a third party holds auctions for approved B2B buyers to liquidate products though pallet sales. It's difficult to say exactly what other methods Home Depot uses to sell returned appliances, as there's no definitive source that answers that question. However, according to sources on social media, Home Depot has a number of channels to reduce its stock of unsold and returned items.

While much of the excess inventory is liquidated, comments on Facebook suggest that more can happen to various kitchen appliances; "...in my area, they go to a big recycling warehouse and they either get scrapped out or people like me who have an appliance refurbish business will come pick them up by the truckload." On Quora, one individual posted, "Our local Home Depot gives all power tool/equipment/appliance returns to the company that does their appliance delivery and installation. Free. That company does a check of the item. If it works fine, or can be repaired, they sell it at 50% of retail."

If you happen to be in the store looking for Home Depot's best value kitchen essentials, and you're interested in finding a deal on used, clearance, or scratch and dent products, you may be out of luck. This is partly because of where the appliances actually come from. In a thread on Reddit about scratch and dent appliances, one individual shared, "When Home Depot sells appliances, 90% of the time they ship out from a central warehouse. If they are damaged during delivery, they go back to the warehouse... Occasionally we will sell returned products at a discount, up to and including the rare appliance that is shipped from the store." You may find great deals at Home Depot on kitchen appliances through sales, and returns are easy. But if you're looking to purchase discounted unsold or returned items, instead of looking at the store, explore the resale shops that receive them.