Tracking Amazon returns: Here's where they really go (Marketplace)

Summary

Highlights

• Amazon's seemingly easy returns mask a complicated and often wasteful system 🚮.
• A visit to liquidation warehouses reveals where many returns actually end up 🏭.
• Filming with hidden cameras provides insight into the secretive world of return processing 🎥.
• GPS tracked returns travel hundreds of kilometers, revealing the hidden carbon footprint of free returns 🛣️.
• Interviews with consumers and environmental experts expose shocking truths about the fate of some returns 🌱.

Key Takeaways

• Amazon's return system is more complex than it appears and may contribute significantly to environmental waste 🌍.
• Some Amazon returns are resold, but a surprising number end up being liquidated or even discarded 🗑️.
• The lack of transparency from Amazon around their returns process raises questions about corporate responsibility 🤔.
• GPS trackers reveal that returned items often travel extensively before reaching their final, sometimes wasteful destination 📍.
• Returned items can sometimes end up in liquidation warehouses, revealing the hidden waste behind online shopping 📦.

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Marketplace Season Premiere The season premiere of 'Marketplace' focuses on the hidden aspects of Amazon's returns. The show opens with intriguing music as David, the host, introduces the theme, promising to reveal what Amazon doesn't want you to know. The team investigates the fate of returned items, questioning whether liquidation deals are merely disguised truckloads of trash. The premiere suggests that the world of returns is secretive and potentially unsanitary, implying a significant problem with how returns are managed, compared metaphorically to multiplying cockroaches.
• 00:30 - 01:00: The Secretive World of Amazon Returns The chapter explores the hidden aspects of Amazon's return process, highlighting that while the e-retailer is well-known for its easy and often free return policy, the fate of returned items remains largely undisclosed to the public. Amazon maintains secrecy over what happens to these products after they are returned, prompting curiosity and concern about the true cost and final destination of these items. It raises questions about transparency and the impact of such practices on both consumers and the environment.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Buying Amazon Returns at Auction The chapter provides insights into the process of purchasing Amazon return items through third-party virtual auctions. It highlights the types of goods often bought, such as crock pots and camp toilets, and notes the significant difference in return rates between in-store and online purchases, with online returns being substantially higher. The warehouse setting is described as being filled with Amazon returns, illustrating the volume of products that cycle through such facilities.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Hidden Costs of Online Shopping The chapter titled 'Hidden Costs of Online Shopping' starts with Marketplace producers secretly filming and revealing inside information about the massive volume of returned merchandise moving across North America. The discussion emphasizes the hidden aspects of online shopping, specifically focusing on where all these returns end up, an area often overlooked by the general public.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Tracking Returned Items with GPS The chapter explores the implications of free returns in online shopping, using GPS technology to track returned items. It begins with a demonstration of purchased items from Amazon, including boots, backpacks, and overalls. The chapter sets the stage to discuss the hidden costs associated with the convenience of free returns.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Discovering the Path of Returns In the chapter titled 'Discovering the Path of Returns,' David talks about various items like bedsheets, diapers, a train toy, and blocks, which were all purchased from Amazon and are now being returned. Each item is equipped with GPS devices hidden inside to track their journey back to the warehouse. David discreetly places the trackers in different items, like placing one in the toe of a boot and another in a pair of overalls, to monitor their movement and gather insight into the returns process.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Canada Post's Role in Returns This chapter discusses Canada Post's involvement in managing product returns, particularly focusing on collaboration with environmental organizations to track waste. The Basel Action Network, an environmental group based in Seattle, specializes in waste tracking to ensure environmentally responsible management. Trackers are used to monitor waste movement, indicating a commitment to sustainable practices in returns management.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Amazon's Climate Pledge and Returns The chapter discusses Amazon's initiatives around climate commitments, focusing on the seamless process of returning goods online. It starts with the tracking of returned products using devices that provide insights into e-commerce operations. A demonstration is given on how simple it is to return items: printing a shipping label and dropping off the items with trackers included, highlighting the ease of the returns process.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Expert Opinions on Amazon's Practices In this chapter, the narrative introduces Eddie and children, Magida el Tamani and her sister Sarah, who are avid Amazon shoppers. David is also mentioned in the scene. The chapter highlights some products they purchased through Amazon, such as a juicer, a grill for summertime, and a starfruit pump 'n' slice, showcasing a consumer's point of view on Amazon's goods and services.
• 04:30 - 05:00: The Journey of Returned Overalls The chapter titled 'The Journey of Returned Overalls' discusses various topics in a casual conversation. It begins with a mention of an alligator, with one speaker noting a friend's obsession with the animal. The conversation shifts to the experiences with Amazon, where the speakers express their appreciation for features such as price matching, centralized options, and particularly the seamless return process. The ease of receiving a return label via email and sending items back is highlighted as a convenient aspect of using Amazon.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Liquidation and Waste From Returns The chapter discusses the process of tracking product returns. David Magida assists with the test by placing a tracker in a box destined for return. The box, after being packed up with screws, is taken back to see its onward journey. Soon after being dropped off at post offices, the packages are on the move, specifically passing through Canada Post.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Warehouse Discovery through Trackers In this chapter titled 'Warehouse Discovery through Trackers', the narrator and David arrive at a facility in Mississauga, Ontario. Upon arriving at their destination, they find themselves curious about the building and choose to explore the surroundings. They know the location stores blocks and boots. As they explore, they discover that this is a facility where Canada Post processes its returns. They decide to inquire about the number of Amazon packages the facility processes daily.
• 06:00 - 06:30: Consumer Reactions: Waste and Amazon's Policies The chapter delves into the challenges of tracking consumer reactions to waste and Amazon's policies, particularly in Canada. Despite challenges in acquiring detailed information from Canada Post due to privacy concerns, there is a significant discussion on the trajectory of tracked packages ending up at an Amazon warehouse near Toronto. It highlights the rapid expansion of Amazon warehouses across Ontario, emphasizing the substantial environmental impact associated with such growth.
• 06:30 - 07:00: Amazon's Secrecy on Return Processes This chapter explores Amazon's secrecy surrounding its return processes in the context of environmental impact. In 2019, Amazon revealed its carbon dioxide emissions were comparable to that of a small country. Subsequently, CEO Jeff Bezos announced 'the climate pledge' as Amazon's commitment to sustainability. However, uncertainty remains about whether this pledge encompasses the environmental consequences of their return processes. The issue of online returns extends beyond Amazon but is particularly significant, given that Amazon is the largest e-retailer in Canada.
• 07:00 - 07:30: Amazon's Global Policies on Returns The chapter discusses the mystery surrounding Amazon's policies on product returns. Despite repeated inquiries, Amazon has not disclosed what happens to returned items. They claim to be committed to environmental sustainability and waste reduction. Eco-blogger Meera Jain expresses a desire for Amazon to be more transparent and harness their significant influence for positive environmental action.
• 07:30 - 08:00: Environmental Impact of Returns The chapter titled 'Environmental Impact of Returns' discusses the concerns around the environmental implications of returning goods purchased online. It features individuals like Meera, a mom and teacher, who is trying to live waste-free and is curious about the ultimate destination of returned goods to companies like Amazon. The narrative emphasizes the importance of being conscious of carbon footprints and corporate accountability in the business world.
• 08:00 - 08:30: Consumers' Expectations from Amazon The chapter explores consumer expectations from Amazon, emphasizing the importance of conscious consumerism. It highlights the carbon footprint associated with product returns, using the example of warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area, specifically tracking the journey of returned items over significant distances, leading to increased carbon emissions.
• 08:30 - 09:00: Concluding Insights and Next on Marketplace The chapter delves into the investigation conducted at a facility that specializes in electronics recycling and product destruction. Despite these services, there is a mystery as to why perfectly good overalls are present at the facility. The team, led by David, is determined to uncover the truth. Equipped with undercover gear including a mug hidden camera and additional filming from a cameraman inside a van, they embark on a covert operation to explore the facility and unravel the mystery.

Tracking Amazon returns: Here's where they really go (Marketplace) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [♪♪♪] [David] This is your Marketplace. The season premiere starts now. [♪♪♪] [David] What Amazon doesn't want you to know. I would love to see where Amazon returns end up. We couldn't handle all of Amazon. It's like cockroaches, it multiplies. [David] Opening up the secretive world of your returns. That's disgusting. [David] Liquidation deals? Or did we just buy a whole truckload of trash? This is returns, this is garbage.
• 00:30 - 01:00 That's insane. [David] The true cost of those free returns, only on your Marketplace. [♪♪♪] [David] Amazon is a giant, and one of the first e-retailers to introduce easy, often free returns. But ever wonder where those returns end up? What is this, all Amazon stuff? Amazon won't tell us. They want to keep it a secret. How many customers you got?
• 01:00 - 01:30 A lot. [David] So we're picking up pallets of their returns we bought on a third-party virtual auction. Crock pot, camp toilets. Lots of them are happening. Could be because in stores, only around one in ten purchases is brought back. But online that number can jump to 40%. Just take a look inside this warehouse, shelves filled with unwanted Amazon returns.
• 01:30 - 02:00 [David] These men don't know Marketplace producers are filming on their phones, and probably tell us more than they should. We're blurring their faces to protect them. [David] We're talking about billions of dollars worth of merchandise being sent back across North America. But where does it all go? It's the hidden side of online shopping that most of us don't
• 02:00 - 02:30 know much about but should. We're about to find out the true costs of free returns. [♪♪♪] All right, let's open these up. [David] We buy these on Amazon ourselves. Boots. Look at that. Oh, those are nice boots. We've got the ladies' backpacks here. I've got overalls. We've got lots of pockets.
• 02:30 - 03:00 [David] There's bedsheets, diapers, a train toy. Lots of blocks, too. Okay, are we ready? Let's get these trackers in. [David] All Amazon purchases, all going right back and all with these GPS devices hidden inside. I'm going to put the tracker in the toe of the boots and it just fits right in there. We're going to tuck the tracker in here. I'm gonna put the tracker in the overalls. Okay. That looks good.
• 03:00 - 03:30 That looks good, right? I'm gonna actually stick it to a block, and then I'm going to throw some blocks around it. Hey there, guys. [David] We team up with the Basel Action Network. All right, guys, we want to check to make sure that you have a signal for each of the trackers. Definitely. [David] It's a Seattle based environmental group specializing in tracking waste across the globe. The tracker inside and taped down. Can you let me know if it is pinging?
• 03:30 - 04:00 I'm looking at our portal back here. That handbag is live and pinging. [David] These devices become our guide into the secretive side of e-commerce. I'm going to hit the tracker now. Yeah, it's right at the CBC. [David] Next, send them back. It couldn't be easier. Print the shipping label. Drop off all the returns, trackers inside.
• 04:00 - 04:30 And we're not the only ones sending stuff back. Eddie, you want to hold the balloons? Wanna hold this? [David] Meet Magida el Tamani and her sister, Sarah. Okay, let's see the baby duck. [David] Hi, there. They're big Amazon shoppers. Tell me about some of the things you've got here. Sure, so I've purchased a juicer, a grill for the summertime, also the starfruit pump 'n' slice.
• 04:30 - 05:00 You got an alligator? The alligator-- I have a friend who's obsessed with alligators. What do you like most about Amazon? I personally love the fact that I can price match. There's also endless options. So, I like that everything is centralized in one spot for me. Anything you'd add? I love the fact that their return is so seamless. They'll send you by e-mail, you know, the return label and you just send it off in case you're not--
• 05:00 - 05:30 -Easy peasy. -Yeah, so, I love it. [David] Magida is helping us with our test. I'm going to put this tracker into the box, put the screws back in. Take it back, let's see where it goes. -Thanks a lot. -Thank you. [David] See you. Within hours of dropping the returns off at our local post offices... ..they're on the move. All passing through this Canada Post
• 05:30 - 06:00 facility in Mississauga, Ontario. -[David] Then... -What is this building? Your destination is on the right. [David] ..an unexpected turn. Should we just walk around a little bit? Yeah. We know we have the blocks here. What else is here? I think the blocks and the boots. [David] Turns out, it's where Canada Post processes returns. So we ask them how many Amazon packages they get a day.
• 06:00 - 06:30 Canada Post won't tell us, saying they can't share client info, so we keep digging. Our tracked packages make their way to this Amazon warehouse, west of Toronto. But most don't stay long. They're spreading. Just like Amazon itself, with massive warehouses opening across Ontario. With that enormous growth comes an enormous environmental cost.
• 06:30 - 07:00 Amazon admitted in 2019 it spews out as much carbon dioxide as a small country. So last year, a pledge from CEO Jeff Bezos. Today, we are announcing the climate pledge. Amazon becomes the first signatory to the climate pledge. [David] But as Amazon goes green, we're asking whether returns are included in that pledge. Online returns are not just an Amazon problem. But they are the biggest e-retailer in Canada.
• 07:00 - 07:30 So we ask them repeatedly, what happens to all those returns? They won't tell us. But do say that they are committed to the environment, and also to reducing waste. [♪♪♪] [David] Eco-blogger Meera Jain would like to see Amazon say more. Amazon is a multi-billion corporation and I think they have a lot of clout to do good, but I'm not sure that they're using their power and influence
• 07:30 - 08:00 in the right way right now. I expect them to be conscious of their carbon footprint. What do you guys feel like doing? Painting! Painting? All right! [David] Meera is a mom of two, a teacher and tries to live waste free. What do you have going on there? Rainbow. [David] She worries about the impact online shopping has on the environment and wants to know more. I would love to see where Amazon returns end up. I think accountability and being open as a business is so
• 08:00 - 08:30 important especially as a conscious consumer. And so for me to know-- even to find out that they were not going in the right place would help me make my decisions a lot more effectively. [David] From this one warehouse, most of the returns hit the road, quickly adding up kilometres and carbon emissions. Remember those overalls we returned? They criss-cross the Greater Toronto Area. After 170 kilometres, they stop here.
• 08:30 - 09:00 We look up what they do at this facility. Electronics recycling and product destruction? But there was nothing wrong with the overalls, so why are they here? I got the mug here. The mug hidden camera is on. We're gonna turn this thing on. [David] We're going in undercover to find out. That's a nice, clear shot. [David] Our cameraman's filming from inside his van too.
• 09:00 - 09:30 [David] We're posing as potential clients with pallets of Amazon returns. [David] We're not showing this manager's face because she's just doing her job.
• 09:30 - 10:00 [David] What's that? Three to five truckloads a week?! She gives us a tour and shows us the industrial size shredders inside. [David] After shredding, she says most gets recycled,
• 10:00 - 10:30 but admits not all. [♪♪♪] [David] Inside those walls is a place that takes truckloads of Amazon returns every single week and they have a massive industrial shredder in there. Why?! Our recycling system, not only in Canada but around the world, is extremely, extremely broken.
• 10:30 - 11:00 Recycling is, like, our last resort when we think about how we want to dispose of items. We could re-sell, we could re-gift, we could re-home somehow, re-use it somehow. That would be, like, way preferable to recycling. [David] Amazon says the overalls were sent to the e-waste facility by mistake. One that led us here to uncover how some Amazon returns are ending up recycled or destroyed.
• 11:00 - 11:30 But those overalls are still on the move. This is returns, this is garbage. These online companies, they can't keep up with the returns. [David] The true cost of those free returns continues on your Marketplace. Get more Marketplace. Sign up for our weekly newsletter, cbc.ca/marketplace. [David] This is your Marketplace.
• 11:30 - 12:00 [David] We're tracking what Amazon does with your returns. I got overalls. [David] Including a perfectly good pair of overalls that we sent back. That looks good. That looks good, right? [David] We follow them to this facility and learn truckloads of Amazon returns end up here to be recycled or destroyed. We do product destruction. [David] But unlike all those truckloads of returns our overalls keep moving and the tracker shoots us a signal from the road. Since we sent them back to Amazon,
• 12:00 - 12:30 the overalls make five stops and travel over 200 kilometres, to get here. [♪♪♪] [David] See anything there? You can't really see anything through here. [David] All right, let me take a look over the door. Well, it's kind of like a warehouse. There's all sorts of Philips head shavers. There's just boxes and boxes of all sorts of things. It almost looks like a liquidator.
• 12:30 - 13:00 [David] Turns out a lot of online returns, including Amazon's, end up at liquidators. -Roy! -David, how are you? Nice to meet you. Good to meet you. So, we got three pallets in here. You willing to take a look at it for me? Yeah, I'll take a look! You got a little more experience. Roy Dirnbeck's been in the liquidation business for over 25 years with several stores across the country.
• 13:00 - 13:30 I'm going to put these three out here and we'll see what you got. All right, let's do it. Remember those pallets of Amazon returns we bought from a liquidator? We're about to find out what they're really worth. They put the best stuff on the outside, so any good, big brand names like Weber or whatever, the good stuff's going to be all on the outside. When you start digging in the middle that's where they're gonna throw in the rest of the junk. When you see this, right now, what do you think? This is returns, this is garbage, this is stuff companies, especially these online companies, they can't keep up with the returns,
• 13:30 - 14:00 so they just find fast ways to sell it by the skid, the truckload, trailer-load, whatever. You seeing more of this? Trailers and trailers every day. Okay, let's crack it open and see what we got. Let's see what you've got. [David] We've got two piles going. Things he can sell again, and things he would lose, or toss out. It's a used food product. I would get rid of it. -[David] Okay, what about this? -Toys are always easy to sell.
• 14:00 - 14:30 It says "defective", then just throw it out because now we already know it doesn't work. [David] Foldable burlaps storage cubes? Storage cubes, everybody is always trying to organize. Here, we got a guitar, man. Let's see what kind of guitar we got. [David] Strings are broken and so is the guitar. Roy shows us that at least a third of these Amazon returns that ended up in liquidation, he thinks would probably be tossed in the garbage.
• 14:30 - 15:00 When you think about the volume of stuff you've seen over your career, like, a lot of this stuff comes from Amazon, returns from Amazon, how much of that is just ending up in the dumpster? I'm scared to think about how much stuff is going back to the landfills because it's endless amounts of this stuff every day. [David] You're actually trying to filter some of it and give it -a new life. -I do. I try not to send it to the landfill. If it's something that's got some value, I can save somebody some money, I'll try and resell it. But can you save everything?
• 15:00 - 15:30 No, obviously. Look. Look how much trash we got out of your three skids. [David] All this trash shows that even returns Amazon sends to liquidation for a new life can end up as garbage. While there are no Canadian stats, American experts estimate five billion pounds of returns from all retailers end up in US landfills every year. -Hi, David. -[David] How are you? Good. How are you? [David] Meera's tagging along as we see where one of our
• 15:30 - 16:00 returns ended up. [David] We're here to show you something here. Oh, no. I'm worried. So I'm thinking that this is where the Amazon returns get stored. [David] Not quite, but she's about to find out and Magida joins us, too. Remember, she's a big Amazon shopper. Meera, not so much. So we bought all these things on Amazon including a bag just like this. You like it? -It's awesome. -[David] It's awesome. Okay.
• 16:00 - 16:30 So we returned it, totally good condition, and we wanna show you where it ended up. Okay. I'm not thinking it's anything good. I just truly have so many questions. It does make you rethink shopping at Amazon. Ultimately, it's the consumer who's actually paying for that. [David] Digging for answers on your Marketplace. Do you have a story you think Marketplace should investigate next? Tell us all about it on email, Twitter, and Facebook.
• 16:30 - 17:00 [David] This is your Marketplace. We're tracking Amazon returns. And we're about to reveal where the retail giant sent a brand new bag like this one. -I love it. -[David] Would you buy this? I, for sure, would. Like, you would buy it from me right now. Of course. [David] Okay, so we took one just like this, in just as good condition, and returned it to Amazon. And where do you think Amazon sent it?
• 17:00 - 17:30 I would love to guess right here. That garbage location across the street. That's insane! Oh, my God! -I'm not happy. -[David] You're not happy? I'm not happy! I'm just truly shocked by that because it's in perfect condition, so for it to end up in a waste management facility to me is truly shocking because, like I said,
• 17:30 - 18:00 I would want that bag. What's upsetting about that is that if I'd known that they were going to the garbage anyways, then I would just re-sell that. Right? Or donate it, or let someone else have use of it. Yeah, exactly. My question, too, is why are they offering returns for free if this is what's happening? [David] All great questions. Unfortunately, we have some recyclables that should not be in here. [David] And we take them to Professor Kevin Lyons at Rutgers
• 18:00 - 18:30 University in New Jersey. He spends as much time in the landfill as the classroom. He's got a PhD in supply chain environmental management. So a backpack just like this one, we returned it, Amazon... tossed it in the garbage. What do you think about that? That's disappointing. They did-- probably, I don't know this for a fact, obviously, but some kind of cost value analysis and found out you know what, this is gonna cost us more to try to sell it again than to
• 18:30 - 19:00 just toss it in the trash. So that's unfortunate. I think most folks would be outraged. When you look at things that could have been utilized by others who might be in need, it absolutely disturbs me and I think a lot of other consumers would be very disappointed as well. [David] When we ask Amazon why the bag was tossed, they say it arrived damaged and couldn't be resold. So in this case, who decided it couldn't be resold?
• 19:00 - 19:30 Amazon did. We dig up Amazon Canada's business agreement with those who sell on the site. Sellers are only given two options when a customer returns a product, either pay to ship it back or pay Amazon to dispose of it by selling, recycling, donating, or destroying it. [ Speaking French ] [David] An investigation in France found
• 19:30 - 20:00 Amazon throwing out hundreds of thousands of unsold goods and returns. Shortly after, Amazon starts a new donations program for their third-party sellers. There's one in the US, and UK, too, but none in Canada. The environment is actually paying a deep toll on it and I know that folks are gonna say it's just one item, but if you think about the millions and sometimes billions of transactions that are happening on this space, the impact is incredible.
• 20:00 - 20:30 [David] Do you think you and the consumers of Amazon are owed an explanation by the company? Yeah, I would say 100% we're owed an explanation. [David] Our trackers show some returns are still inside Amazon. Others, the blocks, printer and boots have moved to new homes but in doing so, cover more than 5,000 kilometres. I just truly have so many questions for everybody at that company.
• 20:30 - 21:00 It does make you rethink shopping at Amazon. Again, I'm truly shocked. I don't know what to say. We want answers from Amazon, too, and again ask for an on-camera interview. They decline and say in a statement that our reporting is inconsistent with their findings. They say the majority of Amazon returns are resold, recycled, or donated, though they do acknowledge some ends up in the garbage. Exactly how much? They won't tell us that.
• 21:00 - 21:30 What colours do you guys want? I want green and black and brown. -Please. -Thank you. [David] Meera is doing her part and wants Amazon to do theirs, too. What about the rest of us? Well, you can find some perfectly good returns on Amazon's warehouse deals site, and did you know that clothing is the most likely type of return to end up tossed? Ultimately, we could all buy less and return less.
• 21:30 - 22:00 I expect Amazon to listen to me when I have a concern or desire. They're a huge company, they have a lot of capability of making change. [Asha] We're wiring up... [Makda] We have as many cameras as possible. [Asha] ..to get the low down on appliance repairs. It's $200 to do the work on the machine, $80 to come to your house. Okay. But they didn't tell me that. Because if they tell you it's $280, nobody's gonna come. Will the easy fix come with a huge cost? [Makda] In total, she paid just under $700.
• 22:00 - 22:30 Wow. There's no need to replace this pump. In the men's bathroom, we'd ran out of soap in early May. [Asha] The dirty truth about the biggest chains. Excuse me. There's no soap in the bathroom. [Asha] Caught on camera. Are supermarkets doing enough to keep you safe? Were you worried about getting COVID when you would go into work? Yeah. All the time. [♪♪♪]