You’ve probably already decided the fate of all your holiday gifts: kept, regifted exchanged, or returned. If you chose the latter route, though, the story of your unwanted present is far from over: “Most people assume that when they return an item, it goes back on a shelf or back online,” Tobin Moore, cofounder and CEO of Optoro, a startup that helps businesses manage returned and excess inventory, told Refinery29. The ugly truth? Your unwrapped-but-unloved present will most likely end up at liquidators, wholesellers and resellers, or even landfills, since most returned items simply can’t be resold as new (no matter how little use they’ve gotten). Reverse logistics firms like Optoro are striving to change that wasteful pattern.
Optoro’s services include a cloud-based software called Optiturn, its e-commerce platform Blinq, and liquidation channel Bulq, and up-to-date data to ensure maximum recovery and optimal inventory management. The company is currently working with 20 retailers, according to The Los Angeles Times. Even if the product does make it back to its first home at the distribution center in mint condition, it could still be too late: “If the item has been taken out of the box and the packaging seal is broken, the item is not new. If the item is a consumer electronic and was used for a few days, it is not new. If it is a piece of clothing and the tag was removed, it is not new,” Moore said. Translation: Your barely unwrapped holiday gifts must find new homes elsewhere.