Does Walmart take the loss when you return stuff and get you refund?

Question

Does Walmart take the loss when you return stuff and get you refund?

Answer 1

It depends on the item returned...

If it's food or an item obviously used, Walmart (and pretty much every retail company) can return the item to the distributor for partial credit to the store.  They might lose some money but not nearly as much as what the item is worth in retail.

Answer 2

If it has been used, then they use it as a tax write off.

Answer 3

If it's unopened, they put it back on the shelf to sell. If it's defective, they send it back to the manufacturer. If it's opened but fine, someone else buys it from them at a lower price and sells it for a profit on eBay or similar sites. They had a big news segment a couple of months ago on that.

Answer 4

If they can, the merchandise is re-stocked and re-sold (no loss).  If the merchandise is not saleable, they would either sell it to a re-distributer (think dollar store) or write it off.  In either case Walmart does just fine.