How Does Sam's Club Handle Returned And Unsold Kitchen Appliances?

Warehouse store giant Sam's Club is one of the most popular places for consumers to buy groceries in the United States. So it's a good thing that it's known for having one of the best grocery store return policies, with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If buyers are unhappy with the quality of their purchases, it's pretty easy to return food to Sam's Club. But what about larger nonfood purchases, like all those appliances Sam's Club also sells?

They too can be returned, but only within a certain time frame. For unsatisfied club members, electronics and major appliances purchased online or in-store may be returned within 90 days. So be sure to decide if that impulse-buy egg cooker you thought you had to have has not fulfilled your breakfast hopes and dreams within those three months if you think you may want to return it. And don't worry: It won't immediately end up in a landfill. Returned and unsold kitchen appliances head to business-to-business liquidation auctions.

Sam's Club contracts with B-Stock to run its liquidation auctions. Other major retailers like Target, Home Depot, and even Amazon also sell their overstock through B-Stock. But not just anyone can bid on these second-market items. You must be registered as a resale business — hence, business-to-business — and must have a reseller certificate, which exempts resellers from paying taxes on their winning bids. (The reseller's eventual customers will pay the taxes.)

Rather than bidding on individual items, like on eBay and other sites, products are bundled together in pallets or even sold by the truckload. So instead of buying one refrigerator, the winner of the auction may get 60 refrigerators or a mix of refrigerators and washing machines. If you buy a kitchen appliance from a secondhand store, it may well have started its life on a Sam's Club floor before wending its way through the auction system and ending up in your kitchen at a lower price.