amazon selling used items to customers

Was the item "shipped by Amazon" or come from the seller direct?

I try to only buy items that are sold by Amazon or Shipped by Amazon......am interested if this is across everything or more targeted to original sellers shipping direct?

Recently bought some baby lotion and the tub was not sealed and like 80% full

I have bought this brand before and it’s sealed and filled to the top

Opened a chat and got a refund (they couldn’t reship given OOS)

Wonder if an employee used it or it was a return

Other times buying from amazon warehouse in used, like new or very good condition and some items are pristine with just the packaging damaged and definitely not used

Seems YMMV

You can go into just about any store, buy something, bring it home, open it and find out it's already been opened before. Amazon is no different. Probably returned by somebody who really didn't want it in the first place and couldn't override their impulses.

Likely returned but they didn't realize it was used.

I remember buying stuff from Best Buy and Future Shop and they were clearly used items. Bought a Nikon DSLR body and there was no seal on the box, but looking at the accessories and checking the shutter count clearly showed me that it was a return (all of the settings were also adjusted). Yet they had it in the locked cabinet with all of the other new stock.

Stores do it all the time, but it's frustrating for online stuff because you can't inspect it beforehand to check if there is a broken seal. Sometimes I avoid buying expensive goods that don't have a seal on it.

I think this is a symptom of our pretty liberal policies, people don't think about or research stuff and return stuff more often and this results in too much returned stock.

Last week I got a camping tent from Costco and judging by the sloopy way the tent was packed inside the bag is very clear it is a return or I dont know what happened. The problem is very hard to find that tent even when Costco restock is gone in a very short time so I am going to have to keep it.

Likely used by customer before return. I thought they destroyed most returns? I once bought a used humidifier from Crappy Tire (box looked new) and saw a Walmart employee use some hand cream and putting it back behind the other bottles (guess with the turnover, no one would ever notice any missing). What's more yucky is the number of people who have tried on the clothes at home from Costco and returned them before they repack and ship to us.

Catnippy wrote: ↑ Likely used by customer before return. I thought they destroyed most returns? I once bought a used humidifier from Crappy Tire (box looked new) and saw a Walmart employee use some hand cream and putting it back behind the other bottles (guess with the turnover, no one would ever notice any missing). What's more yucky is the number of people who have tried on the clothes at home from Costco and returned them before they repack and ship to us.

That's no different that going into a store and (multiple) people trying on the clothes and having them put back on the rack to be tried on by others until they are eventually sold. You really have no idea how many people have tried on those jeans that you take to the change room to try on yourself.