If I recall, Amazon was literally destroying returned goods instead of reselling them as open box. So clearly the online business model is for items to go supplier to buyer and not the reverse. At some point online retailers will probably switch to final sale, charge a restocking fee or make you go in person to return the product. I'm actually surprised a retailer has so much free cash to refund money and let you keep the item. (Amazon used to do this for trinkets, but not lately it seems) I personally wouldn't mind if online sales shifted to a stricter return policy like this.
I'm very involved in this situation, and there's more going on here than many realize.
Imagine you're selling laptops on Amazon. You send them to FBA, Amazon ships when they sell, and then cuts you a check. If somebody wants to return a laptop, Amazon takes care of the customer service too, and likely gives a refund (on your behalf... it's your money).
When you log into Seller Central, the dashboard for your Amazon store, you might see you've got 10 "unsellable" laptops, with very generic descriptions about the reason. Like 3 customer damage, 2 defective, 2 warehouse damage, and so on.. Amazon will ask what you want done with your unsellable laptops, and they give you a couple basic options:
Dispose: They will charge you to dispose of the laptops. Then they actually do a more detailed inspection to see what they're worth. From there, your laptops may end up on "Warehouse Deals", they might be added to a liquidation pallet sold to the highest bidder, OR they might be thrown in the trash. I am only speculating
this is what happens, but there is strong evidence to indicate it's very close to reality.
Removal: They will ship your "unsellable" laptops to a US address, and charge a nominal fee.
Here's the dirty secret: In my experience, Amazon's decision a product is "unsellable" is often wrong over 80% of the time. I know this because my company processes "Removals" for people. We often see things like an "unsellable" $600 leather jacket, which Amazon refunded, and guess what's actually in the box? A bottle of whiteout. I'm not joking.