Best of Earth911 Podcast: B-Stock’s Marcus Shen on Growing the Resale Economy

Best of Earth911 Podcast: B-Stock’s Marcus Shen on Growing the Resale Economy

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. There is no additional cost to you whatsoever.

Recommerce is on the rise as retail areas battle to draw prospects after the pandemic, they’re operating in need of backroom space for storing whereas coping with a rising tide of returned items. The state of affairs is much more difficult for e-commerce corporations, the place returns accounted for $761 billion in misplaced income, the National Retail Federation recently reported. Meet Marcus Shen, CEO of San Mateo, CA-based B-Stock Solutions, an internet market for companies that need to resell extra stock. From the highest 10 U.S. retailers, reminiscent of Walmart, Amazon, GameStop, and Costco, to small entrepreneurs seeking to fill their cabinets, companies all over the world use B-Stock to promote and purchase returned and unsold merchandise, which is auctioned off or offered immediately from the retailers’ distribution middle at a fraction of the retail worth.

Marcus Shen, CEO of B-Stock Solutions
Marcus Shen, CEO of B-Stock Solutions, is our visitor on Sustainability in Your Ear.

A mind-boggling 21% of on-line purchases had been returned in the course of the 2021 vacation season — which means that the price of returns at Amazon, which doesn’t disclose its return quantity, may have reached greater than $98 billion in 2021. About a 3rd of the objects returned are burned to generate vitality, which is the epitome of wastefulness and a symptom of very short-sighted considering. Add to the concept helpful returned merchandise are burned the carbon footprint of a return journey from the customer’s residence, and you may see how returns can almost double or more the environmental influence of a purchase order. In the face of a rising tide of returned and extra stock, giving these merchandise a second probability at a helpful life is important to decreasing the GHG emissions generated by our economic system. Explore the crooked path of “reverse-logistics” and the way the secondary market can assist create a extra round economic system.

To study extra about B-Stock and, if you’re seeking to begin a small retail or e-commerce enterprise, store the surplus stock, go to bstock.com.