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Those Items You Returned? They've Got To Go Somewhere

(CBS) -- The holidays are long gone, but it's the most wonderful time of the year for Michael Ringelsten, owner of Shorewood Liquidators in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.

That's because this is where many items go when they're returned to sellers like Amazon, Home Depot and Sears.

"Most of it is just customer returns, or buyer's remorse," Ringelsten tells CBS 2's Adriana Diaz.

His warehouse is overflowing with everything from GoPros to Xboxes and an entire wall of drills. Once they're tested, the business will auction them off at about half the price.

"Consumers assume when they return it its put back on to the shelf, which isn't the case," Ringelsten says.

His business has jumped 1,000 percent in the past four years, and online shopping is a big reason why. Americans returned $260 billion in merchandise last year.

Tobin Moore, CEO of Optoro.com, helps stores process those returns. He says restocking items can be expensive for retailers.

"So often retailers end up just liquidating them for pennies on the dollar or in some cases throw them away in a landfill," Moore says, "because it's more cost effective."

Items that survive end up at discount retailers, pawn shops and flea markets. Some companies also sell the goods online.

Dave Veerman came to the Shorewood Liquidators showroom and found a toy truck for his grandson, at a deep discount.

"What's a wrong item for one is the right item for somebody else," he says.

Shoreline Liquidators has an online auction every Thursday.

For more information, click here.

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