As People Head To The Mall To Return Christmas Gifts, Some May End Up At Local Resale Stores

ARDEN (CBS13) — Plenty of people are hitting the Arden Fair Mall to get that gift Santa didn't leave under the tree, and there's plenty of hustle and bustle as people search for deals.

"A lot— it's gotten a lot busier since we got here this morning, so I think a lot of people are going to be taking advantage of it," Mike Dezzani said.

Some folks CBS13 spoke to were pretty good bargain hunters.

"I found a Fila sweater before Christmas it was 78 bucks, so today I got it for 55," Trayvon Sams said.

"It's for my grandma whose coming out here from LA!" Sams' daughter Nayalh said.

Some stores are offering great deals. Macy's offered up to 50% off of certain clothing items while Kohl's and Target are discounting items up to 70% off. Amazon and Walmart are also slashing prices on typically expensive electronics.

Some say they're going to big lengths to get those sales.

"Absolutely. That's why I fought the traffic out there," Sandra Cortez said.

Sometimes the holidays and after Christmas sales mean running to the mall to return that gift to make sure it's just right.

"My dad bought me some awesome shoes that are just slightly too small," Misty Schuebert said.

But where do those items go once they are returned?

"I haven't given it much thought to be honest with you," Deazzni said.

"Me personally, I used to work at a grocery store. People bring back stuff that good and we just throw it out," Sams said. "So a majority of that stuff, they probably throw it out."

Some of those Christmas returns wind up at That's Cheap or Falling Prices.

"We're there to help prevent things from going to the landfills or just being destroyed in any other way that they see fit," Michael Pizarro, the Vice President of West Coast Operations for RL Liquidators, said.

Pizarro said he knows of some companies that won't send the returned items to re-sales stories to protect the image of the brand.

"They don't wanna have to set something on a shelf, it's been opened, it's been missing a piece and now that customers aren't satisfied with that company's item when it wasn't necessarily their doing," Pizarro said.

Pizarro said he doesn't know the exact details of how companies decide what items can be re-shelved at the original store, sent to a re-sale store or discard the returned items.

But some people believe the returned items should still have a chance to be a gift to someone else.

"It's kind of heartbreaking if they get kind of get trashed. People need it," Cortez said. "If there's people that need everything food clothes, it's kind of sad."

Pizarro told CBS13 the returns do have a significant impact on their inventory.

When the discounted items do arrive, those items could be anywhere from 30 to 70%off compared to what customers would find at a typical retail store.

Pizarro also said it could take a few days for those items to arrive at their stores.