Inside Amazon's $890 Billion Returns Mafia

[kaisoz]

A strange retail phenomenon is spreading across Latin America: bin stores filled with Amazon returns.

A strange retail phenomenon is spreading across Latin America: bin stores filled with Amazon returns. In Costa Rica alone, hundreds of these “outlets” have appeared, selling mystery pallets of returned e-commerce items for pennies on the dollar. On the surface it looks like harmless thrifting. But behind the scenes, a much darker story may be unfolding. In this episode, we follow the journey of a returned Amazon product — from U.S. fulfillment centers to liquidation auctions, to pallets shipped across borders… and eventually into the chaotic outlet economy in Latin America. Along the way we uncover the massive scale of the returns economy (over $850B per year), the logistics loopholes that make these shipments possible, and why authorities say the system has become a gateway for contraband, money laundering, and organized crime. This isn’t a story about blaming people for returning packages. It’s about the unexpected global ripple effects of modern e-commerce.

 

[whatheheck]

850B ??? wah

 

[Balian]

Whats the tldr?