Behind this is a business idea from the Allgäu region that is currently spreading throughout Germany via social media, with more and more of these vending machines springing up. They are "fed" with parcels from online mail order companies that were returned, never collected or could not be delivered. The operators of the vending machines acquire them via intermediaries, so they themselves do not know what is hidden in the mystery packs. However, it is ensured that the content is safe for minors and that former address details are always blacked out for data protection reasons.
The combination of curiosity and sustainability is what makes the return vending machines so appealing. In addition to the thrill of getting hold of a significantly higher-quality product at a low price, the main aim is to give a second chance to vast quantities of goods that would otherwise be thrown away. To increase this, some operators also work with exchange boxes if customers have no use for the contents of a parcel.
How returns trading has created a new market
The figures behind the business model are impressive - and frightening at the same time. According to evaluations by the Returns Management Research Group at the University of Bamberg in 2022, 500 million returns are made every year; on average, every fourth parcel is sent back, and for fashion items even every second parcel.
But why do many of these goods not end up back on sale? For cost reasons! It is often cheaper to destroy goods or sell them unopened on pallets to intermediaries than to send them to their place of origin or to store and sort returns.
It is clear that reverse vending machines are a clever solution for combining sustainability and a fun factor in everyday life and thus creating added value. At the same time, however, we should not lose sight of the cause: Consumption in abundance.
