Finally caught the bastard!

[PegLeg45]

This thread really does remind me just how much I hate theft.

I was at the auto parts store  yesterday, buying grease for my heavy equipment, watched a guy pocket 4 items... don't even get me started on people buying things and returning them used/ empty/ damaged.

Hell  saw that last night at home depot a lady was returning a vanity that had clearly been installed, back cut out, screw holes on the back support... and the cashier took it back.   I even told the manager ( he likes me, I spend 6 figures in that store every year)  he was not shocked and imeditaley  tagged it to be tossed.

There's a guy that runs a thrift store in town that buys "salvage" items from stores like Lowes and Home Depot in lots and sells them at a fraction of the original cost. Most of the stuff is leftovers from contractor bundles (like flooring tiles and lighting) but some of it is customer returns like you mentioned.

[TAB]

Yep, done that in the past when I was remodeling an apartment complex.  Bought 3 pallets  of light fixtures  and was able save myself about 10k.

Now days I don't have the time to do that type of stuff.  Between the sorting and miss matched parts, it's just not worth my time, but back then it was a great deal.  Not any more.

[Big Frank]

There used to be a store or two around here that sold whatever was left after other stores burned down, and had other odds and ends. They may have had other stores' customer returns too. The only thing I remember buying was 12"x12" linoleum, not vinyl, floor tiles. If you ever want your floor done and ask to see linoleum, the salesman will likely say something like, "Sure, I have some vinyl sheeting right over here to show you." I found enough to do the bathroom floor of the mobile home I lived in for a few years, after I replaced a spongy piece of floor around the floor duct. I used self-adhesive vinyl tiles to shim the surface of the plywood up to the height of the original floor.

I read a bit about laying floor tiles before I started, made all my measurements and drew my center lines of the floor to get everything lined up. When my measurements said I would end up with 3-4" wide tiles on both sides, I drew another line 6" off center to start from, and ended up with 8-9" tiles on the sides instead. I alternated the grain of the tiles as I placed them in the adhesive I troweled on. When I got done everything matched from side to side and end for end, with no half tiles or smaller. All except where the floor made an ell where the toilet sat next to the end of the bathtub. Not many people would look at the floor behind the toilet anyway, and the rest of the floor looked great. That was the only time I ever laid floor tiles and I'm very proud of the job I did. I should have taken pictures of it to show anyone who would look.

[PegLeg45]

Yep, done that in the past when I was remodeling an apartment complex.  Bought 3 pallets  of light fixtures  and was able save myself about 10k.

Now days I don't have the time to do that type of stuff.  Between the sorting and miss matched parts, it's just not worth my time, but back then it was a great deal.  Not any more.

Back in the spring I bought two lighting fixtures for the dining room that Lowes sells for $80 each and I got them for $10 each.
Some of the stuff is items where the exterior of the box was damaged but the product wasn't and it can't be put on the shelf. My son bought a 54" ceiling fan for $15 because the plastic package with the mounting screws and wire nuts were missing from when the box corner was torn. He just reused the screws and nuts from the fan he replaced.