Where do they go after returning to a Target, Walmart or, any retailer? 

Usually taped up and put back on the shelf...... Lol. At least in my area.

or to ravenb99

55 minutes ago, iahawks550 said:

Usually taped up and put back on the shelf...... Lol. At least in my area.

same with mine too.

most of the time you see some slight discount but I would think most people stay away from them so they don't have to deal with missing pieces.

I once returned an unopened Sea Cow to Walmart due to some exterior box creasing (this was before it was going EOL, otherwise would have kept it), and the employee shook the box and heard "loose pieces" i tried to explain this was probably the boat pieces which are not in bags due to their size (which it was) but they didn't believe me and ripped the thing open told me it had been opened by someone.

Anyways they didn't give me too much trouble, but the manager said they couldn't sell it and to throw it in the "claims" pile. No idea what happens to those products, maybe disposed of? Shame.

I've returned two large exclusives with damaged boxes to Walmart. They told me it gets sent back to the warehouse. I've always looked up stock there thereafter to see if it comes up on the shelves. Never does. However YMMV as I've found 3 UCS Ties returned for 30 bucks a pop at another walmart. I could tell the were returned as they never carry the exclusives and one box was taped.

I've received a couple of taped boxes from amazon. I always return them obviously, but it's a pain because you don't get a full refund for shipping. So yeah, I think they just sell them again until they find someone that doesn't care.

17 minutes ago, c_rpg said:

I've received a couple of taped boxes from amazon. I always return them obviously, but it's a pain because you don't get a full refund for shipping. So yeah, I think they just sell them again until they find someone that doesn't care.

If you're getting charged for return shipping on a damaged box from Amazon you're doing it wrong. Contact customer service.

I was returning purchase worth roughly about 500GBP due 3 4 2 at Argos back in November, girl from Customer Service decided to open every Technic Porsche Box by peeling off original seals with hers  (about inch and half) long fake nails completely damaging the box around those areas, I was literally face palming at the scene when realized  what is she doing but remained calm until she finished her job.