Returns.

Reasons for return.
There are several reasons why products may be returned to a shop, including: Much of the equipment is returned within hours or on the following day, yet it is not faulty. The customer only needs to say it is faulty, and they get a refund or a replacement.

What happens to returned goods.
Once a product has been sold to a customer, regardless of reason for return, the retailer cannot sell it again as new. As the retail chains deal in new products, at a very low price, they have absolutely no interest in trying to sell the product in their shop.
Even if the product was sold just an hour back, and is still sealed in a poly bag in the box, it is of no use to them now. If it is faulty or missing parts, they cannot return it to the manufacturer.
It is not even worth their time testing it to see if it really is faulty, so they load the products on pallets and sell them off cheap by the pallet load.

The opportunity to save or make money.
These scrapped goods open up opportunities to save money, or even make money selling on perfectly good equipment on markets or car-boot sales.
Much of this equipment actually works, and much of that which is faulty can be fixed for a very small cost. If you are not into the risk of whether they work, then these products are available ready working and tested at a lower price than the retailers.
Having spent several weeks researching and looking at this equipment, I hope to be bringing you some more information:
  Specific products,
  Specific makes and models,
  Reasons for return,
  Fault statistics,
  Repair statistics.
Having worked on the equipment, I have found it possible to get enough tested or repaired at minimal cost and make some decent profit.

DVD players.

Models.
The models studied here are the Proline 1250, 1260 and 1350. These are generally available from Comet electrical stores across the UK.

Worth fixing?
These models retail at around 20 to 30 Pounds in the retail outlets. While this low price may normally rule out repair, a good fast turnover can make it worthwhile... as long as you are able to sell them on.
So, for the figures:
From a standing start, never having seen these models before, there is no reason why you should not be able to fix 25 or more per day. As you get used to them, you can seriously increase this as they are common faults.
Components should not come to much.

How it went for me.
I got around 95% of the DVD players I looked at working without buying in any parts.
I have to admit, there was a little cheating there. The odd unit arrives with the case damaged, so can be used for components to get others going. Often this can be as simple as changing a complete DVD deck, a quick enough job.
Taking into account the cost of all units, including the scrappers, a good day's repairs can make around 200 Quid profit. The only question then is the time selling them on.

Warning!.
Once the cover is off, the power supply is open and it is very possible to touch the mains side of the power supply.
Please take great care when working on this kind of equipment, as the low voltage circuits can make you forget all about the mains supply just waiting to get you.
Be sure to unplug supply before opening the cover on any mains equipment.

Reasons for return: 1250.
With the 1250s, very few were faulty. Why, I hear you ask, were they returned. Well, I am glad you asked that.
Two words come to mind... warranty fraud.
Many consumers are returning products, claiming them to be faulty, just to get money back or a new player. The clues are often there to be seen in the return note, timing and poor excuses like "doesn't work properly".
The shop doesn't check, time is money and they do not want to offend customers, so they have a no quibble replacement policy that guarantees the cheat a new player at any time within the first year.

Reasons for return: 1260.
For the 1260, the most common fault was no eject. A faulty motor (on the right hand side in the picture) is usually to blame. This can sometimes be fixed, without even taking the motor apart. The other option is to take a motor from one of the scrap units.
Another common problem was the remote not working. Usually a simple case of solder where it should not be - across connections.


Reasons for return: 1350.
The 1350s are a real strange one, faulty operator. Blank blue screen, not even the DVD screen appearing on power up. To be fair, the manufacturer made it simple for the user to hit the wrong button on the remote control. This was bad enough, but the instructions in the manual do not correctly explain how to recover the picture after granny hit the wrong button.
The number of these returned with this problem just shows just how poor the decision was to include a button on the remote which could kill the display on most TVs.
Nice simple one, hit the button that they hit until you get the picture, then go into the setup menu and reset all to standard. Job done.
This is not the only model of DVD where this happens, it has also been seen on the 1260. Same cure, hit the button to get a picture and go to setup.