I was under the impression unsold plants were taken out back and destroyed and evidence returned to the vendor (usually a photo and the UPCs). When I worked at a store that sold books and magazines we would rip the covers off and send those back, the rest going into the trash.
Plants and produce work differently. If you buy a farmers crops you dont get to send the rotten food back to them and ask for a refund. Only very large sellers even offer that to begin with.
Also "return it back" doesnt mean the company got the same value. Some companies only give credits for the returns and sometimes those credits are less than MSRP.
If you ever see something on clearance it means A) they cant return it to get credit or B) the credit amount they will get is less than what the clearance price they are offering is
Depends on the contract and what the supplier can do. I know of a greenhouse that did take the plants back, then put them on sale there. I don't know if that is normal for plants though, or just how that one operated. Plants can also be composed to make better soil. Or they might need a few to come back which they grow for next year's seed?
For books some can go to half priced books type stores, but if there are a lot unsold it probably isn't worth the shipping.
I honestly don't know the details of what happens to the physical plants. I can't imagine they're worth the shipping to physically send back, especially for dead plants which the company was also reimbursed for. They were likely destroyed. Generally, part of the deal with the supplier reimbursing the retailer for unsold product is that the retailer then needs to prove they didn't sell the product.
