The things you see being 'thrown out' are written off and the store/company gets full credit for them.. if they donate them, they don't get that credit, and if they sell them at a big percentage off they also don't get full credit. The store is better off financially to throw them out than to sell them at a loss. It is a shame, but that's the way it is. It's first, last and always about the bottom line. Many places not only toss perfectly good items, they distroy them before they put them in the dumpster so that they are not usable. Many perfectly good and usable things are simply throw away to make room for a new line of merchandise or a rework of the display. And most of it comes from overseas someplace. It's no wonder prices everywhere are moving out of reach for many.