Yes, “cut outs” or remainders are a real thing in music, video and even the book sales world. And, as mentioned, it has been a means for overstocked or hard-to-sell items to be sold cheaply and more quickly.

Some items were notoriously quick to go to cut-out or remainder status. In the world of LP’s, though it sold in the millions in pre-orders, the Peter Frampton/Bee Gees “Sgt. Pepper” soundtrack was put on remainder/cut-out status in weeks. For record collectors, some LP’s are easy to find with the cut-out “notch” or a hole drilled in the corner. Sometimes the upc is cut as well.

In the book world, these items are sometimes “best sellers” or items that loose interest quickly, like political memoirs or tell-all books. The “remainder” marking on books tends to be a magic marker swipe across the back spine. Sometimes the upc will be obliterated. One chain bookstore where I worked returned the covers of “unsold” or damaged paperbacks to the publisher, by the dozens. The publisher simply asked us to “discard” the rest of the book. Even now, you will sometimes see “used” books with “no cover. “ These are likely items that were discarded by the book retailers and claimed as not able to be sold.