Maybe you could send a nice box, something kind of evoking a coffin without being overly morbid, and present it as something like a funeral service. Maybe when you receive the "body" you could clean it up and take a nice photo to remember it by.

Upsell opportunity - 3D scan the beloved stuffy, so that it can live forever in the Metaverse.

Another upsell - cremation. Get a little pendant with the ashes, or spread them into a forest, or something similar.

Only half joking, although something about the idea felt a little gross as soon as "upsell opportunity" entered my mind.

I absolutely love these! I already take pictures of things to remember the memories that are evoked by those objects. A 3D scan would be wonderful imo. Maybe even giving people the ability to recreate the item should they truly want it back for some reason.

You could also provide some sort of bulk deal too, for people who have whole boxes of stuffed animals. Though I dont know how that would fit into the whole theming without it feeling like some sort of mass murder box lmao

Haha, right - as I was thinking about it I was feeling simultaneously sentimental and ghoulish.

Like, "aww, what a sweet idea, to respectfully retire and preserve someone's well loved toy," and then at the same time "yes, it would be easy to make money here by mass-cremating someone's well loved toys".

The line between the two feelings is apparently pretty thin. Perhaps I'll just stay out of the funeral industry lol

In Japan, they actually have Shinto services for respectfully burning old dolls that won’t be passed on to the next generation.