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I thought the larger sized paperbacks were also destroyed by ripping the covers off. I am not certain about hardbacks--they may in fact be remaindered or get special consideration.
It's also been a long while since I researched that. For an indie to sell in a bookstore or at a signing, said indie is usually selling on consignment (essentially, I bring the books, the bookstore buys them from me at a given price. I then sell whatever and the bookstore keeps the difference. At the end of the signing, I buy back any that did not sell, perhaps leaving two or three that the bookstore agrees to shelf in hopes of selling).
Not all stores are set up to do this (or willing to do it). Most booksellers prefer that more that one author do a signing at the same time. There's better traffic for everyone and less dead time. It also tends to sell more books unless the author is a large enough name.
The library used to do signings. They would order a large amount of books for the signings, but had to have agreements in place to ship back or destroy any that did not get sold. It was a huge expense and usually a waste of materials because for every signing I saw, we had at least one box leftover (25 to 50 books). And because the library (like a bookstore) is not going to be out any money if they don't sell, always over ordered.
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