Scavengers Remember these Words: “AMAZON PALLETS”

[sam_punter]

White perusing Craigslist under “Garage Sales” recently I came upon a listing saying “Amazon Pallets” for the next morning – a Friday. I drove to the location at 7AM and saw some pallets with pallet sized boxes – about 4′ high – on top of the pallets. A girl sitting at a banquet table said everything in the box was $1. $1 !!!!

Inside were some pretty cool stuff. Some items I purchased for my self like sound canceling ear buds, supplements (in date, unopened) and other stuff. But most I saw as having considerable online sale potential. Being a seller on both ebay and Amazon, I realized what these items probably were here for. Sellers on Amazon have to pay a higher storage fee after their inventory has been in their warehouse over a year. So, sellers mark items that have been listed and not sold for “Removal”. Used to be that Amazon “disposed” of this stuff by treating it as refuse – into the dumpster or recycle barrel. But recently Amazon announced they were putting the items marked for removal to be auctioned by the pallet. I’m pretty sure this is that stuff. Could also be stuff Amazon decided was “unsalable”. I still don’t know what that means and have lost a few items to this designation. All of the items had the Amazon inventory control barcode sticker that is on everything they sell.

I have made a neat profit off very little effort and expense off these pallets. Books selling for $20-$70. Some had layers of stickers on the back. I just used the Amazon seller app’s image scan to scan the front cover if the original ISBN sticker is so obscured – or the book never had one. I sold a new, boxed transistor table radio for $30. All I had into any of them was $1.

I have to assume that this business is tight lipped about the nature of their operation. I’m guessing they buy these pallets then resell the items. I saw through the door of the warehouse and the floor was full of more pallets with huge boxes, I’m assuming with the same stuff. The selling was fast and furious and I’m sure there would have been mobs there but apparently few have gotten the word yet. Perhaps the current $1 extravaganza is just a limited time ploy to get the word out by word of mouth in hopes of attracting more buyers and probably raising prices. I asked the attendant whether she’d consider just pushing the boxes onto their sides for people to be able to get to the stuff on the bottom of the box but she said she couldn’t do that so people just line the edges of the boxes and start digging stuff out and making a pile on the banquet table for the attendant to guard over for them. I spend $30 from which I’ve already made about $200 with a lot more in the pipe. I mostly send stuff into Amazon FBA but some items they won’t let me list so I do ebay with them.

I don’t know what to advise you in finding an Amazon pallet seller in your area, but do check it out. There must be more somewhere.

[IndySales]

Someone posted about something similar to this a while back. It started off at $5/item, then got cheaper throughout the week. What you found is the best way to make money from these pallets.

Depending on where you are, there’s warehouses that sell return pallets for a few hundred. You have the task of hauling them, but it probably breaks down to around the same margins depending on contents. Some of these places also have YouTube channels where they “unbox” a “random” pallet, where of COURSE there’s three 90″ TVs, ten PlayStation 4s, etc. I would just avoid these places or find someone who can vouch for them.

For good margins with lots of volume, nothing beats the Goodwill outlets, AKA the “bins.” Stuff breaks down to <$1 a pound. They are SWARMED with clothing resellers and people hunting for cheap clothing in general, but most of the other stuff is plentiful.

[Jay]

So Im confused. Are you buying an entire of pallet of stuff? Or scavenging within a pallet of items for individual items?

Why dont you think that company isnt pulling items that can sell well, and just sell the junk? I dont see how they can make $1 on items.

[sam_punter]

At the place I’m talking about everything was always $1.

I have found almost all Thrift stores devoid of anything that can be resold for a profit. Especially the big nation-wide chains like Goodwill, Savers, etc. They apparently have policys that are in practice at all locations. Only the donation centers make them money and they only keep the stores open to obfuscate their primary objective – get people to donate items they have no concept of it’s worth on the resell market. If donators knew what the stuff was worth they donated, they’d go back to Goodwill and demand it back. I tried that once when I accidentally donated something that just sold on ebay and the line was “it’s been sent on to our warehouse and there’s no way to find it or return it.”

I’ve found a few Salvation Army and Vincent De Paul stores still selling good, salable stuff. But I have all but given up on Goodwill or Savers. I don’t think they even provide much in the way of charity anymore. Their store clerks seem mostly to be very attractive young women, with the occasional one-per-store developmentally challenged person.

[sam_punter]

I don’t now what their business model is. This ‘giveaway’ may be a limited ploy to get word around that they are selling there to gain a following showing up regularly at the same time.

I am scavenging individual items from the bins. It’s pick and pull self serve. $1 each item regardless what it is or weighs.

[MyCottage]

Could be the pallets “fell off a truck” on the way to the warehouse, and the sellers are motivated to sell quickly…..But I doubt it. If the sellers got a really great deal on the pallets, they may be making good money even at a dollar an item….and with no need to research, list, ship etc. They obviously aren’t maximizing their profit, but they are probably moving it quickly.

I hope you keep finding great stuff, it sounds like a great way to source. We have Amazon warehouses in my general area, but I haven’t seen anything like this. May have to start looking….

[Author]

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