The Dark Side of Liquidation Companies Exposed
The Dark Side of Liquidation
World’s shadiest upsell just hit my phone, guys. A broker looks me dead in the eye and says, “I’ve been in the business 19 years. Straight from Amazon. Perfect for bin stores. Fifteen grand.” I pull the photos, cross-check my inbox… same exact processed load I’ve seen offered at $7,500 from a processed facility. Same pallets. Same shrink. Same angle on the forklift dent. That’s not a deal—that’s a daylight markup. Shame on that.
Welcome back to Liquidation Motivation. Today we’re ripping the bandage off: the dark side of liquidation and how to protect your money, your bins, and your sanity. Buckle up.
Is Liquidation Dying—or Just Getting Louder?
Short answer: it’s evolving, fast. For years, big warehouses (brokers) grabbed the retailer contracts, then resold them to the rest of us. That fed pallet stores, bin stores, auctions—the whole ecosystem.
Now? Auction houses and end-user platforms are buying contracts directly. They’re keeping the cream, selling the skim. End result: more processed loads dumped on the market at prices that leave no meat on the bone for you. If you buy that at “almost full” pricing, you’ll bleed out on your floor before the weekend.
We don’t care about value, we care about volume—but volume only works when the numbers make sense.
Processed Loads: Not Evil—Just Price It Like Filler
Let’s be adults. Processed isn’t a curse word. It’s filler—if the price is right. You’re paying for the leftovers after someone already cherry-picked iPads, watches, high-velocity tools, and easy online flips.
Rules of engagement:
1. Demand transparency.
If a seller won’t put “processed” in writing, walk.
2. Pay processed prices only.
If they want raw money for processed goods, that’s not a negotiation; that’s a trap.
3. Use it to top off.
Processed makes sense to bulk out a restock so bins look overflowing without betting your week on hidden jackpots.
Everybody deserves a shot at a home run. You can’t hit it if someone already took the bat out of the box.
Ops Lesson: Detecting the Grift (Before It Hits Your Dock)
Photo Forensics 101: Ask for time-stamped photos and multiple angles. Compare lighting, flooring, and pallet markers to catch copy-paste scams. If their “new” pictures match a listing you saw last week, you’ve got your answer.
Ask the raw/processed question plainly: “Has anyone touched, graded, or removed items from this load?” If they dodge, that’s your answer.
Manifest honesty test: Manifests that count damaged items as full value aren’t helpful. I’ve paid more for “manifested” only to get more broken junk.
Shipping sanity: Always ask, “Can I arrange my own freight?” If the marketplace insists on a “partner,” do the math. If freight is padded by $1,500, lower your bid by $1,500 or pass.
Cash-flow discipline: Never pre-book export containers until the goods are on your ground. A vendor held $30,000 of mine for nearly two weeks on a “ready” load that wasn’t. That’s two weeks of dead bins.
Avoid the scramble game. Consistent inventory rhythm beats hero purchases.
When Loads Bite Back: FC Dust, Home Depot Tools (or… Not)
Real talk: FC loads can swing from “Milwaukee M18 impact drills—boom!” to “mystery black dust that sent my guy home sick.” Not every win is clean. Gear up, ventilate, protect your team.
And about that Home Depot adventure: I expected tools (because I drown in Lowe’s tools weekly). What I got was tubs, toilets, cabinets, carpets—zero tools. Lesson learned. If the lane is “OP/EOP” or “GM with low tools,” believe it and buy accordingly—or don’t. I’m sticking with the Lowe’s lane that prints for us.
Takeaway: Vendors who do great on one retailer may be awful on another. Don’t make a $9,000 assumption. Ask. Verify. Then buy.
Export: The Quiet Profit Multiplier
If you’re not exploring South & Central America and the islands, you’re leaving chips on the table. Many markets can’t get this Amazon-type merchandise. They’ll often pay double relative to U.S. sell-through pricing—even after $7,000 container freight—because the alternative in those countries is fake goods at high prices.
How we pack:
Floor-load mystery and coffin boxes to max out a 40’ container. Labor down there is cheap; unloading is a non-issue.
Prioritize small boxes for bin stores abroad—faster bin fills, cleaner floor ops, happier partners.
Build two or three steady export buyers and you’ll be the one getting returned calls on the big contracts. Volume talks.
What I Recommend—Right Now
Buy what you know prints. For us: Lowe’s GM. For you: whatever consistently feeds your bins and auctions.
Processed = filler. Only at filler pricing. Never as your headline load.
Export a lane. Even one steady buyer in Panama/Caribbean can smooth out U.S. volatility.
Audit freight on every deal. If they won’t let you self-ship, you pay less—or you pass.
Call me before you wire. I’ll tell you if I know the seller (good, bad, or “they’re just flipping someone else’s flip”).
Text me: 315-778-8744. I can’t vet every human on Earth, but I know a lot of players and I’ll point you straight.
Guys, I don’t like being the angry guy. But I’d rather burn one blog than watch you torch ten grand on a pretty PDF and a padded freight bill. The dark side is real: processed loads misrepresented, double-priced pallets, shipping juice that eats your profit. But the opportunity is just as real: smart lanes, export partners, disciplined ops, and bins so full your customers film them for you.
Fill your freaking bins. Avoid the scramble game. Volume over value—every time.
Now go out there and make some money.
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