Inside the Bin Store Craze 2025
Inside the Bin Store Craze 2025
World’s loudest reload day, guys. Pallets stacked, doors locked, clock ticking. We just shut the store to flip it for tomorrow and the bins are over-the-top full. This is my small Florida spot—about two dozen bins—and it punches way above its weight. We run only FC, start at $12 day and ride it all the way down to 50¢. No cherry-picking, no sneaky pulls. The only thing we sell off the wall is tools—because we process those in the warehouse. Everything else? Straight into the bins. Shoes, electronics, toys, vanity lights, yes even food. (Moon Pies at $12 → $10 → $8 → $5? Don’t blink. They’re gone.)
Fill your freaking bins.
Fast Riffs & Real Numbers
FC > everything for bins. Piece count is king. I’m buying 7-foot FC pallets with 700–900+ items (one of today’s manifests shows 926 pieces). My cost per piece lands around 80–90¢. That lets me win on $5 and $1 days—the real money days most people sleep on.
LPN math. LPN-heavy mixes tend to hit ~$2 per piece. I’m cool blending LPN with FC as a strategy, but don’t muddy your bins with random loads that kill your average.
Shoes are quiet killers. Truckload price on Amazon shoes can be ~$3/pair. In my store they’re usually gone before $3 day. Translation: the margin is there, you just need volume in the bins.
Food sells. Internet purists hate it; customers don’t. If it’s dated right and boxed right, it moves. Volume over value.
We don’t care about value; we care about volume.
Why I Run Pure FC (and Skip Most Walmart/Target in Bins)
I love Walmart and Target by the pallet for resellers. But for bins, their piece count is inconsistent. You might pull a pallet with 20 bulky items and the next with 300 mixed. That wreaks havoc on your put-out plan and ruins your cost-per-piece rhythm. FC stays consistent—stacked to the top, tons of sellable smalls, easy to merchandise, easy to refill. Remember: your $5 and $1 days print money when your average cost per piece stays under a buck.
Avoid the scramble game.
The Leftovers Rule (a.k.a. Don’t Babysit Trash)
By the end of the cycle, we had about three bins of leftovers out of the whole store. That’s the stuff nobody thought was worth 50¢—tempered glass, odd phone cases, the random mustard-next-to-peanut-butter combo. Don’t let that junk clog your bins. Palletize it, wholesale it, or give it away. There’s a lower-end market somewhere (sometimes export buyers love nickel-and-dime bundles). Your job is to reset fast, not run a museum of orphaned screen protectors.
Volume beats babysitting. Reload > re-sorting.
The Weekly Rhythm That Wins
Our drop ladder:
Thu $12 → Fri $10 → Sat $7 → Sun $5 → Mon $3 → Tue $1 → Wed 50¢
Yes, $12 day is fun. But $5 and $1 are the profit engines when your buy costs are right. The secret isn’t the day—it’s never letting bins look half-hearted. When customers walk in, they should feel like they’re late to a gold rush.
Fill your freaking bins.
Ops Playbook (Do This and You’ll Breathe Easier)
Stay weeks ahead on inventory. If you run 6–10 pallets a week, keep 24+ pallets staged. Best setup: two trailers. One stays full; you work out of the other. When one empties, refill it. Avoid Monday-morning panic and “truck’s late” disasters.
No cherry-picking from bins. Trust builds crowds. Save the wall for specific categories you can test and price (like tools) only if your building/ops support it.
Keep the floor tight. Messy warehouse = sloppy thinking. Clean building, labeled stations, unboxing tables, rolling carts, and a plan for leftovers.
Processed loads? Label them. Processed is fine at the right price and for lower-price days. Just ask: “Has this been touched? Do you own an auction?” If boxes are sealed with factory tape and the top layer is random, you’re likely good. If it’s been picked, pay accordingly and route it to your $5 and under cadence.
Security + culture. People do funny things when the boss is in the office. Be on the floor. Train, watch, and keep replenishment moving.
Avoid the scramble game.
Big vs. Ugly (Both Can Work)
Ben down in Miami launched 160+ massive bins and crushed his grand opening. That model is gorgeous—but bring funding (you’re staring at $250K+ to do it right). On the other hand, my Atlanta store? Ugly. Concrete with carpet glue, lights missing… and it still works because the bins stay full and the deals are real. If you can build pretty, do it. If not, earn pretty. Customers chase bargains, not wall paint.
Save your damn money.
Community: Where Money Finds You
We’re starting monthly reseller meetups in Tampa Bay—liquidators, eBay folks, flea market vets, Whatnot sellers. Find a room at a pub with a side space, keep it simple: 20-minute talk + Q&A + mingle. One good connection can unlock a new stream—consistent FC connects, export buyers for leftovers, or a local who’ll take your $1-day overflows by the gaylord. Network on purpose.
Also—side quest—my Pop Culture Toy Museum project is rolling. Seven display cases down, more on deck. We’re now a certified nonprofit. Got a legendary LEGO minifig hoard, vintage Mr. Peanut, Furbies, Ninja Turtles—if you’ve got pop-culture collections and want them showcased (with a placard), let’s talk. Donations can come with tax write-offs if you transfer ownership; or keep ownership and let us display it. That’s how we’ll build the largest pop culture museum in America—one killer display at a time.
Whatnot: The New Home Shopping Network
Our Whatnot shop just crossed 10,000 followers and ~35,000 sales in about six–seven months. We’re a Premier Shop now—top row in search helps—and we tightened shipping to same-day/next-morning to keep a 4.9 rating. Is it instant profit? No. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You can fast-track with ad spend or build slow with content and consistency. But when you’re selling liquidation at 10–20% of retail and achieving 50–75% of retail on live auctions… yeah, that’s a business.
Market on all channels.
The Hard Truth (Read This Twice)
If your bin store isn’t working, it’s usually bad marketing or bad product. Fix one or both.
You need working capital: inventory (+ weeks), rent, bins, payroll, and a slush for “stuff happens.” Under-funded stores die from empty bins and late trucks.
The customer doesn’t care about your problems. They care that the bins are overflowing and the deals are legit—every single day.
Fill your freaking bins. Volume over value. Refresh weekly. Repeat.
Get in My Circle
Text me (315) 778-8744 if you’re looking at a load and want a sanity check. If I don’t answer, ping me again—I get buried. Join the text list at LiquidationMotivation.com for exclusive loads before they ever hit social. Come say hi at ASD or our Tampa Bay meetups. Like and subscribe if this kicked you in the pants.
Now go out there and make some money.
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