Warehouse Interview with Damian Polak
Warehouse Interview with Damian Polak (Chicago to Florida Tour)
Hot. Sweaty. And I freaking love it.
Damian Polak came all the way down from Chicago—snow, record winters, the whole mess—just to see what we’re building in Florida.
He said it himself:
“If there’s one person to see in Florida… it’s Tom Schultz and the Liquidation Motivation squad.”
So we gave him the tour… then filmed the tour… because this warehouse isn’t “a warehouse.”
It’s a 130,000 sq ft liquidation machine with one goal:
Touch it once. Decide where it goes. Move it fast.
The Warehouse Layout: Lowe’s + Wayfair + Everything That Pays
Right when you walk in, it’s split:
Lowe’s on one side
Wayfair furniture on the other
And if you’ve never dealt with Wayfair… here’s the reason we like it:
You’re buying at 8–10% of retail, and the retail is often $2,000–$5,000 on one item.
One sectional sale can be $1,500.
If the load cost you $6K, you sell one big piece and suddenly you’re breathing again.
The Reality of Wayfair
It’s not “easy money.”
You’re going to get:
missing box #2 of 3
incomplete sets
piles of annoying parts
But the upside?
Quality sells.
And it sells way easier than cheap furniture that nobody wanted even at retail.
Damian’s Big Point: Multi-Channel Is the Whole Game
Damian nailed it:
Multi-channel in liquidation means:
one load
one processing pass
then it gets routed into as many channels as possible
Because the customer buying:
a vanity is not the same customer buying:
cases of V8 juice or
five truckloads of flooring
Different customers = different sales channels.
And if you don’t have multiple channels…
your warehouse becomes a storage unit.
Vanities: From “Liability” to Easy Money
We walked into the vanity room and I told him the truth:
At first, I thought vanities would be hard to move.
Then I ran a simple ad:
“Vanity Blowout Sale”
Promoted.
And suddenly… vanities started moving.
Why?
Because vanities are:
heavy
annoying to load/unload
something most people don’t want to deal with
That’s why the margin exists.
And when Wayfair vanities come in?
They’re nicer than builder-grade stuff, so homeowners actually want them.
Sometimes a buyer comes in and clears them out—every vanity—and we refill when the next batch hits.
No panic buying. No scrambling.
Because we’ve got other revenue streams running daily.
Whatnot Room: Where Inventory Gets Pulled + Bins Get Filled
Then we hit the Whatnot setup.
Jeremy and Sean were getting ready to go live.
Here’s the Whatnot reality:
The hardest part is not selling.
The hardest part is consistent inventory.
When you have great inventory, you can:
promote a show ($50–$100)
pull in more viewers
convert them into followers
We talked follower count and they said we’re pushing up toward 20K.
But here’s the part most people miss:
Our Whatnot team also helps the bin store.
They pull what sells on Whatnot…
Then leftovers get dumped into bin store bins for $1 day / 50¢ day.
Because at the end of the week, we’re not trying to “protect” leftovers.
We’re trying to move.
The Turnover Question: “How fast do you get your money back?”
TDamian asked a killer question:
If a load hits the dock Monday… how fast until your money is back?
The answer depends on the load.
But if we get the right Amazon stuff?
It’s gone in a day.
Demand is insane for:
FC
LPN
pallets people can flip immediately
DG loads? Slower.
Amazon? Fast.
That’s why we always want the good stuff flowing in.
Clothing Zone: Bulk Buyers Only
TWe also have a clothing area for:
Whatnot sellers
TikTok shop sellers
flea market vendors
We sell it in bulk:
100 pieces minimum
$2 per piece
If clothing comes in, it goes straight here. Let them dig. Let them buy. Move it.
Electronics Testing + E-Bike Truckload
We hit the electronics testing center and talked about a truckload of e-bikes.
This is the truth with “high-ticket” items:
Even if retail is $1,299…
You might only be able to sell to dealers for $400–$450.
So your profit might be:
$100 per unit but if you have 50 units, that’s still:
$5,000 profit
And the only reason that works is because you have a tech guy who can:
test
fix
rewire
make it sellable
That’s value.
And Damian made the point:
You don’t always need to be 50% off retail.
If it’s an A-item, $500 off retail is still a deal people will jump on.
HighBid Auction: 500–600 Items Weekly (Pickup Only)
Next channel: HiBid.
We list with AI tools and run an online auction weekly.
500–600 items
pickup only
bigger / bulkier stuff
It’s one more funnel.
If we buy at 15% and sell at 35% consistently…
That’s a business.
Live Auction Room: The “Old-School” Buyers Bring Cash
Then we walked into the live auction room.
James (our auctioneer) jumped in and fired off a quick chant.
We do this every Saturday at noon.
Why?
Because there’s a whole segment of people who:
hate online auctions
want to see it in person
want to bid live
And it consistently pulls:
~150 people
~$10,000 per weekend
And the best part?
I don’t run it.
I fill the room.
James sells it.
I get a check.
We promote through:
AuctionZip
local Facebook groups
auctioneer’s network
Mystery Boxes: “I don’t like it… but the market wants it”
We walked past the mystery box section and said it straight:
I’m not a fan of processed boxes.
But the market is insane right now.
People can’t get real mystery boxes like they used to.
So we do it transparent:
we build them
we guarantee value
we tell buyers what it is
The problem in the industry is people building boxes and lying about it.
That’s the scam.
The Museum: Liquidators Are Collectors (It’s True)
Damian called it:
Liquidators tend to be collectors.
And we walked into the museum build.
It’s a pop culture museum project:
toys now
sports, movies, TV later
Registered nonprofit.
This is the long-term passion project—an exit lane from pure liquidation grind.
And Jerry jumped in with knowledge bombs on vintage figures (GI Joe vs Big Jim, petroleum plastics, deterioration, all of it).
That’s why you need experts when you build something real.
Dead Stock Reality: “I’ve got 50,000 sq ft of stuff I need gone”
We ended the tour with the hard truth:
Dead stock eats space.
And space is the real cost.
That’s why I’m considering pallet sale auctions:
Why ship pallets to another auction house…
when I already have an auction house?
The “Gold Pallet” Question (and the only real answer)
Damian asked what everyone asks:
“Where do I buy gold pallets?”
Here’s the truth:
Gold exists… but it’s rare.
Out of 10,000 pallets, you might see five that are true “gold.”
If you’re new, buying one pallet hoping for gold is like winning the lottery.
The gold tends to find the people who:
move big volume
handle the ugly loads
built the infrastructure
earned the calls when the real deal pops up
Target Electronics Unbox + Reality Check
We cracked a Target electronics box:
ink
chargers
accessories
case packs
And Damian warned (correctly):
Be careful with branded ink on eBay—VeRO problems can happen.
But overall?
It’s a $260K retail load (on paper).
Bought at ~10%.
Now we find out if it pays.
That’s liquidation.
Damian came down from Chicago, sweat through a Florida warehouse tour, and saw what most people don’t understand:
This business isn’t about finding perfect loads.
It’s about building a machine that can move imperfect loads through multiple channels—fast.
Now go out there and make some money.
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