Buying Liquidation Pallets

A pallet is roughly 48×40 inches and stacked up to about six feet — somewhere between 150 and 1,200 individual units depending on category. It is small enough to fit in a garage and cheap enough that a bad call costs you a weekend, not a quarter.

1. Pick a category you can sell

The best first pallet is in a category you already know something about. General merchandise gives you variety and forgiving price points. Tools give you higher unit values. Apparel moves fast if you have a market for it. Electronics are the highest ceiling and the highest risk — leave those until you've done a few sorts.

2. Read the condition, not just the price

Overstock and shelf-pull pallets cost more per unit but sort in a fraction of the time. Customer-return pallets are cheaper and will contain some units that are broken, incomplete or missing. Both are good buys — they're just different businesses.

3. Quote your freight before you commit

Single pallets ship LTL. If you don't have a dock or a forklift, you need liftgate service, and that adds cost. Our checkout captures your delivery type and our freight desk returns a firm rate to your ZIP within one business day — before anything ships.

4. Sort ruthlessly, price realistically

Split into three piles: sellable as-is, needs work, and scrap. Price the first pile at what your local or online market actually pays. Most successful resellers clear 2.5× to 4× their all-in pallet cost within 30 days.