What Is A Bin Store and How Does It Work?

If you love discount shopping and finding deals, a bin store is the perfect place for you to shop.  Some other common names for bin stores are Amazon bin stores, bargain bins, Target liquidation stores, and overstock bin stores.  Even if you have heard of them, you may still be wondering what is a bin store and how does it work?

Bin stores are found throughout the United States and Canada.  See our directory of bin stores to find one near you.  Although there are some bin store chains with multiple locations, the majority are small family run businesses.

A bin store sells liquidation, customer return, and overstock items from retail stores which they purchase in bulk, usually by the truckload.  These items are placed into large bins for customers to dig through, and everything is sold for the same price.  You never know what you’ll find at a bin store.  When new items are restocked in the bins, the store charges the highest daily price.  Each day the price drops.  After the lowest priced day, the store will restock and the cycle restarts.  An example of a typical bin store pricing schedule is $10 Friday, $8 Saturday, $7 Sunday, $5 Monday, $3 Tuesday, $1 Wednesday, and closed to restock on Thursday.

Restock day may be expensive, but it is the best time to find hidden treasures.  There will be competition from other customers though so be prepared.  If a store consistently sells good inventory, people will be lined up hours before the store opens so they can have first dibs.  There will be both resellers and people looking for personal items.  Although there are great finds to be had, the majority of items you see on restock day at a bin store will not be worth the price.  This is where the daily price drop comes into play.  Return to the store later in the pricing cycle and if nobody else has purchased the items, you can buy them for a lower price.  Since the items are often returns, make sure to check thoroughly to ensure everything is complete and not broken.  Most stores have testing stations for this exact reason.  Bin stores usually do not accept returns.

In addition to the price dropping bin items, many bin stores have started adding in liquidation store style fixed price sections.  The stores will price these more expensive items individually instead of selling them for the daily bin pricing.  For example an item that retails for $200 may be sold in the liquidation section for a $100 fixed price, which does not change.  The reason for this is that the cost to purchase inventory has increased for bin stores.  To make a profit and stay in business, many stores have started to pull more expensive items.

Another place you can visit to get cheap items is a Goodwill bin store.  There are many locations throughout the United States.  See our directory of Goodwill bin stores to find one near you.  These stores have large bins you can dig through to find items.  However their items come from customer donations.  Many of these donations are sent to regular Goodwill thrift stores.  Items not sold in the thrift stores and excess donations are sent to the Goodwill bins. Since the items are donations, be sure to check everything for damage.

New bins with fresh inventory are switched throughout the day at the Goodwill bins.  People will crowd the bins to get the new inventory and can be aggressive in grabbing items.  The same customers usually are at the bins every single day and can sometimes act territorial which is something to keep in mind.

Instead of daily pricing, items at Goodwill bin stores are sold by the pound.  Some stores give a per pound discount if a large amount of items are purchased.  Other stores separate soft goods from hard goods, giving different pricing for each.

Bin stores are a great place to get discounted items.  If you are interested in Amazon, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Dollar General, and other retail store items, you definitely should check out a bin store near you.  Goodwill bin stores are another great place to purchase affordable used items that have been donated.  Now that you know what a bin store is and how it works, I wish you the best of luck in finding some amazing deals!