After my little sister had her first child and realized how expensive baby stuff is, she started a lucrative side-hustle and ran with it for years. Basically, she bought baby stuff from a warehouse that got their inventory from returns at large retailers like Target and Walmart. She focused almost entirely on baby strollers, but also backyard swing sets for kids, and got it all for pennies-on-the-dollar. She became friendly with the customer service repos at the stroller manufacturers and could usually get replacement parts for free (it's a warranty replacement if the service rep says it is). She knew all the stroller model numbers and their associated various part numbers. She got really good at repairing the strollers in her garage, and then flipping them on Craigslist. Her garage looked like a baby stroller showroom. She made decent money doing it, but the best part is her "customers" (other new mothers, most of them poor) were always so happy and appreciative because of the deal they were getting. Everyone was happy.
The real secret sauce to her side-hustle was the relationship she had with the lady who managed the warehouse where she bought the baby stuff. The warehouses usually have auctions on large lots or pallets of stuff; you bid on whatever's on the pallet, you've got no choice. The lady used to let my sister come to the warehouse periodically (usually just before a big auction) and cherrypick what she wanted, which was always the baby strollers and swing sets. The side-hustle wouldn't have worked without that. (My sister (and her husband) used to flip houses, too, and I think she sold the warehouse lady a house.)
> The real secret sauce to her side-hustle was the relationship she had with the lady who managed the warehouse where she bought the baby stuff. The warehouses usually have auctions on large lots or pallets of stuff; you bid on whatever's on the pallet, you've got no choice. The lady used to let my sister come to the warehouse periodically (usually just before a big auction) and cherrypick what she wanted, which was always the baby strollers and swing sets. The side-hustle wouldn't have worked without that. (My sister (and her husband) used to flip houses, too, and I think she sold the warehouse lady a house.)
Did she bribe the warehouse manager explicitly or just implicitly via some quid pro quos?
Interesting and impressive hustle, and some delicate lines to be careful of.
> She became friendly with the customer service repos at the stroller manufacturers and could usually get replacement parts for free [...] The real secret sauce to her side-hustle was the relationship she had with the lady who managed the warehouse where she bought the baby stuff.
I think both of these could be OK. Such as if it was within the manager's/rep's authority to do this, and it was aligned with the business.
(For example, the appropriate level of decision-making might have decided that the business gets better rates, or has lower headaches, from letting certain good buyers cherry-pick. And a quality brand of baby stroller might prefer not to see the brand associated with "broken" strollers on the used market, and has an interest in someone repairing them, even if that cannibalized some new sales.)
> and I think she sold the warehouse lady a house.
Where I'd guess this might be a problem is if some question came up over whether the warehouse manager was supposed to be letting cherry-picking happen, and then there's this big-ticket transaction, in which the manager, hypothetically, could've gotten a quid pro quo deal (e.g., preferential access, or a discount on fees, or even discounted pricing).
I’ve looked at many founders I considered successful, and they all had some card to play that others either: no longer could because the law changed, a relationship nobody else had, or was outright illegal but didn’t matter
I would say that there are no rules, only consequences. Or, the consequences are the rule.
I am surprised at all the legal nitpick and enforcement-oriented scrutiny about the warehouse lady in this thread. Women with small children form informal networks - it is as old as dirt. What is the actual net value of these industrial goods anyway? excess retail inventory is excess for a reason - there is so much of it, it is cheap to make in large quantities.
It is almost like the legalistic, rule oriented mindset of techies plus the isolated in-the-spotlight story here invites a sort of dog pile of finger wagging. Does anyone have any idea how much random preferential treatment is involved in commerce overall ? Some mid-level after-market warehouse manager just has to get busted for this benevolent side hustle with a person of their choice, over baby supplies? Sure strictness has some virtues but overall with this story, give the people a break and find something actually significant and monetarily weighty to pick on..
Slightly related - I overheard a little argument at my local (hospital charity) thrift store yesterday.
Turns out some of the volunteers were marking down items - which may be within their authority to do - and then buying these marked down items for themselves ... before they even hit the store shelves. Oops.
I was in a charity shop recently and the manager explained to me that a big pile of recently-arrived stock (of clothing in this case) was not yet for sale because it hadn't been picked by the volunteers yet.
Since the shop is staffed by unpaid volunteers they get first bite at anything coming in. I gather they pay normal rates for whatever they take.
I have no problem with this at all. This seems like the very least perk they could be offered. Frankly, if I was running the place each volunteer would get their stuff for free (up to some value per month.)
Very adjacent, but if you have an infant or a small child, look for a “Buy Nothing” group in your area. It’s a gifting group and makes the cost of caring for a young child much more manageable. Clothes, diapers, formula, toys, other care items. It was absolutely crucial for us with our little one.
And you can feed all your unused stuff into it as well.
This was a rabbit hole I was not prepared for tonight.
Target electronics returns - auction ends tomorrow, current bid $200.
The stuff in there I'd be semi interested in: $500?
Total value: ~$9000 @ 300 pounds in a box in Kentucky.
Okay. Lets say this auction ends around $1000.
You then pay an 11% premium, $1110.
Shipping 300 pounds from Kentucky to Pennsylvania? $500, maybe?
$1600 later, you get a whole slew of sellable good that you got at nearly 17 cents to the dollar.
Sell most of it off and you've got yourself a years worth of free legos.
What? she was fixing strollers?? ask her to STOP immediately and pray none of the customers will sue if the stroller breaks and child is hurt in the process. Your little sister has no idea in what kind of trouble she might be and could be criminally liable and state attorneys do not play nice when it comes to neglect of children wellbeing. Unsure which state this is in, but most have 5 years statue, so if she stops selling today she should be in clear by May 30, 2029. Please pray for her!
Would you also recommend parents not sell or give away strollers or toys, lest they be sued in the event of an injury? I've been on both sides of these transactions (and am a lawyer), and it never occurred to me that a lawsuit might occur.
I'm also unaware of any possible criminal liability — this seems even more farfetched than the notion of a civil lawsuit.
Tons of big-box and department stores do this. It's not just Target.
Where do you think all those "open box" items on eBay come from, from sellers with 50,000 reviews? When a single seller has 18 Logitech mice of the exact same model, and won't show you photos of the one you'll receive, but guarantees that it's functional and has no major cosmetic damage?
They buy pallets of returned and excess merchandise for cheap, go to all the work of making listings and setting prices and shipping it all, and (hopefully) turn a profit at the end of the day.
There are a lot of product categories -- including things like computer peripherals and accessories, or department store suits -- that are known to be extremely overpriced when bought at retail. While on eBay they can go from reasonably priced to downright cheap.
From what I've seen on Ebay in the last couple of years, it seems like this kind of stuff isn't all that cheap any more. Like the sellers saw the inflation going on in the US, and decided that was a good excuse to double or triple their prices for overstock stuff.
> A Target spokesperson confirmed to Modern Retail that the company that runs the Bullseye Deals account does buy salvage merchandise from Target and sells it.
You can buy Target return/overstock pallets at auction, and a deals account likely just resells that. Target doesn’t have to deal with it on an item level at that point.
Target does have some really restrictive rules on those pallets however that Bullseye deals doesn't seem to follow so they have either some form of an agreement in place where they don't have to or they're just a spinoff totally-not-target corp.
Can confirm, bought a pair of jeans from Bullseye Deals on eBay for under $9. It was the same as the in-store Target brand (Goodfellow & Co.), same tags and everything. One of the most comfortable jeans I own.
> Retailers are often unable to put returned items back on the shelves if, for example, a box gets opened or a product gets lightly used before being returned.
Not so my local Walmart. I returned a jar of peanut butter that turned out to be open (the seal under the lid). That type was sold out; I took the last one without checking. Ten minutes later, I went to that shelf and see that it was still sold out. No wait, there is one, again! OMG, is that the one I just returned? I unscrew the lid: yep, broken seal.
Restocking an open food item returned by a customer is gross.
I worked for target 2021-2022 during their massive inventory crunch and selloff. Most of the excess, damaged/returns and recalled product gets sold off to salvage companies for pennies on the dollar by the truckload.
Very interesting article. Even more interesting when you consider Target used to sell on eBay directly from ~2012-2018.
They gave the expected diplomatic corporate answer at the time as to why they left, saying they were focusing on their own direct digital efforts instead, but I have reasons to suspect Target may have encountered some not insignificant triangulation fraud issues on eBay that could have factored into the decision to stop selling there as well.
why do you have to assume fraud? it could just be a big effort / PITA to do the auctions.
there is a reason why "channel sales" are a thing, as are VARs, etc. sell to a few middlemen and let them deal with ebay auctions and other petty details
I know that Target sells excess inventory on secondipity. I've got a few extremely good deals there, on kitchen appliances, Gillette razor blades, other stuff. All appeared to be in brand-new condition.
Sometime started a fire in a backyard fire pit, IN my local target. Due to smoke damage, they donated almost the entire store inventory to the local goodwill, who in turn (based on my past experience volunteering there) probably threw 90% of it away.
Anecdotally, I bought a hoodie from GOAT offer and had it show up with the tags from a large department store still attached. I don't care, and it's the most comfortable hoodie I've ever owned (Essentials), but there are definitely more liquidation channels in use than we think.
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The real secret sauce to her side-hustle was the relationship she had with the lady who managed the warehouse where she bought the baby stuff. The warehouses usually have auctions on large lots or pallets of stuff; you bid on whatever's on the pallet, you've got no choice. The lady used to let my sister come to the warehouse periodically (usually just before a big auction) and cherrypick what she wanted, which was always the baby strollers and swing sets. The side-hustle wouldn't have worked without that. (My sister (and her husband) used to flip houses, too, and I think she sold the warehouse lady a house.)
Did she bribe the warehouse manager explicitly or just implicitly via some quid pro quos?
It wouldn’t surprise me if the owner felt good about doing this.
Yes.
> She became friendly with the customer service repos at the stroller manufacturers and could usually get replacement parts for free [...] The real secret sauce to her side-hustle was the relationship she had with the lady who managed the warehouse where she bought the baby stuff.
I think both of these could be OK. Such as if it was within the manager's/rep's authority to do this, and it was aligned with the business.
(For example, the appropriate level of decision-making might have decided that the business gets better rates, or has lower headaches, from letting certain good buyers cherry-pick. And a quality brand of baby stroller might prefer not to see the brand associated with "broken" strollers on the used market, and has an interest in someone repairing them, even if that cannibalized some new sales.)
> and I think she sold the warehouse lady a house.
Where I'd guess this might be a problem is if some question came up over whether the warehouse manager was supposed to be letting cherry-picking happen, and then there's this big-ticket transaction, in which the manager, hypothetically, could've gotten a quid pro quo deal (e.g., preferential access, or a discount on fees, or even discounted pricing).
I’ve looked at many founders I considered successful, and they all had some card to play that others either: no longer could because the law changed, a relationship nobody else had, or was outright illegal but didn’t matter
I would say that there are no rules, only consequences. Or, the consequences are the rule.
It is almost like the legalistic, rule oriented mindset of techies plus the isolated in-the-spotlight story here invites a sort of dog pile of finger wagging. Does anyone have any idea how much random preferential treatment is involved in commerce overall ? Some mid-level after-market warehouse manager just has to get busted for this benevolent side hustle with a person of their choice, over baby supplies? Sure strictness has some virtues but overall with this story, give the people a break and find something actually significant and monetarily weighty to pick on..
Turns out some of the volunteers were marking down items - which may be within their authority to do - and then buying these marked down items for themselves ... before they even hit the store shelves. Oops.
Since the shop is staffed by unpaid volunteers they get first bite at anything coming in. I gather they pay normal rates for whatever they take.
I have no problem with this at all. This seems like the very least perk they could be offered. Frankly, if I was running the place each volunteer would get their stuff for free (up to some value per month.)
And you can feed all your unused stuff into it as well.
Target electronics returns - auction ends tomorrow, current bid $200. The stuff in there I'd be semi interested in: $500? Total value: ~$9000 @ 300 pounds in a box in Kentucky.
Okay. Lets say this auction ends around $1000. You then pay an 11% premium, $1110. Shipping 300 pounds from Kentucky to Pennsylvania? $500, maybe?
$1600 later, you get a whole slew of sellable good that you got at nearly 17 cents to the dollar.
Sell most of it off and you've got yourself a years worth of free legos.
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Dead Comment
Remember, if you don't spend at least a thousand on a brand new pushchair, you're a terrible, negligent parent.
I'm also unaware of any possible criminal liability — this seems even more farfetched than the notion of a civil lawsuit.
She’s selling on Craigslist/FB marketplace. People aren’t expecting perfection.
Where do you think all those "open box" items on eBay come from, from sellers with 50,000 reviews? When a single seller has 18 Logitech mice of the exact same model, and won't show you photos of the one you'll receive, but guarantees that it's functional and has no major cosmetic damage?
They buy pallets of returned and excess merchandise for cheap, go to all the work of making listings and setting prices and shipping it all, and (hopefully) turn a profit at the end of the day.
There are a lot of product categories -- including things like computer peripherals and accessories, or department store suits -- that are known to be extremely overpriced when bought at retail. While on eBay they can go from reasonably priced to downright cheap.
Not so my local Walmart. I returned a jar of peanut butter that turned out to be open (the seal under the lid). That type was sold out; I took the last one without checking. Ten minutes later, I went to that shelf and see that it was still sold out. No wait, there is one, again! OMG, is that the one I just returned? I unscrew the lid: yep, broken seal.
Restocking an open food item returned by a customer is gross.
They gave the expected diplomatic corporate answer at the time as to why they left, saying they were focusing on their own direct digital efforts instead, but I have reasons to suspect Target may have encountered some not insignificant triangulation fraud issues on eBay that could have factored into the decision to stop selling there as well.
there is a reason why "channel sales" are a thing, as are VARs, etc. sell to a few middlemen and let them deal with ebay auctions and other petty details