Buying guides
How liquidation pallets work, and where to buy them
Sep
You buy liquidation pallets from a liquidator or a liquidation marketplace, not from the retailer. Stores sell their customer returns, shelf pulls and overstock in bulk, and liquidators break those loads into pallets you can buy one at a time. At Dalton Liquidation that means pallets from $250 and truckloads from $6,500, shipped from Dalton, GA to all 50 states or collected at our dock.
This guide covers where the stock comes from, the three places people buy it, how an order works from listing to delivery, and who should not buy a pallet at all. Every price and count below comes from our own shop on September 29, 2026.
Can you buy pallets straight from Amazon, Home Depot or Lowe’s?
Not at the store, and not one pallet at a time. Big retailers move returns and overstock out of their warehouses in bulk, usually by the truckload, to liquidation buyers. That is why “Home Depot pallet” or “Amazon return pallet” on a listing describes where the stock came from, not who is selling it. Our Amazon return pallets and Home Depot and Target loads are named for their source; we aren’t affiliated with those retailers.
Where is the best place to buy return pallets?
It depends on how you want to buy. There are three kinds of seller, and each suits a different buyer:
| Where | How you pay | Suits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online auction marketplaces | You bid; the price is set when the auction closes | Buyers who can wait, watch lots and take full truckloads | Freight is often separate, and you don’t know your final cost until you win |
| Fixed-price liquidators, like us | A set price on every lot | Buyers who want to know the price, condition and freight before they order | Compare landed cost, not lot price; freight changes the answer |
| Local liquidation warehouses and bin stores | Cash and carry, or buy on site | Buyers within driving distance who want to see the stock | Limited to what’s on the floor that day, and you haul it yourself |
An auction can come out cheaper if you win at the right price. A buy-now price costs more on some lots and less on others, but you know the number before you order. We do both: every lot in our shop has a buy-now price, a condition line and a freight rate shown at checkout, and we also auction some lots, taking bids by phone, text or email.
What it costs to buy here
| What you buy | Lots in stock | Price range | Standard freight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pallets | 67 | $250 to $7,000 (median $800) | $25 to $85 a pallet, by region |
| Truckloads | 16 | $6,500 to $23,950 | $1,000 to $5,500 a trailer |
| Single items | 726 | $0.25 to $1,099.99 (median $29.99) | $12.99 plus $2 per item |
Freight is a bigger share of a cheap pallet than an expensive one: $85 on a $250 pallet shipped to California is a quarter of the landed cost. Our guide to pallet shipping cost works through real examples by region, including truckloads.
How buying a pallet works, step by step
- Pick a lot and read its details table. Every listing states the condition, whether there is a manifest, the piece count and the cost per unit before freight. Only 2 of our 83 lots have a manifest; the rest give a count or a range, such as “about 80 units”. Our guide to the liquidation manifest explains what that changes.
- Check the condition grade. Brand new and overstock were never sold. Shelf pulls sat on a store shelf and came off unsold. Customer returns were bought and brought back, and can be used, missing parts or not working. The difference is covered in what shelf pulls are.
- Work out the landed cost. Lot price plus freight to your state, divided by the count. Freight shows at checkout before you order.
- Choose delivery or pickup. Freight needs a loading dock or a forklift at your end, or a liftgate ($65, or $160 to a residence). Dock pickup in Dalton, GA is free, by appointment, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm Eastern.
- Place the order. Your payment options show at checkout. We confirm the order and your delivery or pickup time.
- Inspect on arrival. Write any freight damage on the driver’s receipt before you sign, and photograph the pallet before you unwrap it.
What happens if the pallet isn’t right
Everything is sold as-is, with two ways back. If 30 percent or more of a pallet arrives damaged, report it within 48 hours with photos and we refund the damaged share; on brand new, overstock and shelf-pull stock an item that doesn’t work counts as damaged, on customer returns it doesn’t. And any order can be returned within 7 days of delivery or pickup for a 10 percent restocking fee: unopened for any reason, with the return freight paid by you, or opened if it isn’t what you ordered, with the return freight paid by us. The full terms are in our refund and returns policy.
Are return pallets worth buying?
They can be, for the right buyer, and that is a question about you more than about the pallet. A customer-return lot is priced low because some of what’s on it won’t work, won’t be complete or won’t be in its box. If you can test, clean, repair and sell item by item, that is the part you are being paid for. If you can’t, a new, overstock or shelf-pull lot costs more per piece and saves the sorting. We don’t promise what a pallet will sell for, and nobody honest can: it depends on what’s on the pallet, where you sell and how much work you put in. Our pallet flipping guide works out the landed cost per item on seven real lots.
Who shouldn’t buy a liquidation pallet
- You need to know every item before you pay. Of our 83 lots, 81 are unmanifested.
- You can’t absorb items that don’t work. On customer returns, dead units don’t count toward a damage claim.
- You have no dock, no forklift and no budget for liftgate delivery.
- Your buyers expect store-perfect packaging. Shelf pulls can have worn boxes and clearance stickers.
- You would rather buy one item than one pallet. Our single items start at $0.25 and ship on their own.
How to check a liquidation seller before you pay
Look for four things on any seller’s site: a fixed or clearly stated price, freight quoted before you pay, a real place you can collect from, and a written damage rule. Be wary of a “deal” that only exists in a private message, or pressure to pay before you have an order. Our scam alert lists our only website, email and phone number, so you can check a message really came from us.
When you’re ready, every lot, with its price, condition and count, is on our liquidation pallets page, and full loads are under truckloads. Before a truckload, read the 8 things our buyer checks; to weigh us against other sellers, see our comparison of liquidation websites.
