How to run an online pallet auction: a playbook for liquidators

This playbook follows one auction night on Two Bro Sales, from building lots to releasing payouts. The rules here are how the platform works today, and judgement calls are marked as such. New to the platform? Start with what sellers get on Two Bro Sales.

Plan your auction night

Most sellers schedule auctions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 7 pm Eastern; each auction shows its own times. That is a habit, not a rule: you set the open time, the first close and the pickup window for every auction. Evening closes suit buyers who run a store or a booth during the day.

An auction is a catalog on your storefront. You build it as a draft, and publishing needs an open time, a first close, a pickup location and at least one lot. After that the timing is locked: you can unpublish only before the first bid and before any lot has closed.

Open bidding a few days early so buyers can read manifests, and start the pickup window after buyers have had time to pay. The pickup guide written for buyers shows what they plan around.

Lotting: case, pallet, multi-pallet or truckload

The load type tells a buyer what vehicle to bring and how much cash a lot ties up, so it decides who can bid.

Lot by what a buyer can value: one category in one condition beats a pallet that mixes electronics with seasonal decor. Pick the condition that fits; the conditions guide explains each. Lead titles with category, condition and size, such as “Customer returns small kitchen appliances, 2 pallets”, and leave store names out (see naming retailers). Photograph the whole pallet, the labels, the best items and the worst. Sold lots with neither a photo nor a manifest are kept out of search results.

Manifests and the CPSC recall check

A manifest is the item-level list for a lot: description, quantity and unit retail, plus SKU, UPC, category and condition if you have them. Upload a CSV from your supplier portal or spreadsheet, or paste it, then map the columns. A manifest can run to 5,000 lines, and the lot's unit count and manifest retail fill in from it.

The import won’t run until you confirm that you checked the manifest against CPSC recalls and removed recalled items. The CPSC's resellers guide is blunt: “It is illegal to sell any recalled product.” It puts recalls at 300 to 500 products in an average year.

• Search the CPSC recall database by brand and model, high-risk lines first.
• Take extra care with cribs, bassinets and other infant products: the CPSC says not to resell broken or incomplete ones even without a recall.
• Remove recalled goods physically and delete their lines before you import.

Only manifested lots can be claimed against, and the manifest locks once bidding starts. Lots without one sell as-is; the manifest guide explains how buyers weigh the two. Your results tab shows recovery as the winning bid divided by manifest retail, so inflating retail only makes recovery look worse.

Reserves, Buy Now and start prices

A start price is an invitation, not a floor; the reserve is the floor. Set it at the lowest price you would accept, because an unmet reserve means no sale and a lot to relist. Never call a reserve lot absolute. Pricing locks when a lot opens or takes its first bid.

Bid increments and the soft close

Buyers use proxy bidding: each enters a maximum, and the system bids only what it takes to lead. Nobody, you included, sees maximums. Ties go to the earlier bid, and bids are binding.

The soft close stops sniping. A bid in a lot's final 2 minutes moves that lot's close to 2 minutes after the bid, again and again until 2 minutes pass without one. Other lots keep their times.

Lots close 30 seconds apart in lot-number order, so a buyer who loses lot 12 can chase lot 13. In a 60-lot auction the last scheduled close falls 29.5 minutes after the first, before extensions. The auctions guide covers the bidder's side.

Who can bid: vetting buyers

You don’t screen bidders. Buyers register once and upload a resale certificate (Georgia Form ST-5 or their state's equivalent; business registration in states without sales tax), and a person approves the account before it can bid. No consumers bid, so your bidders are businesses: bin stores, discount and flea-market sellers, online resellers and exporters. New buyers start with a $2,500 limit on open bids, which the Two Bro Sales team raises as they pay invoices.

Your own list matters most. Buyers who register through the invite link on your dashboard's Buyers page are house accounts and pay no buyer fee on your lots; marketplace buyers pay 5%, capped at $500, to Two Bro Sales. Your seller fee is the same either way. The Form ST-5 guide explains the certificate, and your CPA can tell you what records to keep for sales for resale.

Payment and non-payers

Invoices are due within 2 business days of the close: card up to $2,500, bank transfer (ACH) above that, through Stripe. Two Bro Sales collects the money and holds your payout until pickup. If the deadline passes, mark the invoice defaulted on the order page (you can’t while a bank payment is still settling). Then:

• The buyer owes a non-payment fee of the greater of $100 or 10% of the winning bid: $100 on a $400 lot, $300 on a $3,000 lot.
• The buyer takes a strike; 2 strikes suspend the account.
• The lot comes back to you: offer it to the next bidder from the order page, or relist it. There is no payout and no seller fee.

The runner-up is often the quickest sale: under proxy bidding, the winning price sits about one increment above the runner-up's maximum.

Pickup, pickup codes and the BOL

Pickup is local, at your warehouse. You don’t ship and Two Bro Sales doesn’t broker freight, though buyers may send their own carrier. Once paid, the buyer gets a pickup code and is told to bring:

• Your pickup code (released once the invoice is paid).
• A photo ID for the person signing for the goods.
• A vehicle or trailer that fits the load, or your own freight carrier.

At the dock, confirm on the order page with the six-character code (it must match) and the signer’s name, and attach a photo of the load or the signed bill of lading (BOL). That confirmation starts your payout. Stage paid lots with the lot number on each pallet, photograph each one as it leaves, and set storage and abandonment rules in your terms. The buyer’s pickup guide shows what out-of-town buyers plan for.

Claims on manifested lots

Claims are narrow: manifested lots only, within 48 hours of pickup, through the order page with photos. Shortages under 5% of manifest retail aren’t claimable, and the remedy is a pro-rata refund of the winning bid, worked out on manifest retail. As-is lots have no claim window.

You respond within two business days, Two Bro Sales decides, and an upheld claim is deducted from the held payout, or from your next payout or an invoice if that payout has already been released. Count high-value lines before you wrap and keep your loading photos.

Prohibited items

These can’t be listed on Two Bro Sales at all:

• Recalled items
• Hazardous materials
• Alcohol
• Tobacco and vape products
• Firearms and ammunition
• Drugs, including prescription medicines and controlled substances
• Counterfeit or unauthorized brand-name goods
• Anything that requires a license to resell

They surface in customer-returns loads, so sort for them before you manifest, and pull anything branded that looks counterfeit. Buyers can report a listing that breaks these rules.

Naming the source retailer

Most retailer liquidation contracts forbid naming the source and require store labels to come off before resale. For example:

• Amazon’s US liquidation terms bar advertising goods with Amazon as the seller or previous owner, in any context.
• Target’s liquidation terms bar using Target’s name in advertising without written permission.
• Costco’s liquidation terms bar disclosing that inventory came from Costco.
• Home Depot’s liquidation terms bar identifying Home Depot as the source.

If you buy first-hand from these sales, assume you can’t name the store. Your seller agreement says to name a retailer only where your supply agreement permits it, to describe the source generically otherwise, and that you answer for any name you choose.

On the lot form, tick “I am permitted to name the source retailer” only if your agreement allows it. Lot pages that name a source say it is as stated by the seller and that Two Bro Sales is not affiliated with that retailer. Keep store names out of titles and descriptions: a lot whose text names a store that isn’t in the Source field is kept out of search results. Generic descriptions still sell, such as “big-box general merchandise returns” or “online-marketplace returns, small electronics”.

Do you need an auctioneer license?

You are the seller of record on every lot you list, so you need your own answer. This is Two Bro Sales' current reading for Georgia, as it appears on the sellers page:

If you hold a license, add the number in your storefront settings. If you don’t, talk to a Georgia attorney before your first auction night.

Get your warehouse on Google Maps

Google answers many searches for liquidation pallets nearby with map results from Business Profiles. Two Bro Sales has no Business Profile and won’t create one, because no customers visit it. Your warehouse may qualify for its own.

Google says only businesses that make face-to-face contact with customers are eligible. The profile must be for your real location, not a virtual office or a mailbox, with permanent signage showing your business name. A signed dock where buyers collect in set hours can fit; a home address or an unsigned storage unit is unlikely to. Read Google’s guidelines first.

Google's Maps policy bans review incentives and asking only happy customers, and the FTC's reviews rule, in force since October 21, 2024, bans incentives tied to whether a review is positive or negative.

What it costs to sell

The seller fee is 2% of the winning bid, capped at $500 a lot, so the cap applies above $25,000. There are no listing, setup or per-bid fees, and founding sellers pay no seller fee for 90 days. Buyer fees never come out of your payout: house accounts pay none, and marketplace buyers pay 5%, capped at $500.

Is selling liquidation pallets profitable? It is when your winning bids beat your buy cost plus labour, and that varies lot by lot; Two Bro Sales doesn’t promise any resale value. Compare each lot's recovery on your results tab with what you paid as a share of manifest retail. Run the numbers in the seller fee calculator, or see the sellers page.

Seller FAQ

How do I start a pallet liquidation business?

Secure repeatable supply, a dock buyers can reach, a forklift or pallet jack, and time to sort and manifest. Set up your registration and sales tax with a CPA, settle the licensing question, then open a storefront and invite your buyers. Start with a small auction night and lot the next one around what sold.

Can I bring buyers I already have?

Yes. Buyers who join through your invite link are house accounts and pay no buyer fee on your lots.

Can I change a lot after publishing?

Not once it opens or takes a bid. You can still import a manifest while the lot is scheduled with no bids.

Do I have to ship?

No. Pickup is local, and buyers may send their own carrier.

Can I sell at a fixed price?

Yes: list a lot as Buy now only, or give an auction lot a Buy Now price that lasts until the first bid.