Explaining pallet flipping and how it can earn you money

PHOENIX — Are you looking for a way to save some money? 

You may need to look no further than your nearest liquidation warehouse, where you can score some fantastic deals on mostly returned items from big box stores and online retailers that have been discounted for shoppers, and you could even make some extra cash by reselling the items. 

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12News got the scoop on the latest trend of pallet flipping and learned how you can get started if you’re looking to try something new to earn some extra cash.

Purchasing a wrapped pallet isn’t for everyone, but for those either looking for a great deal or hoping to make an extra buck by reselling items you purchase, it’s a new and different option to do just that

“I dabble,” said Andi Barness, who used to be a TV host and reporter.

And a lot of her dabbling involves trying new things and getting great deals.

Recently, she tried something new.

“I decided to try my hand at purchasing an Amazon pallet,” she said.

The pallets, which are 6 feet tall, cost $500 each.

Barness says when she looked into it, she learned the fun of it all is that what’s inside remains a mystery until you purchase it.

“It’s from returns, you don’t know what’s going to be in it,” she said. “So it’s kind of like Christmas, you don’t know what you’re going to find.”

Barness ended up buying two pallets, and when she got them, she discovered all sorts of odds and ends. Some of the items were more valuable than others.

“If you have a place to sell your Amazon stuff, resell it, then that’s great,” said Barness. “But if you’re a mom like me, and you don’t want people coming to your house and you don’t want to deal with people messaging you saying ‘is it still available’ and then they’re never going to reach out to you again… it was a lot.”

So, she ended up keeping some of it, and the rest she put up for sale at a garage sale, where she sold it all in one day. 

12News went to one of the places that sells these items, called Wrapped Pallets in north Phoenix, to check it out.

General manager Sharon Barnes says flipping pallets can be profitable.

“You can make good money,” Barnes said. “I mean, we will have things come in our pallet that range anything from an item that we’re not going to be able to sell for much more than $7 or $8, but we get treasures in our pallets every once in a while… we just had a $1,700 blender come in.” 

Barnes says she’s seen plenty of people buy wrapped pallets full of returned items and resell the items to earn extra cash.

“Put them up on one of the other auction sites and see what you can sell them for,” Barnes said. “You can also sell them in flea markets and garage sales… they make good money doing it.”

But for people like Barness, who paid $1,000 for 65 items, they might only break even in the end. 

If you’re going to resell something on your own, her best advice is to think of the time you’re going to put into it first.

“There were some highs and there were some lows,” said Barness.

As always, if you have any money-saving topics you’d like us to cover, just email us at money@12news.com. 

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