WYOMING, Mich. — Grand Rapids Pallet Liquidation is at 33rd and Division. The owners, Jessica and Mitchell Kogelschatz, say a lot of people think there's shady business going on.
That couldn't be further from the truth.
Like their pallets, you never know quite what is inside their retail space.
“Some people just love the thrill of the hunt,” co-owner Mitchell Kogelschatz said.
GR Pallet Liquidation buys pallets of items returned to big box stores by the truckload, but they didn't start out that way. Most are new in the box. The prices are usually half off of retail.
“We’ve learned some really tough lessons,” Mitchell said.
The couple started buying pallets during COVID lockdowns. They started with 7 pallets in their garage, and the rest is history. They just opened a retail space for people to purchase the smaller items they buy. Things like, brand new throw pillows for $3, or mystery packages for $5 are available.
“It’s big business. Billions and billions of dollars of returns have to go somewhere,” Mitchell said.
Big business, full of risk and reward. Pallets go for auction on the business's private Facebook group. They range in price from $300-$500. Some mini-pallets go for less than $100.
The up-front cost is daunting. The Kogelschatz say don't buy if it's out of your budget. But with patience and diligence, they've watched their customers turn selling their items into full-time work, and side hustles. They've watched moms furnish their kid's dorms for fractions of the price.
“We had one of our monsters… and it just wouldn’t sell. My husband did a deal on it. In the bottom box, it was just a brown box… it had 150 unopened Ring Doorbell cameras. Which is like $15,000 in value. Just in the one box. And it’s an 8-foot pallet,” Jessica Kogelschatz said.
While not everyone is always that lucky, most people turn at least a few hundred dollars, depending on the pallet purchased.
“We are helping people who want to make a little extra income. Or people who are just tired of the 9-5 job,” Jessica said.
