Treasure hunters: Augusta-area retail chain selling top-shelf overstock items by truckload

Bargain-hunters, take note.

New bin stores in Augusta are offering customers the chance to buy merchandise in bulk like the overstock liquidation stores do.

Michael and Jen Prendamano run The Bin Store, a growing chain of overtstock outlets with locations in North Augusta, 401 W. Martintown Rd., and West Columbia, S.C., 2814 Augusta Rd.

The Bin Store Grovetown, at 808 Horizon South Pkwy, Grovetown; and The Bin Store Liquidation Pallets & Truckloads, at 4304 Sudan Drive in Augusta, opened in June.

A bin store sells manufacturers' and retailers' surplus, unsold or returned merchandise at discounted prices. Sellers shedding the merchandise tend to be online businesses, especially Amazon.

That means shoppers encounter a huge mixed bag of merchandise, from cheap household items to high-end electronics such as laptop computers and videogame systems. Getting to the good stuff means digging.

The hunt is on:Bin stores draw bargain seekers to piles of returned online merchandise

A bargain bin store’s typical price structure starts at a set low price, such as $6 per item, on the day new merchandise comes in. As shoppers pick through the piles of loosely organized items, the prices at The Bin Store drop by $1 each day until leftover merchandise is donated to thrift stores and charities as new items come in.

With the intuition of a treasure hunter, a bin store picker's dream is to reach the merchandise before it hits the retail floor.

The Bin Store "is opening up wholesale liquidation pallets to the public for the first time. Customers can purchase liquidation pallets, such as Amazon returns pallets, and truckloads starting as low as $200," the store announced recently in a press release. "This service is ideal for those looking to buy in bulk, whether for resale or personal use."