Bargain Bin Shopping: How does it work, and what deals can you find?

For a cheap price, you can find all kinds of electronics, tools and everything in between.

Consumer Advisor Clark Howard went shopping at a bin store to see what deals he could find.

“What time did you get here at this morning?” Howard asked one bargain shopper.

“Seven,” she told him.

Shoppers line up out front hours before the store opens, hoping to get the best deals.

At 9 a.m., the fun begins. Everyone rushes in to grab a cart to start searching for deals.

The first rule, though, is do not touch the merchandise.

Your first few moments in the store, you can look but can’t touch.

“When you hear the siren, then it’s time,” a shopper said.

Once that siren blares, it’s a mad dash to grab whatever you can before someone else does.

On Fridays, everything is $10.

Everything drops in price the following days until Wednesday, when everything is just $1.

Most of the items sold at Black Friday Deals are Amazon returns and overstocked items, and some from other large retailers.

Asmar Eid is the owner. His family started the business in 2017, and now they have 43 locations nationwide.

“I’ve seen Sony cameras that were $6,800. We get MacBooks, we get computers, we get phones, we’ve got a little bit of everything,” Eid told Howard.

Eid said some customers shop for themselves, while others resell these items online.

Candice Logan is a reseller.

“Going there is like a treasure hunt. You never know what you’re going to come up with,” Logan said.

She showed us her home operation in her basement.

She said something that cost her $10, she can typically resell for at least three times that, and sometimes much more.

“I looked it up how much it cost. It was over $5,000 ... a light fixture,” Logan said.

When you come across a box that does not say what’s inside, you can use the Amazon app to scan a barcode to get a hint.

“So you’re using your Amazon app?” Clark asked one shopper.

“I am trying to use the Amazon app,” the shopper said.

“So, what did this turn out to be?” Howard asked after the shopper scanned the item.

“Nothing,” the shopper said disappointedly.

And that’s the key, Howard said. If it’s worth nothing, don’t buy it.

Howard purchased three things totaling $32 with tax. When he looked up the items, they were worth about $150.

“In a time that everybody’s trying to stretch every dollar, bin stores are a great way to do it - if you’re patient and if you are willing to stand in line. Sometimes you’ll get real treasure, sometimes you’ll think, what did I do?” Howard said.

If you are interested in going to a bin store you can search BinStoreFinder.com to find a store near you.

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