Michael Prendamano - The Bin Store

In this episode of Business Brain, Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean talk with Michael Prandamano, founder of The Bin Store. Michael shares his journey from starting out with retail arbitrage in his backyard storage shed to operating two successful bin store locations moving over 1.75 million items annually. The Bin Store offers a unique pricing model where everything starts at $6 on “restock days” and gradually decreases throughout the week, making it a treasure hunt for customers.

Michael discusses the challenges of scaling his business, managing inventory, negotiating leases, and employing effective guerrilla marketing strategies to attract customers. He emphasizes the importance of delivering value to customers and leveraging his past experiences to make strategic decisions. Michael also offers insights into the sourcing process, where he buys truckloads of returned products without delving into specific manifests, trusting in the cost-per-piece model to ensure profitability. The episode showcases the creativity, adaptability, and customer-focused mindset needed to thrive in retail liquidation.

• 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast #592 for Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024
  • October 23rd: National Slap Your Coworker Day
• 00:02:00 Special Guest: Michael Prendamano – The $6 Bin Guy
  • Started in the shed, then the garage, and the living room
  • Began with selling things he owned, compartmentalizing to different online stores
  • Then started buying palettes
  • And the “Death Pile” started growing…things he couldn’t sell online
• 00:07:21 SPONSOR: Vanta. Vanta automates compliance for ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, and more, saving you time and money — while helping you build customer trust. Save $1,000 at Vanta.com/brain
• 00:08:47 So… in-person it is!
  • Over 60 employees
  • “What kind of value are we delivering to the customer?” Make that the focal point
• 00:10:28 If I’m going to do it, go big
  • Be aware of risk aversion
  • BinStore Brands – Parent company
  • Entities set up for each individual store
  • Another entity for the palette business
  • Run a P&L every week
• 00:14:23 The 6-6-5-4-3-2-1 pricing model
  • It’s about piece-count
  • Treasure hunters come in first, but then it’s just bargain bin
  • “And that buys a customer for life”
• 00:18:40 Finding suppliers for items like this
• 00:19:59 Customer acquisition is a multi-pronged approach
  • Flyers
  • YouTube
  • SEO
  • Facebook – Static photos are more valuable than videos. Wet the appetite of the treasure hunters
• 00:22:18 BB 592 Outtro
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