US liquidation 2026: 93 liquidators and 46 online marketplaces, counted

Findings

Every sentence below stands on its own. The figure in brackets is the share of the base named in the sentence, n is the number of listings counted, and the date is the day the listings were checked. Use the link beside each finding to point at it directly.

Where the liquidators are

1. The ForthClear directory lists 93 US liquidator locations run by 90 companies in 15 states. California has the most with 10, followed by Florida and Texas with 8 each. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #
2. 12 of the 15 states have at least 5 verified liquidators. The directory began with 15 of the most populous states, so these counts show where ForthClear has looked, not how many liquidators each state has. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #

What kind of business they are

3. Half of the listed liquidators are pallet warehouses: 47 (50.5%) of 93. 30 (32.3%) are wholesale liquidators, 10 (10.8%) sell truckloads and 6 (6.5%) are closeout buyers that purchase excess stock from retailers and manufacturers. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #
4. 10 of 93 listings mention bin stores. 6 (6.5%) run a bin store of their own and 5 (5.4%) name bin stores among the buyers of their pallets and truckloads (1 does both). The directory does not list bin stores that only sell by the item. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #
5. 18 (19.4%) of 93 liquidators sell through auctions, on platforms such as HiBid, LocalAuctions.com, Facebook and Whatnot or on the company's own site or app. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #

What they sell

6. Customer returns and overstock are the most common goods. Of the 68 liquidators that state what they sell, 57 (83.8%) sell customer returns and 57 (83.8%) sell overstock. 29 (42.6%) sell closeouts and 25 (36.8%) sell shelf pulls. n=68, checked 2 November 2026. #
7. The pallet is the standard unit. Of the 87 liquidators that state lot sizes, 79 (90.8%) sell by the pallet and 61 (70.1%) by the truckload. 17 (19.5%) also sell single items. n=87, checked 2 November 2026. #
8. Amazon is the retailer liquidators name most often as the source of their stock: 29 (78.4%) of the 37 that name a source retailer. Target follows with 25 (67.6%), then Home Depot with 17 (45.9%), Walmart with 13 (35.1%) and Lowe's with 10 (27.0%). n=37, checked 2 November 2026. #

How buyers get the goods

9. Collecting from the warehouse is common. 59 (63.4%) of 93 state that buyers can pick up at the warehouse, 64 (68.8%) offer shipping, freight or delivery and 49 (52.7%) state both. Only 3 (3.2%) say pickup only or no shipping service. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #
10. 30 (32.3%) of 93 liquidators say buyers can order or bid online, through an online store or checkout, online auctions or a selling app such as Whatnot or eBay. The other listings do not say, which is not the same as saying no. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #
11. 32 (34.4%) of 93 liquidators say they are open to the public and 3 (3.2%) say they are not. The rest do not say. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #
12. 20 (21.5%) of 93 liquidators say they ship, export or sell to buyers outside the US. That includes 6 of the 10 in California, 4 of which name Mexico or Tijuana, and 5 of the 8 in Florida. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #

For sellers and buyers with a resale certificate

13. 27 (29.0%) of 93 liquidators say they buy surplus inventory from businesses as well as selling it. n=93 listings, checked 2 November 2026. #
14. 16 of 93 liquidators state a resale certificate policy. For 13 (81.2%) of those it is only needed to buy without sales tax; 3 (18.8%) say one is required. n=16, checked 2 November 2026. #

Online liquidation marketplaces

15. The directory lists 46 online liquidation marketplaces besides ForthClear. 16 (34.8%) are a single retailer's liquidation storefront, and 15 of those 16 are run by B-Stock. n=46 marketplaces, checked 2 November 2026. #
16. Online, auctions dominate. Of the 34 marketplaces that state how they sell, 31 (91.2%) run auctions and 10 (29.4%) sell at a fixed price; some do both. n=34, checked 2 November 2026. #
17. 17 (68.0%) of the 25 marketplaces that say who can buy accept business buyers only, and 18 (81.8%) of the 22 that state a resale certificate policy require one. n=25 and n=22, checked 2 November 2026. #
18. 3 of 46 marketplaces (6.5%) were not trading normally when checked. Optoro closed BULQ, with last orders on 28 July 2025; surpluss.com showed a parked domain page and destockify.com returned a hosting error on 2 November 2026. n=46 marketplaces, checked 2 November 2026. #

Charts

Each bar is a count of listings; the share is of the base under the chart title. The same figures, and the tables not charted here, are in the CSV download.

Liquidators by state

Base: 93 liquidator listings; top 10 shown.

California 10 · 10.8%

Florida 8 · 8.6%

Texas 8 · 8.6%

Illinois 7 · 7.5%

Michigan 7 · 7.5%

Ohio 7 · 7.5%

Tennessee 7 · 7.5%

Georgia 6 · 6.5%

North Carolina 6 · 6.5%

New Jersey 6 · 6.5%

Liquidators by business type

Base: 93 liquidator listings.

Pallet warehouse 47 · 50.5%

Wholesale liquidator 30 · 32.3%

Truckload seller 10 · 10.8%

Closeout buyer 6 · 6.5%

What liquidators sell

Base: 68 liquidators that state what they sell.

Customer returns 57 · 83.8%

Overstock 57 · 83.8%

Closeouts 29 · 42.6%

Shelf pulls 25 · 36.8%

Damaged box 9 · 13.2%

Refurbished 7 · 10.3%

Seasonal 6 · 8.8%

Salvage 5 · 7.4%

New surplus 1 · 1.5%

Lot sizes sold

Base: 87 liquidators that state lot sizes.

Pallets 79 · 90.8%

Truckloads 61 · 70.1%

Single items 17 · 19.5%

Cases or boxes 13 · 14.9%

Containers 5 · 5.7%

Retailers named as the source of stock

Base: 37 liquidators that name source retailers; top 10 shown.

Amazon 29 · 78.4%

Target 25 · 67.6%

Home Depot 17 · 45.9%

Walmart 13 · 35.1%

Lowe's 10 · 27.0%

Sam's Club 5 · 13.5%

Kohl's 4 · 10.8%

Wayfair 4 · 10.8%

Costco 3 · 8.1%

Dollar General 3 · 8.1%

How buyers get the goods

Base: 93 liquidator listings.

Pickup at the warehouse stated 59 · 63.4%

Shipping, freight or delivery offered 64 · 68.8%

Pickup plus shipping, freight or delivery stated 49 · 52.7%

Pickup only or no shipping service 3 · 3.2%

Buyers can order or bid online 30 · 32.3%

Open to the public (says yes) 32 · 34.4%

Not open to the public (says no) 3 · 3.2%

Ships, exports or sells to buyers outside the US 20 · 21.5%

How online marketplaces sell

Base: 34 marketplaces that state a sales format.

Auction 31 · 91.2%

Fixed price 10 · 29.4%

Make an offer 2 · 5.9%

Quote 1 · 2.9%

Method

Source. The ForthClear liquidators directory at forthclear.io/liquidators and the liquidation marketplaces directory at forthclear.io/liquidation-marketplaces. All 93 liquidator listings and all 47 marketplace listings were checked against the companies' own websites on 2 November 2026, and every figure on this page was counted from those listings on 4 November 2026.

What is listed. A liquidator is listed when its own website shows a location in the state and it sells or buys liquidation pallets, truckloads or closeout lots for resellers and businesses. Bin stores that only sell by the item are not listed. Other directories are used only to find names; every fact comes from the company's own site, and each listing records the page it came from. Nobody pays to be listed.

Listings, not companies. A company with locations in two states has a listing in each, so the 93 listings belong to 90 companies. ForthClear's own marketplace listing is left out of every marketplace figure, which is why the marketplace sample is 46.

What was counted. Business type, goods sold, lot sizes, source retailers, pickup, open to the public, buying surplus and resale certificate policy are structured fields in each listing. Bin stores, auctions, buying online, pickup only and buyers outside the US are not structured fields; they were coded by hand from each listing's summary and shipping note, and the coded listing names are published in the source code of this page. A listing that does not state something is counted as not stated, not as no, and each finding says which base it uses. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.

What is not reported. The directory began with 15 of the most populous states and is not a census, so per-capita figures are not given: divided by population they would measure where ForthClear has looked, not the market. The directory does not record revenue, prices, staff numbers or sales volumes. Stated minimum orders (9 of 93 listings) and founding years (14 of 93) are too sparse to report.

What the figures mean. Every number is a count of directory listings. It is not market share and not a measure of any company's size or performance.

Cite this

Source: ForthClear, November 2026, https://forthclear.io/research/us-liquidation-2026

Quote a finding in full, including its n and date, and link to https://forthclear.io/research/us-liquidation-2026 so readers can check the sample. The aggregate tables are free to download as CSV.