First it was returns auction sites, I am lucky enough to be in a local regional distribution hub, so for a few years there were amazing finds; $45 FDM 3d-printe

First it was returns auction sites, I am lucky enough to be in a local regional distribution hub, so for a few years there were amazing finds; $45 FDM 3d-printer that just needed to be levelled properly, a $65 resin 3d-printer (12k) - eventually a year later a curing station for $20, a DJI active phone gimbal worth several hundred dollars for $70. Over time though, as more and more people found out, the prices started creeping up - there is typically a "buyers fee" percentage, plus of course our overall country-wide "goods & services tax", plus a "picking fee" of about $1.50 per item. So - basically, my personal cut-off was about 25% of retail price for maximum bid, because all of the other fees would add about another 27% of retail price. Then, the bins stores started opening about a year ago, and the auction quality dropped off dramatically. My experience browsing through bins stores 3-4 times was that is was mostly complete trash, the cheapest garbage that wouldn't even be good for resale or garage/yard sales... Even though, I pretty much now have my "maker-space" home office kitted-out fully, I do keep monitoring the auctions for specific keywords - but, I can definitely see that both auctions and bins stores are having less and less merchandise, the overall economy must be slowing (potentially geo-political tariffs and uncertainty, layoffs, etc.) - people must be reducing overall amount of purchases and therefore returns... Several of the local bin stores have closed-up shop in the last 6 months as well...