Internal working model
Roberts Civil Engineering
RobertsCOS.com
Roberts Client Online Store
A client-appreciation store · How it works, start to finish
Thanks to a unique business relationship, RCE has the opportunity to purchase Amazon bulk
liquidation and overstock pallets directly from Amazon. Buying direct is
complex and largely not accessible to the general public. That creates a real
opportunity for RCE to put it to work in a way that benefits our clients and our employees —
while earning extra revenue for little effort.
With minimal effort, a Client Online Store can be stood up. Our employees let their clients,
friends and family know about the service and give them a checkout code. When
someone buys using that code, it applies their discount and credits the employee a
commission. It's a win on every side: clients save money on the items they're already
buying, employees earn a commission on every sale, and Roberts Civil earns happy clients and
happy employees — all while making significant profit on its investment.
View the live store →
Overview
Roberts Client Online Store (RobertsCOS.com) is a private online shop that Roberts Civil
Engineering runs for the clients we work with every day. It stocks brand-name fixtures, tools, and
equipment — the very things those clients already build into their developments — sourced by the
pallet at Amazon liquidation prices. Everything lists at full retail; the discount comes from
a personal code the rep gives to the client, which they use at checkout — and which also
credits the sale to that rep. It's built so every side comes out ahead: the client gets a real deal from someone
they trust, the rep earns on what they bring in, and the company keeps its margin no matter what.
In plain terms
- Our clients get to purchase the items they use every day in
their developments at a discount.
- Our employees earn a commission on the items those
clients purchase.
- Roberts Civil makes clients happy by saving them money and
employees happy by making them extra money for little effort — all while earning a
sizeable return on its investment.
How the system works, at a glance
- Known inventory. A manifest is available for every pallet before we buy it, so we know exactly what we're purchasing before we spend a dollar — no mystery boxes.
- Automated stocking. Purpose-built software turns each pallet into finished listings — details, photos, pricing, and inventory — with the numbers verified.
- Full price by default. Full price is the current Amazon list price — we add no markup on top of it. Anyone who buys without a code pays that same retail price, and the company keeps the whole margin.
- Rep codes unlock the deal. Each rep has a personal code that sets their clients' discount and credits them the sale — chosen fresh at each checkout, no accounts to pre-assign.
- A protected floor. Every price stops at the RCE Cost floor (1.5× our pallet cost), so even the deepest code still covers cost plus a buffer — the company can't lose on a sale.
- In-stock, next-day. Pallets take 30–45 days to reach us, so we list only what's already in hand — the customer always gets exactly what they ordered, shipped the next day.
01 The win, per $100 of retail
The Client
10–40%
Off at checkout with their rep's personal code — full list price without one.
The Rep
$11+
Commission per $100 on a 20% code — the code lands the deal and credits them, plus a residual on reorders.
The Company
$84
Kept per $100 at full price; even a 40% code clears the RCE Cost floor, so it can't sell at a loss.
02 Where every $100 of retail value lands
$100.00 retail · with a 20% rep codeclient pays $80.00 →
Client saves their rep's 20% code
$20.0020.0%
RCE Cost 1.5× pallet cost — covered first
$23.4023.4%
Rep commission 20% of the margin above the floor
$11.3211.3%
Company profit the rest — funds the next pallet
$45.2845.3%
Without a code the client pays the full $100 and the company keeps all $84.40 above cost. The floor is never breached — even a 40% code leaves the company in profit.
03 How it works
Pricing
Full price by default
- Every item lists at its full Amazon List Price — no discount baked in.
- Buy without a code and you pay full retail; the company keeps the whole margin.
- A hard RCE Cost floor of 1.5× our pallet cost — the price can never drop below it, so we always recover cost plus a buffer, however deep a code goes.
Rep codes
The rep sets the deal
- Each rep has a personal code (e.g. BHUNT) with a discount they set across all their clients — 10 to 40% off.
- They earn 20% of the margin above the floor on their coded sales; a deeper code means a bigger client deal, traded against their own cut.
- The long game is a residual on that client's reorders — the code that wins the relationship keeps paying.
Attribution
The code is the credit
- No signup binding, no forms — the code entered at checkout credits that sale to the rep, per transaction.
- The client can use whichever rep's code they want on each order — no lock-in, no claims to settle.
- No code, no rep — the sale is the house's, at full price and full margin.
04 How the store runs — mostly on its own
Every pallet is manifested
Amazon publishes a full manifest for every pallet before it goes up for sale, so we know exactly what's inside before we spend a dollar — no mystery boxes. The store is stocked from a known list, and purpose-built software takes it from there.
1Known up front
Manifest in
Start from Amazon's manifest — the exact contents of the pallet.
2Automated
Details & photos pulled
The program reads the manifest and grabs each item's specs and product photo.
3Automated
Listed & verified
It builds each listing and verifies the numbers — price, discount, and margin.
4Automated
Published
Listings post to the storefront and the inventory tracker in one step.
5You ship
Sold & notified
A customer buys, you're notified instantly, and you ship it the next day.
6Paid to RCE
Money in
Payment lands directly in RCE's account via Square, Stripe, or any card processor.
The only drawback — pallet lead time
Pallets take 30–45 days to reach us from Amazon — not next-day like a normal order — so there's a lag between buying a pallet and having it ready to sell. We don't list a thing until it's physically in hand and verified, which means the wait is entirely on our side. For the customer there's none: everything on the store is in stock, and orders ship the next day.
Mostly automated — the software stocks the store; the only hands-on step is shipping what sells.
05 A real-world example — two pallets, live
This isn't a projection. We've stood up a live store from two real pallets — 1,351 units
in all — bought for a combined $9,122. Priced at each item's Amazon list price, that
inventory carries a retail value of $58,476. If every item sold to clients through their
employee's code at a 20% discount, here is how it lands.
1Pallet 1 · ResearchHome
659 units
Cost $4,391 · list value $28,514
2Pallet 2 · HomeGoods
692 units
Cost $4,732 · list value $29,962
ΣBoth pallets
1,351 units
Cost $9,122 · list value $58,476
Clients save
$11,695
across the two pallets — 20% off items they already buy.
Employees earn
$6,619
in commission, split among the reps who bring the sales.
RCE keeps
$31,039
after cost and commission — on a $9,122 outlay.
Modeled on two real pallet runs — 678 products, 1,351 units in hand
A 20% code saves clients $11,695
reps earn $6,619
company profits $49,354 at full price · $31,039 with codes — floor never breached