John, do not wire that money. I run a legitimate liquidation business out of Houston and I can tell you flat out — every single item on your list is a textbook scam pattern. I'll walk through it:

The 5-week-old domain and the voicemail with no business name are the cherries on top. They built the site, set up the Facebook profile, are going to run this scam for 2-3 months, then disappear and re-register under a new name.

Texas has real liquidation wholesalers. Texas Wholesale Returns is not one of them. I've never heard of them in 8 years of operating here.

John — Tom here. Sarah covered the big stuff. Adding what I've seen on the LoadJunky fraud-watch side:

The "Texas Wholesale Returns" name is a known squat. We've had two other reports in the last 30 days from buyers in Florida and Pennsylvania who got the same pitch — different "load," same $8k-ish price, same Facebook-DM intro, same personal-name wire. One buyer (FL) actually sent the money. The "load" never arrived. The "seller" went radio-silent and the Facebook profile got deleted within 48 hours.

If you want a sanity check next time before you wire anyone, here's the quick LoadJunky procedure:

1. Check the seller on our Verified Sellers list. Not there? Big asterisk.
2. Run their EIN through the IRS public business search (or ask them for their state business registration link — real businesses have one and will send it).
3. Insist on bill-to-business wire only. Refuse personal names.
4. Ask for a video walkaround of the actual load on the dock, taken today, with their phone showing the date/time and the warehouse signage in frame.
5. If anything in that list gets pushback, walk away.

Glad you posted before sending. Adding the "Texas Wholesale Returns" name to our public fraud-alert list now.

I'm actually in Texas and I want to add — there's a legit liquidator in DFW called Texas Surplus & Returns (with the ampersand). It's possible the scammers picked a name close enough to confuse buyers Googling around. If you've been talking to "Texas Wholesale Returns" specifically, it's not the same company.

$48k MSRP for $8.4k = 17.5%. That's actually right in the legit range for mixed customer returns. The price isn't unreasonable, which is part of what makes the scam land. They know what real numbers look like.

Three years ago I was you. Different scammer, almost the same script. I sent $6,200 to a personal Zelle (somehow worse than wire). It never arrived. Zelle said "you authorized the payment" and shrugged. My bank shrugged. The FBI internet crimes form went into a black hole.

The $6,200 was supposed to be my Q4 inventory float. I had to take a side job at a warehouse over Thanksgiving to make rent. I'm not telling you this for sympathy, I'm telling you so you understand: this is what's on the other side of that wire button. Don't click it.

Listen to Sarah and Tom. Walk.

Beautiful outcome. The 3-minute "load is sold" response is the tell. Every single time.

John — when you're ready to actually buy something, post in Find a Seller with what you're looking for and your budget. The verified folks here will quote you direct and you'll see profiles, ratings, and dispute history before you spend a dime. Welcome to the community.

Subscribing so I can find this thread later. Tom — any chance you can pin a permanent version of your 5-step verification checklist somewhere on the forum? This kind of pre-wire-button intervention is literally why I tell people to come here first.