by Chad Maslak on September 9th, 2009
One of the most common emails that I receive from my newsletter subscribers is about the frustration they experience when they are trying to purchase wholesale merchandise to resell. Often times the frustration actually comes when they think they have found the perfect product or a wholesale distributor only to discover that the products that they want to sell are already selling on eBay for the same price or less than what they can buy them for!
In other words, you won’t be making any money and at best you’ll find that you’ll be lucky just to break even!
This... Read more »
by Chad Maslak on August 26th, 2009
Imagine how exciting it would be to receive your shipment of liquidated or surplus merchandise and finding it filled with top of the line, name brand products in high demand. As you look through the contents of the pallets you begin to imagine your new Ferrari or dream vacation from the boat loads of money you’ll be making on these goods… you see nothing but dollar signs.
Cha-ching! You’ve hit the jackpot… right!? Or have you?
I remember the fun part of receiving truck loads of pallets of very valuable merchandise. Most of it was surplus and liquidated goods. I... Read more »
by Skip McGrath on October 15th, 2008
Some of eBay’s most successful sellers specialize in surplus, overstocked or closeout merchandise. You can earn large profits if you buy carefully, but, it is important to buy only desirable merchandise.
Surplus, or closeout merchandise, is merchandise sold at a large discount because it did not sell at full retail for some reason.
Usually retail merchandise shows up at closeout dealers because it wouldn’t sell in a store. This could be for many reasons:
Seasonal goods
Store closing or bankruptcy
Obsolete goods replaced by newer products
Customer returns after the holidays
(not warranty or defect returns)
Another category of merchandise... Read more »
by Carrie Hinkel on February 15th, 2008
If you are considering buying products wholesale, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with common industry terms. That way you won’t find yourself in a situation where you’re agreeing to something that you thought meant something else! Here is a list of some of the most common terms you’ll come across when trying to source products:
Backorder – A product that is unable to ship because of a lack of inventory.
Bulk – Items that are sold in large quantities. Typically, bulk merchandise is sold at a significant discount.
Case lot – Products packaged and sold by the boxful.... Read more »
by Carrie Hinkel on February 6th, 2008
Buying good, resalable surplus and salvage products can be near impossible if you are new to the business and unfamiliar with its many downsides. Surplus products are goods that are sold in bulk by manufacturers (though it is rare), distributors or dealers. They may be overstocks, customer returns, shelf pulls or damaged items. Salvage products are basically junk and are really only good for the trash bin or parts.
The most important thing to know is that while there are reputable surplus and salvage businesses, the industry is filled with even more unscrupulous ones who are just waiting to take... Read more »