Retail overstocks and customer returns can be an excellent product sourceas long as you understand what to expect when purchasing this kind of merchandise.
A Mixed Bag of Goods
Typically, returns are sold as pallets of assorted, dissimilar itemsyoull find everything from snow boots to toy cars to staplers. |
| Most likely, youll also find some damaged goods among a pallets wares. A portion of these items were returned because the customer damaged them, or they didnt work in the first place. In spite of the damages, many sellers feel they can make a profit. According to Jacques Stambouli of http://ViaTrading.com, a retail-return wholesaler, The rationale is that, even with disposing of a high percentage of them, youre buying them cheaply enough that you can make a lot of money.
Weigh Your Options
Retail stores normally sort their unwanted goods into two categoriescustomer returns and overstocks. Both have positive and negative points to consider:
1. Customer returns are items that were purchased, taken home, and brought back. Once opened, they cant be re-shelved.
The downside of returns is some of them were defaced by the customer or just dont work. A higher percentage of them are dented, have cosmetic damage, or are missing parts.
The upside of returns is theyre usually more current, in-demand productsthey were purchased for a reason. Many of them are still in perfect conditionthey were only returned because the color, size, or model was wrong.
2. Overstocks are items that sat on a retailers shelf too long. In spite of discounts, they simply didnt sell.
The downside of overstocks is that the retailer couldnt move them, regardless of multiple price cutsthe demand wasnt there. Moving them may be a challenge for you as well.
The upside of overstocks is that theyre mostly clean, new, and probably still in their original packaging. Youll find comparably less damaged goods.
Mix Your Channels
When purchasing returns and overstocked merchandise, its a good idea to have more than one outlet for reselling. Dont limit yourself to only eBay or only the flea marketnot everything you buy will lend itself to a particular market. Some people even throw pallet partiestheyre like Tupperware parties, only theyre selling the contents of their pallets. Stambouli says, We find that our most successful customers are the ones that know how to combine different channels.
About The Author
Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com are the Writers and Hosts of The Entrepreneur Magazine EBiz and Product Sourcing Radio Shows. http://www.worldwidebrands.com/EMRinfo for more FREE eBiz info from Entrepreneur Magazine Radio!
This article was posted on August 21, 2006 |
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