When I hear the following or something like it, I tend to cringe. No worries, I will tell you why a little further down. OK, here is what I’m talking about:
“Hey Rob, I just bought a pallet of liquidation widgets! I plan to sell these really cool assorted widgets on eBay…”
Statements like the above make me very uncomfortable. Yeah, I’m weird but hear me out. Much like a wise financial adviser might tell you when discussing a savings plan, diversification is the key to portfolio success and stability. I too believe in diversification of resell channels when buying mixed, assorted liquidation goods.
Remember the basket that everyone told you to not put all of your eggs in? While, not utilizing a basket to carry a bunch of eggs might make the act of carrying eggs a bit difficult, if the basket drops, you lose all of your eggs. So, when carrying eggs, make sure to carry several baskets!
Why is Rob going on and on about eggs and baskets? Short answer: he wants you to be successful when purchasing liquidation merchandise. Long Answer: he’s a nut job—Ask his wife, she’ll tell you.
Three paragraphs of egg in the basket talk? This should be enough to let you know the dangers of buying liquidated goods with a narrow idea for resell. For the most part, when buying a pallet of assorted goods, you will receive a mix of low and high dollar items. Some items may sell on eBay, while others may need to be listed on Craigslist or you may need to set up shop at the local flea market.
Bottom line: Plan on being creative in your effort to resell goods sourced through the liquidation industry.
How about a great example of someone who gets this point? Enter Yvette. I received an email today from Yvette who purchased our guide. She exchanged a few emails with me last week as she read through our material. I could tell she was excited about the idea of purchasing secondary market goods, i.e. customer returns and shelf pull items.
I’m not sure if Yvette owns an actual gun, but I can tell you this, she pulled the Liquidation trigger yesterday buying two pallets from one of the suppliers listed in our guide. Way to go! Here is our email exchange:
Email from Yvette: “Hi Rob, I just wants to let you know that I purchased my first 2 pallets yesterday afternoon from PalletBid! A Bed Bath & Beyond and a Walmart type. Both should be here around Wednesday… I’ll send you some photos. Thank you for your VERY informative guide. Yvette”
My response: Way to go! Yes, how exciting! OK, let’s go a little further. The PalletBid.com website is operated by AML Inc. out of Foley Alabama. I have a lot of experience with AML going back a few years. I used AML as a dropshiper for small 100-200 count lots of apparel to my East coast clientele. Now that I think about it, I had little to no issue with their customer service or product.
So, tell me Yvette, what’s the resell plan? How are you going to profit from your purchase? Do you mind of I ask you what you paid and the cost for freight? Rob
Email from Yvette: The cost for both pallets including the freight was just over $1,300.00! PalletBid’s customer service, Corrine and Tina to be more specific, are amazing!!!
My resell plans are going to mainly be Facebook. At this time Facebook is a VERY popular way to resell products in my area. I was somewhat thinking that the higher end items maybe try eBay? I already have an existing eBay account so I thought what the heck. Also, I’m going to set my garage up as a “store” as well. I have a 2 car, over-sized, garage. I was thinking that having a garage sale, as you suggested, once a month would also be great! I would eventually, after things are getting easier for me, would like to open an actual store… What do you think about that?
My response: Again, very cool! Facebook is a great way to move merchandise, we have several groups in my local area where items are posted similar to Craigslist. Please do take some photos. It would be great to track your success for our readers. I bet you’re very excited. Please stay in touch…..Rob
Very cool, huh? Yvette knows she must be open and ready to be creative with selling liquidated goods. She is off to a great start with her idea of eBay, Facebook sales, and potentially setting up shop in her garage. There is little doubt in my mind that she will be successful. Let’s stay tuned to Yvette as she sends photos of her purchase from PalletBid. More to come soon!
