One of the most laborious parts of reselling liquidation merchandise is simply finding a continuous source of inventory to resell. The very nature of the wholesale liquidation industry is simply “supply and demand”. When you find a liquidator who has a limited supply of an item or items that sell well, you better take advantage of quantity purchasing while that item is still in stock.
For example, let’s say you find a liquidator who is wholesaling a stock lot (same item in quantity) of titanium LED flashlights at an unheard of price. On the liquidation suppliers website they list a warehouse quantity of 450 total units- once gone, they’re gone!
If you decide to make a small order of 10 flashlights to test market for profitability you might be disappointed when you return to buy an additional quantity if the liquidator has sold out.
When you find what appears to be a good deal on a limited quantity of items make sure you perform pricing research before you place an order with a supplier. If you are reselling online you can Google the specs of the flashlight to see what other retailers are selling this item for. In addition, searching on eBay for others who are reselling similar flashlights will give you an indication if you can compete within the market. If you are offline selling (retail store or at a flea market) you can check out your competition in person to see what they offer in pricing for like items.
After careful pricing research if you find that the item(s) you are thinking of buying from the liquidation supplier represent a good wholesale value, buy as many as you can in deep quantity. Not only will this keep a steady stream of inventory on your shelf (or virtual shelf), but it will also keep this item out of your competitors hands!
