When sourcing liquidation merchandise to resell, most eBay and Amazon sellers run into a bit of a dead-end when trying to find low wholesale pricing. Many sellers will research their competition and wonder where they are getting their supply from? How can other resellers be buying at such a low cost and why is it so difficult to find THE best or THE Direct source? It’s frustrating to say the least. I’ve been there and done that for years. The best advice I can offer anyone looking for inventory is to go off the grid, meaning, you’re not going to find the Best pricing or the direct source searching online. You must dig deeper.
Get out of your comfort zone and pick up the phone and start calling distributors and manufacturers directly. Often, available stock is not readily posted online for sale, but rather, must be faxed or emailed to you. In the case of really great deals, liquidated products are often deemed, “here today and gone tomorrow!”
In the case of catalog retailers, call corporate and inquire about purchasing excess and customer returned stock direct. Exercise patience and persistence when making your calls because it takes time to track down the right contact people at each source. Often, the individual who answers the phone at corporate will not readily know who to patch you through to. If you find you’re having a hard time getting your request across to an operator, ask to speak with someone within the purchasing and/or merchandise return department. You will weed through probably several people until you finally get to speak with someone who can offer assistance.
In review, remember that in order to find that killer source of liquidation merchandise, you will have to take extreme measures when performing an inventory search. It does take considerable to track down a new inventory source, but trust me, your business will flourish when you can take advantage of the low cost of goods!