Liquidation merchandise flood? Possibly. I received an email from a blog reader who asked the question: is the market flooded with specif types/categories of liquidation merchandise? I’m going to answer in terms of eBay reselling because about 90% of all people who contact me are trying to locate wholesale pallets and truckloads of liquidations to start an eBay business. I’ve been working and talking with eBay sellers for about ten years…I’m qualified to talk about liquidation in terms of eBay. I’ve watched and taken notes over the years, and here is what I have to say: Yes and No.
Flooded With Liquidation Merchandise
If your plan is to purchase a pallet of say Macy’s customer returned clothing and join the other thousands of sellers on eBay who are selling this category, then yes, you’re going to run into trouble. By trouble I mean a lot of competition. How will you stand out from the next eBay seller?
It’s not enough anymore to sell single clothing items on eBay, even if the items are top labels; you must differentiate yourself from other sellers. How do you do this? You can stand out by offering excellent product descriptions, exact clothing measurements, fast shipping, and a large inventory to choose from.
Always make sure eBay auction titles are well optimized offering specific keywords that people will be using to search for including, but not limited to: brand name, size, color, condition, etc. people do not search for terms like cute or trendy, so please leave these adjectives out of your eBay titles.
Do not attempt to sell clothing on eBay using low quality photos! You will need a high resolution camera to take copious photos of each item. Photos sell liquidation clothing on eBay! Do not skimp in the camera area.
Another great way to cross-sell existing inventory on eBay is to send each buyer a warm thank you letter and coupon for additional purchases from your eBay store. Get creative!
Ok, take my advice about what I am about to say…are you ready? I’ve talked to thousands of people over the years about Macy’s customer returns and Job lot merchandise. It seems as though everyone who wants to get stared buying pallets of clothing always chose Macy’s as the source. The thinking is due to higher end name brands. I say phooey! Trust me, there are other sources of excellent wholesale clothing to resell. eBay is flooded with liquidation buyers who have bought 100-300 pieces from a liquidator, only to find out, these items do not sell as well as they hoped for.
Why be like every other apparel seller on eBay? Shoot to diversify and source clothing that is in short supply. It is this idea alone that will set you apart from other eBay sellers!
Here is a short list of name brand that sell like crazy on eBay:
Ann Taylor, Free People, Banana Republic, Columbia (jackets), BKE, BCBG (our guide has a great contacts for higher end brands), Under Armour, Eileen Fisher, Victoria Secret (check our guide), Bebe, Lulumon, Miss me, Theory, Tahari, North Face, and J Crew.
Do you have specific questions about reselling liquidation clothing? I’m all ears…ask below our click on the tab above.
