Marketing Liquidation, Closeout and Surplus Merchandise!
In order to better focus your marketing efforts it will be best if you
specialize in a certain type of surplus, liquidation or closeout
merchandise that interests you. For example if you specialized in
surplus tools you could concentrate on hardware and auto parts
stores. Or if your specialized in closeouts for women's wear you
would know to call, fax or email small boutiques and clothing stores.
This will help you to stay focused and keep you interested, but
remember if you want to sell products to people, you need to find
out what people are buying first. If you find that the products you are
interested in selling are being sold for much less than you can afford
to sell for, then you know that’s not a product you can compete with.
There is no substitute for good old fashion homework. ebay is a
good place to start researching what is selling and at what price.
Of the two types of retailers the chain stores sell the latest and
newest models and there is the small retailer privately owned mom
and pop business that you will sell liquidation and surplus inventory.
So who are the primary buyers of surplus, liquidation and closeout
merchandise? They are independent retail stores with fewer than 5
locations. They will need small minimum order requirements that
large manufacturers will not want to deal with. Never forget this is
your niche market focus on it.
Usually Inventory mark-ups are
100 percent full value is retail
50 percent of retail is the wholesale price.
25 percent of retail or half of the wholesale price is what you
want to price your merchandise to the small retailer.
So to make a profit you should pay absolutely no more than 15
percent of retail for your merchandise and even less if possible.
When pricing your merchandise never price it at an even zero, zero
cents such as $1.00 dollars instead use for example $1.01 for the
price.
Be prepared to negotiate the price when selling but never offer
beforehand , but and this is important always ask when buying
merchandise if the price is negotiable. This simple question " IS THE
PRICE NEGOTIABLE ?" will save you a lot of money.
Use online business yellow pages such as superpages.com to find
prospects then call and talk to the owner to find out what type of
merchandise he or she handles. You are not trying to make a sale
on the initial call the objective is get permission to send future faxes
preferably or email if necessary. When the business owner finds out
you are not trying to sell him something he will usually be glad to let
you send him a fax or email to consider. Send one page faxes with
additional offerings every 2-4 weeks then follow up with a call asking
if any of the items are of interest. Once you discover the products
that are of interest to the business owner and after a relationship
has developed and he trust you enough to place an order the sales
will start arrivng. Expect the orders to be small at first.
Typically you will be talking to the owner of an individual store to as
many as five stores.
Do not leave voice mail instead call another day voice mail does
nothing to enhance your relationship with the owner. Until the owner
begins to know and trust you there will be NO orders.
When the sale is made get a purchase order from the buyer. You
may have to fax a blank purchase order form to the prospective
buyer not all small stores have them. A purchase order is important
should there be any confusion as to what was ordered. Everything
must be in writing to protect yourself should there be a dispute.
Arrange for payment usually done by credit card if you are brokering
for a larger surplus liquidator they may accept his credit information
from you or you will need to get a merchant account to accept credit
cards. Before spending a lot of money for a merchant account check
out www.paypal.com. Fax the buyer a credit card authorization
form that must be signed and faxed back.
Never promise shipping date up front call back when shipping is
confirmed with estimated shipping date and arrival date.
Call the day after merchandise arrives to confirm delivery. The key
is to make the whole process easy and effortless for the buyer or
they will not buy from you again.
The only action the buyer takes is to send a purchase order and
credit card authorization everything else must be done by the seller.
Most of your day will be spent prospecting for customers at first.
When calling prospective customers : Note you must talk directly to
the decision maker or you are wasting your time. And as part of your
ongoing research while you are talking to them find out what type of
merchandise they would be interested in. How do you know what
they would want to buy if you do not ask.
• Send follow-up fax
• Call to verify they received fax and while you have them on the
phone you must inquire as what type of merchandise that might be
of interest to them if the price was right.
The most important question is what are the potential ways of selling
liquidation and surplus merchandise so let's brainstorm.
Find buyers with fax and email campaigns and a lot of cold calling to
small businesses that fit your profile. And by advertising both offline
and online see Killer Ads for more tips about finding buyers.
Remember to market to the whole USA not just the local area.
Anyone who resells is a potential buyer such as discount variety
stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, closeout stores or bargain
stores.
Your local flea market is full of potential buyers so go shake some
hands. Or better yet setup a booth and sell some merchandise while
getting to know the vendors as well.
In order to better focus your marketing efforts it will be best if you
specialize in a certain type of surplus, liquidation or closeout
merchandise that interests you. For example if you specialized in
surplus tools you could concentrate on hardware and auto parts
stores. Or if your specialized in closeouts for women's wear you
would know to call, fax or email small boutiques and clothing stores.
This will help you to stay focused and keep you interested, but
remember if you want to sell products to people, you need to find
out what people are buying first. If you find that the products you are
interested in selling are being sold for much less than you can afford
to sell for, then you know that’s not a product you can compete with.
There is no substitute for good old fashion homework. ebay is a
good place to start researching what is selling and at what price.
- Ask yourself who is also selling the product
- What is the average selling price
- Also pay attention to who is buying the products. If it is other
sellers they will probably have a very high number of
feedbacks. - In short do your research and check out the competition
before deciding what to sell. Check our the sources page for
what other merchandise liquidators are doing.
Of the two types of retailers the chain stores sell the latest and
newest models and there is the small retailer privately owned mom
and pop business that you will sell liquidation and surplus inventory.
So who are the primary buyers of surplus, liquidation and closeout
merchandise? They are independent retail stores with fewer than 5
locations. They will need small minimum order requirements that
large manufacturers will not want to deal with. Never forget this is
your niche market focus on it.
Usually Inventory mark-ups are
100 percent full value is retail
50 percent of retail is the wholesale price.
25 percent of retail or half of the wholesale price is what you
want to price your merchandise to the small retailer.
So to make a profit you should pay absolutely no more than 15
percent of retail for your merchandise and even less if possible.
When pricing your merchandise never price it at an even zero, zero
cents such as $1.00 dollars instead use for example $1.01 for the
price.
Be prepared to negotiate the price when selling but never offer
beforehand , but and this is important always ask when buying
merchandise if the price is negotiable. This simple question " IS THE
PRICE NEGOTIABLE ?" will save you a lot of money.
Use online business yellow pages such as superpages.com to find
prospects then call and talk to the owner to find out what type of
merchandise he or she handles. You are not trying to make a sale
on the initial call the objective is get permission to send future faxes
preferably or email if necessary. When the business owner finds out
you are not trying to sell him something he will usually be glad to let
you send him a fax or email to consider. Send one page faxes with
additional offerings every 2-4 weeks then follow up with a call asking
if any of the items are of interest. Once you discover the products
that are of interest to the business owner and after a relationship
has developed and he trust you enough to place an order the sales
will start arrivng. Expect the orders to be small at first.
Typically you will be talking to the owner of an individual store to as
many as five stores.
Do not leave voice mail instead call another day voice mail does
nothing to enhance your relationship with the owner. Until the owner
begins to know and trust you there will be NO orders.
When the sale is made get a purchase order from the buyer. You
may have to fax a blank purchase order form to the prospective
buyer not all small stores have them. A purchase order is important
should there be any confusion as to what was ordered. Everything
must be in writing to protect yourself should there be a dispute.
Arrange for payment usually done by credit card if you are brokering
for a larger surplus liquidator they may accept his credit information
from you or you will need to get a merchant account to accept credit
cards. Before spending a lot of money for a merchant account check
out www.paypal.com. Fax the buyer a credit card authorization
form that must be signed and faxed back.
Never promise shipping date up front call back when shipping is
confirmed with estimated shipping date and arrival date.
Call the day after merchandise arrives to confirm delivery. The key
is to make the whole process easy and effortless for the buyer or
they will not buy from you again.
The only action the buyer takes is to send a purchase order and
credit card authorization everything else must be done by the seller.
Most of your day will be spent prospecting for customers at first.
When calling prospective customers : Note you must talk directly to
the decision maker or you are wasting your time. And as part of your
ongoing research while you are talking to them find out what type of
merchandise they would be interested in. How do you know what
they would want to buy if you do not ask.
• Send follow-up fax
• Call to verify they received fax and while you have them on the
phone you must inquire as what type of merchandise that might be
of interest to them if the price was right.
The most important question is what are the potential ways of selling
liquidation and surplus merchandise so let's brainstorm.
- Small independent stores with fewer than 5 locations.
- Other vendors such as people that sell at flea markets.
- Sell at live auctions in your area.
- Online such as eBay!.
- Start your own retail surplus store.
- Broker merchandise to other people.
- Using a jobber truck loaded with merchandise and
creating a route.
Find buyers with fax and email campaigns and a lot of cold calling to
small businesses that fit your profile. And by advertising both offline
and online see Killer Ads for more tips about finding buyers.
Remember to market to the whole USA not just the local area.
Anyone who resells is a potential buyer such as discount variety
stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, closeout stores or bargain
stores.
Your local flea market is full of potential buyers so go shake some
hands. Or better yet setup a booth and sell some merchandise while
getting to know the vendors as well.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |