It can be difficult to get a business off the ground. And perhaps you already know that the key to making a successful go of your endeavour is keeping costs as low as possible, especially at the beginning when things are tight and you need breathing room to grow.
One great way to keep costs down and inventory high is taking advantage when other businesses need to unload their inventory. Bulk buying wholesale pallets of goods lets you acquire inventory for just pennies on the dollar. Here’s how you can do it:
Table of Contents
Find a wholesaler
You can’t spend all your time hunting for businesses that sell surplus inventory; that in itself is a full-time job. The best way to make good use of your time and money is to find a wholesaler website where you can bid for pallets at deep discounts.
Make sure you work with a reputable wholesaler, and don’t go into any transaction without verifying all the important contact information. Reach out before you do a deal and look for a reassuring response that indicates you’re working with a reputable business.
As you choose a wholesaler, be sure to do your due diligence in researching them. Here are just some questions you should be asking:
- Are there any complaints against them, and do they have that “ring of truth?”
- Do they have a reputation for correctly representing what they sell?
- What is their policy for returns, and are they known for honoring it?
Choose your inventory wisely
You can make a mistake in two directions here. On the one hand, you can go too broad, buying too many divergent items with little idea of how well they might sell. If you do this, you risk being a company that no one can quite understand, and consumers won’t come to you because they can’t be sure what you’ll have for them to buy.
On the other hand, if you go too narrow, you can alienate and drive away plenty of potential customers. You need to have enough variety to keep people interested and coming back regularly to see what you have.
Deciding what to sell can be difficult, but it’s a crucial step. When you source wholesale pallets, be sure you know what you’re getting before you buy. Work with a broker who can give you an idea of what’s on the pallet and the general condition it’s in, then
Make sure you’re getting a deal
Before you make a bid on any pallet, it pays to find out whose goods you’re buying. Is it government surplus? Is it Amazon or Walmart returns? Or is it all retail surplus that was never sold in the first place?
Government wholesale inventory can be in pretty bad shape, and the problem with retail surplus is that if it didn’t sell for the original company, why would it sell for you? Sometimes this isn’t an issue, such as with seasonal inventory you can hold until the next season. But make sure you know what you’re doing before you make a purchase.
Some of the best wholesale pallets to buy are returned items from giants like Amazon and Walmart. Many of these items are in mint condition or even unused. People return items all the time because they bought the wrong size, got buyer’s remorse, or simply found another deal they liked better. And it’s often cheaper for the larger businesses to sell them off wholesale rather than put them back on shelves.
Wholesale liquidation pallets offer a great way to buy low and sell high, but as with any business transaction, it pays to do your homework. Figure out what you really need, research where you can get the best deals, and then get to selling.
About Carson Derrow
