Guide To Bulk Purchasing Of Refurbished Apple Products For Online Selling
If you are planning to start an online selling business that includes Apple products, you should consider purchasing your products from sources cheaper than your competitors. Apple is one of those electronic brands that have become a kind of fashion statement or a social norm. As such, there are a large number of suppliers of Apple products out there, and you can expect to face serious competition. One of the best sources for low-priced refurbished products are online liquidation companies.
What Are Refurbished Electronic Products?
Refurbished products are often associated with broken products. But the truth is, a significant portion of refurbished products are those returned by customers with small easily-fixable issues. They are returned for a number of reasons. Maybe the buyer received another product while waiting for the delivery, maybe the buyer simply wants to return the product without opening the box or maybe the seller shipped the wrong color or wrong product. Thus, they are essentially new, but retailers are prohibited by law to sell them as new again.
Some refurbished products might have been broken at some point, but manufacturers put them through a strict refurbishing process before they are sold. This process is done at a high level because having a product returned costs the manufacturer time and money, and it can also damage their reputation.
The Refurbishment Process
The liquidators’ refurbishment procedures usually involve the following steps:
- Every product is tested to ensure they are in working condition.
- Defective modules are replaced with functional parts.
- The outer enclosures and batteries may be replaced with brand new ones for iPod, iPhones and iPads.
- Each product is shipped with original operating system software.
Some Liquidators offer a 90-day guarantee on refurbished products, though not all – so make sure you’re working with a reputable liquidator that does. Though these items may have some signs of damage, they are in working condition and they are offered at as much 80% discount. For products refurbished by Apple itself, you can only get around 15-20% discount. Purchasing from liquidators will give you more chance to have higher profits.
Sourcing of Refurbished Apple Products
In wholesale buying of refurbished electronic products, the main consideration should be price because this will allow to be more competitive and have a healthy profit margin. When it comes to refurbished Apple products, there are two advantages: the quality and price.
When purchasing refurbished Apple products, a good option is to use wholesale suppliers. They can offer low prices because they buy products in large quantities and then divide the products into smaller pallets and mark them up for resale.
But a better option is to use liquidation companies. They are able to offer lower prices because, unlike online wholesale suppliers, they do not buy the items but only act as a platform where both retailers and manufacturers can reach a larger number of customers. As the products are not new, and have been repaired, or repackaged, you face much larger discounts. Big-name retailers like Walmart and Target need to clear liquidated products quickly, so there is a large turnover of low-priced lots, in order to clear warehouse space for more product.
However, not every liquidator can do a good job in sourcing and selling quality products. It is important that you do your research to find the most reputable liquidators who can provide good service and have positive customer reviews. Reputable liquidators will always provide you with a manifest, which indicates the accuracy of the quality and quantity of the products within a pallet. Some of them, Such as Direct Liquidation even have exclusive contracts with retailers and manufacturers which allow them to provide a 90-day warranty.
Things to Check When Purchasing Refurbished Apple Products
- Ensure that you are buying from a reputable seller.
- Check for a consumer-friendly return policy that will allow customers to return products for any reason free of consequence.
- Review warranty policy.
- Make sure that all needed accessories are included in the box such as chargers, adequate memory and cables. This point is less important than the others, but will help you to maintain the highest resale rates.
Pros and Cons of Buying Refurbished Apple Products
The advantages of buying refurbished Apple products is that they are guaranteed to be in working condition. They are also offered at great discounts, way below retail price and even lower than wholesale price.
One of the downsides is that refurbished products are usually not up to date. Some products are two to three years old models. These products come with their original operating system, so the computer or iOS device might also not be up to date.
Tips for Managing Refurbished Products Sales
Here are some suggestions on selling your refurbished products.
- Identify the best channels/marketplace and customers for reselling refurbished electronic products.
- Empower your customers to return defective products through a convenient return process.
- Let your customers fill out documentation forms about returned defective products.
- Create a process for dealing with your own returned products.
- Understanding the pricing you should be using for refurbished items.
The Export Market
Many countries, such as Brazil and India, are looking for affordable Apple products. This is because some countries do not have access to certain types of Apple products and those that are available are way too expensive. Offering them refurbished products will provide them affordable options. You just need to understand the exporting rules for your target countries. It is also worth noting that 95% of consumers live outside America and almost two-thirds of the purchasing power in the world is in other countries. This data is from the Small Business Administration.
Direct Liquidation is a goTRG company.
Henley currently works as a sales representative for Direct Liquidation, assisting businesses with product sourcing of liquidated merchandise from the largest retailers in the world. Whether you are looking for a pallet or a truckload Henley is here to help you grow your business.
View Henley’s Bio on YouTube.