Selling Goods Online: Make Money in Your Spare Time with Liquidations

Many of us dream of making a bit of extra money in our spare time. For many, it will only ever be a dream, but if you want to turn that fantasy into reality, one of the easiest ways to earn a little extra is to start buying and selling wholesale goods online. And you never know – do a few things right and that spare time hobby may just bloom into a full-scale business selling products to customers all over the world.

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Of course, if you do fancy starting your own business selling online, you’ll need something to sell. In the past, local wholesalers could be relied upon to supply startups with reasonably-priced wholesale goods that left plenty of room to make a profit. Unfortunately, those days are long gone as the prices offered by these types of wholesale suppliers have started veering ever closer to retail prices. That’s hardly a solid foundation on which to build a budding retail business empire, so what’s the solution?

The answer is to source stock from an online liquidation marketplace operated by a top-tier liquidation specialist such as Direct Liquidation.

What’s An Online Liquidation Marketplace?

In a nutshell, an online liquidation wholesale marketplace is a one-stop-shop for surplus merchandise being sold directly to retail and wholesale businesses by some of the country’s biggest retailers such as Target and Amazon.

Every year, these huge companies find themselves in possession of huge quantities of surplus stock that they must dispose of quickly to prevent it clogging up their stores and warehouses, thus reducing the capacity for the stock the retailers wish to sell in their stores and through their websites.

There are several types of stock classifications the retailers sell via online liquidation marketplaces. They are customer returns, overstock, closeouts, and refurbished products. By far the biggest category of liquidated wholesale merchandise a top-tier liquidator sells on behalf of its retail partners are customer returns. Every year, millions upon millions of dollars’ worth of products are returned to stores and websites operated by the big-name retailers for all sorts of reasons. These returns can no longer be sold as new – even if technically they are new – and therefore are of no further use to the retailers who specialize in selling new stock, not discounted stock.

The other types of stock the retailers sell include overstock, which is merchandise that has been over-ordered or is seasonal merchandise that the retailer needs to dispose of now the season has passed. Closeout stock is merchandise usually coming from stores that are closing. Refurbished stock is merchandise that has been tested and returned to its original factory spec with a 90-day warranty.

All of this surplus merchandise has to be disposed of, and that’s where top-tier liquidation specialists such as Direct Liquidation step in. They sell this surplus merchandise on their retail partners’ behalf via their online sales platforms. And because this is merchandise retailers wish to dispose of quickly, it is sold at a knock-down price, making it ideal for a small startup online business.

Sourcing From A Liquidator

Buying pallets and boxes of liquidated merchandise from a liquidator is easy. Most stock that a liquidator sells can be bought via a live liquidation auction or for a fixed or negotiated price. If you decide you wish to stock your side business with wholesale merchandise from Direct Liquidation – a good choice as its partner companies include Walmart, Amazon, Target, and Lowe’s Hardware. A resellers license means you’ll be able to avoid paying local sales taxes on your wholesale purchases; instead, your customers pay the sales tax, and you then pass it on to the state you’re in.

Once signed up, you’re free to browse Direct Liquidation’s comprehensive list of categories and dedicated vendor pages until you locate the exact type of stock you need. What is that stock? It’s entirely up to you. Most people looking to make a bit of extra money on the side usually choose to sell items that they’re interested in themselves and know a fair bit about, so say you’re into the latest gadgets and gizmos, buying and selling wholesale electronics might well be the stock to choose. Fashion buffs will find an extensive collection of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions and accessories. Outdoor types will find sports equipment, clothing, and fitness equipment. Whatever type of merchandise you choose to sell in your spare time, you’re very likely to find exactly what you need on an online liquidation marketplace.

For those looking to make a bit of money in their spare time, Direct Liquidation offers both box loads and pallets of surplus merchandise depending on your budget and storage capacity. Most people looking to start a side business in their spare time won’t have much cash to spare and will probably only have a small amount of storage, so knowing you can buy as little as one single box is another reason why liquidations marketplaces are the ideal places to source stock as you can buy as little or as much as you like.

Most customers choose to buy their surplus merchandise via live liquidation auctions. This is easy to do. All you need to do is locate the box load or pallet of stock you want to buy and then enter bids when that lot goes up for auction. You’ll want to have a maximum bid in mind before entering bids based on what you can reasonably expect to make when you sell on the goods to customers. If you win the auction, all you then need to do is pay for your winning lot and then arrange to ship.

Most liquidators are happy for you to come and collect your purchases. For a small startup resale business, this is good news as shipping costs can be kept to a bare minimum. If this is not an option, make sure to see what the liquidator charges for handling the shipping. They might offer a better deal than a third-party courier.

Selling Goods Online And Making Money In Your Spare Time

Once you’ve got your hands on a box load or pallet of wholesale liquidation merchandise, it’s time to get selling. A good place to start is on sites like Craigslist, where you advertise your goods locally. The benefit of this approach is that customers are nearby and therefore usually come to collect their purchases from you, thus cutting out the expense of postage and packaging.

For those looking to set up a store online, the temptation is to go straight for one of the big boys like Amazon and eBay. While these are both excellent sales platforms, they’re also crowded marketplaces that charge upfront or back-end fees. For those looking to set up a spare time operation, it might be better to look at what smaller store-hosting sites such as Wix and Shopify have to offer. Most of these smaller sites offer free trials, meaning you won’t have to spend any more money than is absolutely necessary when checking them out.

Finally, don’t forget the power of social media. Adverts on Facebook are relatively inexpensive and can reach a huge audience of potential customers. Instagram is a fantastic platform to show off what you have to offer, and Twitter is a good place to shout about what you’ve got. Huge businesses have emerged from being tiny startups on social media, so don’t ignore them.

However you choose to sell the goods you’ve sourced from an online liquidation marketplace, one thing holds true – by sourcing surplus merchandise this way, you’ll ensure your brand new side business has the best chance of making money online because you’ll be buying top-quality stock manufactured by companies such as Apple, HP, LEGO, Black & Decker, HP, Microsoft, Google, DeWalt and many, many more for a price that’ll leave plenty of room to make a profit. If you fancy diving into the world of selling goods online, the best place to source your stock is from a liquidator. Making money in your spare time can be very rewarding. A top-tier liquidation specialist such as Direct Liquidation can turn that money-making dream into a reality, so why not check out what a liquidator can do for your spare time business today? Good luck!

Direct Liquidation is a goTRG company.

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Henley Johnson

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.