A Liquidator’s Guide on Buying Wholesale Electronics

Last Updated: March 7th, 2020

As a liquidation business owner, one of the most lucrative businesses you can go for is selling wholesale electronics. For starters, who in today’s world can survive without home appliances and other gadgets around their homes or offices? This means that your business may become popular (depending on the type and condition of goods you offer) and profits will start flowing into your bank account. In addition, dealing with wholesale electronics is easier because faulty pieces in your lot can either be repaired to look and function like brand new or be sold off to secondary markets where their parts can be used for other devices.

The thing is you can’t gain all of these benefits without the right merchandise. This is why you need to make sure you buy wholesale electronics from the right people or companies. Since this is where most resellers fail, continue reading to avoid making the same mistakes of those who stepped into the market before you.

Where to Get Wholesale Electronics

Whether you’re in the U.S. or in another country, you can easily get your hands on some of the best pallets of electronics around. All you need for becoming a liquidator is to shop in the right place for your products.

eBay.com

Many resellers highly recommend buying electronics wholesale from others on eBay. Not only is the website more reliable, but it also offers a wide variety from U.S. based resellers as well as international ones. Even some of the top physical stores and electronics manufacturers use this website to sell their slightly damaged or refurbished merchandise since it receives ample traffic on a daily basis. However, because it’s easy to become an eBay member, you need to make sure that you don’t become the victim of a scammer.

Amazon.com

Not many new liquidation sellers know this, but Amazon.com offers a wide variety of lots they can use. Though the top online retailer offers more lots for clothing, sports, jewelry and beauty dealers, chances are that you may find a few lots for electronics, especially music players and smartphone accessories. However, these lots are usually smaller in size and contain less than 100 items. In addition, you won’t be able to find pallets containing appliances and office electronics easily unless you have the will and ability to search through hundreds of pages.

Digital Marketplaces

Aside from eBay, there are thousands of websites that offer liquidation merchandise and provide electronics among their pallets. Aside from DirectLiquidation.com, you can find collections of wholesale electronics through other liquidation pallet sellers. All you need to do is type the right keywords in your browser and let your default search engine guide you to some of the top providers in cyberspace. However, as in the case of eBay, you need to make sure that you’re dealing with reliable websites. Many are phishing, i.e. trying to con you into divulging your personal information or parting with your money.

Exclusive Channels for Companies’ Liquidation Sales

In order to ensure that their profit stays within their organizations, certain manufacturers and store chains have started their own exclusive channels to liquidate used, refurbished, returned or non-functioning electronics. One example of this is TechLiquidators, which is the channel Best Buy uses to sell  liquidated consumer electronics and IT products. TechLiquidators even offers a Qualified Seller Program where you can use its offerings and services to meet the huge demand for wholesale electronics.

Other Liquidation Resellers

You’d be amazed at the number of liquidation sellers who sell others their own wholesale electronics. While you may be a little suspicious about this, especially since these items don’t come in good shape, you can trust reliable sellers with great reviews. Besides, some resellers actually sell their pallets because they couldn’t market them properly or because they’re going out of business. Becoming a liquidator in part is down to learning from other people’s mistakes.

Original Manufacturers

It won’t hurt you to go ahead and contact the original manufacturer asking about goods they want off their hands. Some may even connect you to resellers facing difficulties getting rid of their older models and outdated electronics. While you’re most welcome to get these to sell them for a small profit, you’ll make more by selling them to secondary markets. The best way to decide is by assessing the overall demand and then crunching the numbers to determine whether or not you’ll be making money by the end of the day.

International Marketplaces

If you’re willing to get new or returned wholesale electronics for a heftier price, you’re welcome to step into international marketplaces. Electronics markets such as China are thriving across the globe. Thanks to numerous courier services and trade agreements between the U.S. and other countries, you can get hold of wholesale electronics for less and pay the difference in your pallet shipping. This will ensure the quality of your goods; but don’t take this step unless your business is well-established. In addition, you should check the credentials of your international supplier to avoid being scammed. It’ll be very difficult for you to track your money once it leaves the U.S. However, you can protect your money by choosing services like  PayPal where you can revoke your payments.

Dropship Sources

Dropship sources are ideal for resellers who don’t have much money or any for that matter to start their own liquidation business. Basically, a dropshipper is a person or company who has a large warehouse filled with products, or electronics in this case, which you can purchase and receive within a business week.

You can sign up for a dropship company’s services and determine which items you’d like to receive. Once your clients choose from your catalog, you can then send the order to the dropshipper and have them deliver the items to your buyers. Since such companies don’t provide invoices from their warehouses, no one will know that you’re getting your goods from a third party.

Government Auctions

Believe it or not, government auctions, especially those conducted by police departments and postal services, offer a wide variety of expensive items, including electronics. You can get these for a fraction of their retail price, which is definitely a steal. You can also be sure of their quality since government branches try their best to ensure the durability of their equipment. Most of the time, auctions are held because the government tries to bring in the latest high-tech electronics to increase its employees’ efficiency.

Business Liquidation Auctions

While it may seem harsh to profit on others’ misery, business liquidation auctions allow you to get your hands on great office electronics that you can sell for profit. This is especially true if this office is new and has struggled in its industry for a while before shutting down. The best way to catch these auctions before your competitors do is by keeping your eyes on the classifieds section of your local newspaper.

How to Get the Best Wholesale Electronics

Just knowing where to get wholesale electronics from won’t be sufficient if you aim at getting the most from your investment. You need to know a few tricks of this trade to become the successful liquidation business owner you’ve always seen yourself as. So, here are some important tips to guide you in that direction.

Focus on Well-known Brand Names

While selecting pallets of electronics, make sure that you’re buying well-known brands. Most of the time, you may end up with those that include unknown brands that no one has ever heard of. If that’s the case, avoid them unless the one you like contains more branded items. Also, double-check that the spelling of the brand is correct. You won’t believe how many liquidators purchased Samseng instead of Samsung products just because of this little mistake.

Protect Yourself and Your Buyers with Warranties

When purchasing undamaged wholesale electronics, always make sure to get their warranties. Not only will this protect your investment, but it will make your goods more appealing to your clients. After all, they’ll be sure of your offerings’ condition and ability to last for at least a year.

Always Deal with Secure Websites

Though this article has emphasized this a number of times, you can’t be too cautious while dealing with online websites for buying electronics wholesale. It isn’t that hard to trick Google into showcasing a website as a top search result, so investigate each website you deal with thoroughly.

You should especially focus on getting user reviews to ensure the website’s reliability and usability. In addition, take a look at the website’s level of security while processing payments. This will show you how professional the site is and whether you can take a leap of faith and deal with it.

Inquire about Shipping

Electronics hardly come cheap, especially since they need to be shipped with ample care. So find out if the price you’re paying includes shipping and handling beforehand. If it doesn’t, crunch the numbers to determine whether you’ll really profit from such lots.

This is especially true in the case of electronics being shipped from international destinations. Another costly factor in this scenario is that of customs. So find out how much you’ll need to pay authorities before you can get goods in your store and start selling them.

Make Test Orders First

When it comes to liquidated electronics, it’s always a good idea to avoid putting all your eggs in a single basket. Instead of ordering too much at once, order one and check the condition of its pallet items first. If you like what you see, you can take the risk of ordering more. Just make sure not to overwhelm your supplier with a large order directly or else you may not be satisfied with the results.

Take a Look at the Products’ Packaging

You’d probably think twice before buying a TV in an unmarked box. Similarly, your customers would be turned off and reluctant to buy from you unless your electronics have their original packaging. While this may not always be possible, especially in the case of damaged and non-functioning electronics, you can profit from these if the number of such products is low. Simply sell them off to secondary markets and you’ll still make a small fortune off these.

Check the Packaging for Additional Items

Electronics usually come with a number of accessories, starting from TVs with remote controls, iPhones that come with headphones, tablets that come with cases, and all the way to additional wiring. To ensure that you’re getting your money’s worth and to satisfy your buyers, you should always check the packaging for accessories. Compare what you get with the original manufacturer’s website listing because that’s what smart buyers usually do when dealing with second-hand electronics.

Discover how Hard Your Supplier is Marketing their Electronics Lots

If this is your first time dealing with someone, you may want to check their marketing efforts. Reputable suppliers will have marketing campaigns all over the web because they want to sell their goods and become the #1 supplier to you and your competitors. On the other hand, shady ones will depend on organic traffic or whoever comes their way. However, make sure that your supplier has been advertising for quite some time now since scammers are starting to create very realistic ads.

Sign up for a Supplier’s Newsletter or Become a Member

To ensure that you get dibs on the best deals before the rest, you need to stay connected to your supplier. One of the best ways of doing so is becoming a member of their website or signing up for their newsletter. If you check your emails regularly, you may find some electronic gems that your customers would love to get their hands on.

The Bottom Line

Now that you know where to buy wholesale electronics and how to do so, what are you waiting for? Get down to business and start getting the success you’ve always wanted.

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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.