Before You Buy a Liquidation Truckload: What You Need to Know

2021-11-18

Are you a reseller that has a business buying and selling pallets of liquidated merchandise? Are you ready to take the next step to grow your business: buying liquidation truckloads?

Moving up from liquidation pallets to a full truckload requires a large investment and more from you in terms of planning and processing – here we will talk you through everything you need to know before taking this step, and what you can do to help your business run more smoothly.

Buying a Liquidation Truckload: Before You Buy

Do You Have Space?

A truckload contains 26 pallets measuring 40×48” with a maximum of 45,000lbs of merchandise. Do you have enough space to unload, store, and process 26 pallets? If you don’t currently have the space, you will need to find and lease warehouse space which requires a substantial capital outlay.

Freight shipping companies require a commercial address with a loading dock to be able to unload a full truckload. In some cases, it may be possible to get a freight company to deliver to a residential address if the truck is equipped with a liftgate to offload pallets but this is not standard practice.

Source: NRF, 2020.

Do You Have the Time and Manpower?

Processing such a large amount of merchandise will take a significant amount of time and manpower. This type of work is generally not a one person job. Since you will be operating out of a commercial space you’re going to have increased pressure to turn over goods in order to meet the increased overhead you are incurring.

Hiring employees can be expensive, time-consuming and stressful. However, if your business is going to continue to grow you must invest in manpower and tools to save you time and streamline your processes. Consider getting help from family or friends in the beginning until you can develop a repeatable processing system.

Do You Have a Plan?

You are going to require significant changes to your business model in order to thrive as a liquidation truckload buyer. You are going to need to expand your sales channels. The good news is you have more options as a truckload buyer:

You can sell full pallets out of your warehouse.
You can broker full truckloads.
You can retail items out of a storefront connected to your warehouse.
You can sell online through sites like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and Offerup.

The reality is you are going to need to employ a combination of these options to maximize your earning potential. You will need to consider that if you are buying liquidation merchandise, especially customer returns, you will also need to invest time in making these goods saleable. That could entail repair, cleaning, accessorizing or re packaging.

In addition, you need to invest time and effort in learning tools to help automate your processes as much as possible.

Obviously, that’s a lot to digest so it is imperative that before you buy a truckload you put together a proper business plan before making any investment. There are advantages to buying truckloads but they won’t be realized without a strategy and plan.

Buying Liquidation Truckloads: Adding Value

The best way to make a profit from a liquidation truckload, especially if you are investing in customer returns, is by adding as much value to the contents of your load as you can. The best ways to add value to a truckload of liquidated customer returns are:

Cleaning, Sorting & Testing

The contents of the pallet need to be sorted and cataloged: some items may be retail-ready, others may need additional work to be made saleable. It’s good practice to test the functionality of any items that require it before attempting to sell them. Customer returns do contain some non functional items and you want to know that before unwittingly selling them to a customer.

Repackaging

Customers like merchandise to be packaged properly. So, you should replace poor packaging with original packaging (if possible), or a suitable replacement.

Re-Accessorizing

If any accessories are missing, you should replace them with like-for-like accessories wherever possible. When this is not possible make sure when selling the product you clearly indicate what is missing to any potential customer and consider marking the price down to account for the missing items.

Repairing

If you have the technical know-how, repairing items is another way you can add value. If the items just need simple fixes, and if you can carry out these repairs yourself, you’ll bring products back up to spec and add considerable value to them. Outsourcing repairs to a third party will likely outstrip any potential profits.

Parts Harvesting

An unrepairable item may be used as a source for parts to repair or re-accessorize other items. You can also sell any parts in good condition in certain cases (like laptop RAM or power tool batteries).

Tools To Save You Time Processing Liquidation Truckloads

If you’re going to be processing full truckloads of liquidation merchandise, it is essential to invest in both online and offline tools. A UPC barcode reader and logger will save you time logging what you have bought, allowing spreadsheets to be made as quickly as you can scan barcodes.

Source: Appriss Retail, 2020

Stock management software is also essential, such as Acctivate – an inventory management tool that keeps track of what you’ve got in stock and how much it is worth, also providing you with key data to manage your supplies and order fulfillment.

Auto-listing tools for sites such as eBay or Amazon, or even your own website, depending on your business model, are also necessary.

Shipping label printers will speed up the shipping process. Partnering with websites such as stamps.com can save you money on postage.

Learn about these tools and more with our guide: Top Resources For Wholesalers: The Tools You Need.

Buying a Liquidation Truckload: Manifested or Unmanifested?

There are two types of liquidation truckloads you can buy; manifested and unmanifested. Manifested truckloads come with a complete list of the load contents. Unmanifested loads do not come with a list of load contents but you will know the category of product along with the retailer who was the source in most situations.

Manifested loads come with a higher price point since you have more visibility into what you are buying and the seller has invested effort into cataloging the load. Unmanifested loads carry more risk but a lower price point. If you are going to invest in buying a liquidation truckload you need to determine your risk appetite and choose the correct load type that suit your style.

Buying a Liquidation Truckload Direct vs. Through Brokers

When it comes to sourcing your liquidation truckload, there are two avenues to look at – sourcing directly from the retailers and manufacturers (or their immediate representatives), or through third-party brokers.

Let’s explore the key points of each channel:

Buying liquidation merchandise from the retailer or manufacturer, or their direct partners:

The most direct way of sourcing wholesale merchandise
Authentic merchandise from a reputable supplier
A reliable, steady stream of available inventory
No middleman – no markup fees

Buying liquidation merchandise from brokers:

You may or may not get the load if the broker double sells (selling the truckload through multiple channels, when only a single truckload is available to buy)
Higher costs due to the broker’s markup (this is how the broker makes their money)
No guarantee the load you get is the load you thought you bought (especially if double selling has taken place)
There are many fly-by-night businesses in the broker space, and liquidation brokering can be a boom/bust industry – offering no guaranty they can be a reliable long term supplier

As you can see, the best option is almost always to source as directly as possible from the retailers and manufacturers. This way you’re getting your truckload in the most reliable way possible, and for the best price possible.

Why Buy Liquidation Truckloads from Direct Liquidation?

Direct Liquidation allows you to buy merchandise directly from top retailers such as Walmart, Lowe’s and Sam’s Club. We can keep you stocked up with a steady stream of inventory. We are a reliable liquidation truckload supplier with a proven track record going back more than a decade.

Moving up from buying liquidation pallets to full truckloads is a much larger investment in both time and effort. However, if you’re looking to turn a side hustle into a real, growing, full-time business it can be well worth the investment. Once you’re ready to start looking at buying truckloads of liquidation merchandise – take a look at the liquidation truckloads we have for sale today.