General
- Who sells on the Direct Liquidation platform?
Direct Liquidation is a B2B platform that was created to allow retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and corporations the ability to liquidate their surplus inventory.
- What type of goods can be sold on Direct Liquidation?
The Direct Liquidation platform can be used to liquidate excess inventory including; overstock, closeouts, customer returns, shelf pulls or refurbished goods across hundreds of categories. Our system supports both courier and freight shipments.
Becoming A Seller
- How can I become a seller on Direct Liquidation?
The first step to becoming a seller is to register a user account on the platform. After registering you will see a link “Apply to become a seller” in the “My account” menu. When you click the link to view this page there will be an application form that needs to be filled out and submitted asking for basic details about your business.
- How long is the approval process after I apply to become a seller?
Applications are constantly being reviewed and are typically approved or rejected the same day they are submitted. Applications submitted outside business hours will be reviewed the next business day for approval. All applicants will receive an email with a decision whether they are approved or rejected.
- Are there any fees charged to become a seller?
There are no ongoing membership fees that need to be paid by sellers to list on the platform however, there will be a 10% administrative fee applied to all sales on the platform which is subtracted from the order payment before it is remitted to you.
- What types of buyers will be viewing my inventory?
Direct Liquidation allows both businesses and individuals to sign up on the platform. Sellers have the ability to allow individuals and businesses to purchase their inventory or restrict sales to only companies that have a valid sales tax certificate on file with Direct Liquidation. In the event a seller elects to allow individuals to purchase their inventory sales tax will be collected where applicable and remitted to the seller who is then responsible to report these taxes to the appropriate State government. By default, new seller accounts are configured to only allow businesses with reseller certificates on file to purchase their inventory to avoid any potential tax liability.
- What is a “tax profile” and do I need to set one up?
If you elect to allow non-business entities to purchase your inventory you are required to complete a tax profile which tells us all of the States where you have a physical presence for tax purposes. This information will be used at checkout to apply the appropriate sales taxes to the order. The tax collected will be remitted to you and it will be your responsibility to report it to the appropriate State government. If you configure your account to only allow businesses with valid reseller certificates on file with Direct Liquidation you are not required to complete the tax profile section of your seller profile.
- What is a “private” marketplace?
Seller’s on the Direct Liquidation platform have the ability to create their storefront as either a public marketplace or private. A public marketplace allows any website visitor to view all of the the seller’s currently active listings. A private marketplace can only be viewed by customers that have been explicitly approved by the seller. The private marketplace also includes an “invite” feature to invite your existing customer lists to your storefront on the Direct Liquidation platform.
Listing Creation
- How do I create a listing on Direct Liquidation?
After your application has been approved a number of new menu options will appear in the “My account” menu. To create new listings click on the “My Listings” link. Within this page is a button “Create Listing”. Click this button and then complete the listing form in it’s entirety. After filling out the form, attaching photos and a manifest you can preview your listing prior to submitting it for approval by clicking the “Preview” button. If you are happy with the preview click the “Save” button to submit it to a moderator for review. Listings are constantly being reviewed for approval and are typically activated within the same business day. Listings submitted after 4pm EST will be reviewed the following business day for approval. Sellers are notified via email after a decision has been made by the moderator. In the event a listing was rejected a reason for the rejection will be supplied and the seller will have the ability to make edits to their listing and resubmit for approval.
- Is there a minimum quantity when creating a listing?
Direct Liquidation was created to liquidate surplus inventory in bulk. The customer base that visits and buys from this site is looking for bulk quantities of product. No limitation has been explicitly set in the system to set a minimum quantity however sellers are encouraged to bundle items in larger quantities to maximize their potential for a successful sale.
- Is there a minimum price I can set for my listing?
There is no minimum price requirement other than the listing must be above $0. Sellers are encouraged to factor in the value of the goods plus shipping costs plus our 10% administration fee when configuring the sale price for their listing.
- What information is needed at a minimum to generate a listing?
In order to have a listing approved on the platform sellers are required to submit:
• Listing title
• Sale price
• Total retail price of all goods in the load
• Total qty of items in the load
• Listing description
• At least one (1) manufacturer
• At least one (1) category
• At least one (1) photo of the listing
• Manifest in excel format (sample manifest is available from the create listing page)
• Packaging details
• Condition/ functionality of goods
• Shipping weight and dimensions- How long does the approval process take for a listing?
Listings are typically approved or rejected within the same business day. Listings submitted after 4pm EST will be reviewed the following business day. Sellers are notified by email immediately after a decision is made. In the event of a rejection a reason will be provided and the seller will have the ability to correct the issue and resubmit for approval.
- Who manages customer’s questions about a listing?
All customer service requests are handled via on site live chat by our customer support operators as well as by email and phone. In the event our customer support staff is unable to accurately answer a buyer’s request they will reach out to sellers via email to answer the buyer’s request. It is advisable to monitor the email inbox you configured when you created your account regularly to help us facilitate sales on your behalf.
Order Management
- How can I view the status of my orders?
After a listing is sold a new order will be generated under the “Order Management” page within the “My Account” menu with the order set to “Unpaid” status. After a buyer issues payment for the order it will move to the “Open” orders tab. It will be your responsibility to download shipping labels and mark the listing as shipped. After you mark a listing shipped it will move to the completed orders tab. Marking the item as shipped will also trigger a payment request to our accounting department. If the order is never marked as shipped no payment will be issued for the order.
- Can I cancel an order once it’s created?
Sellers have the ability to cancel an order up until it is marked “Paid” with prior approval from the administration team at Direct Liquidation. After that point the “cancel” order button will no longer be available for the listing. If a seller cancels an order they will be prompted and asked if they would like to relist the merchandise again. Abuse of order cancellation will result in termination from selling on the site.
Payments
- When will I get paid for listings that sell?
Payment will be remitted to you less our 10% administration fee after we have received and processed the buyer’s payment and you have shipped the goods to the buyer. A buffer of five (5) business days will be added after the buyer receives the goods to allow the buyer to inspect the goods. After this buffer expires payment will be remitted within 10 business days.
- What payment options do you offer for payouts?
Payments are remitted to seller’s by ACH payment or company check.
- What happens if a buyer does not pay for an order?
If a buyer does not pay for an order within three (3) business days Direct Liquidation will contact the buyer on the seller’s behalf in order to collect payment. If the buyer refuses or is unable to pay at that time their order will be canceled and you will be prompted to relist your inventory. Any buyer on our platform who fails to pay for an order is immediately blocked from making any additional purchases in the future.
- Are there any fees for selling on Direct Liquidation?
Direct Liquidation charges a 10% administration fee to sellers who list on the platform. When an order is paid and shipped we remit the order total minus our 10% fees. Please note no fees are applied on the shipping or tax component of the order.
- Who is responsible for paying state sales tax if a buyer does not have a reseller certificate on file?
Direct Liquidation will collect any appropriate sales taxes at checkout for buyer’s who do not have a reseller certificate on file with us. When payment is issued to a seller this collected tax will be remitted to the seller and it is the seller’s responsibility to then report the sales tax to the appropriate State government. Sellers who wish to avoid this situation are urged to check the box that says “Only allow buyers with reseller certificates to purchase my listings” under “Seller Settings”. This option is checked by default for new seller accounts.
Shipping
- Who pays for shipping?
Shipping will be paid by the buyer. If the buyer elects to arrange their own shipping they will not see a shipping charge when checking out. If the buyer elects to utilize Direct Liquidation shipping a quote will be provided at checkout. When a payment is remitted to a seller for their order the shipping amount will be subtracted from the payment before it is sent.
- Who is responsible for arranging shipping when a listing sells?
If the buyer selects “arrange my own shipping” the buyer will be utilizing a 3rd party service to facilitate their shipment. When a seller marks their order “ready to ship” the buyer will be prompted to provide the seller with shipping labels and our support staff will work with the buyer and seller to schedule a pickup time. If the buyer selects Direct Liquidation as the shipper then we will provide the seller with the appropriate shipping documents when the shipment is ready and work to schedule a pickup.
- What does “allow buyer to arrange own shipping” mean?
When sellers are setting up their shipping addresses they have a checkbox that says “Allow buyers to arrange their own shipping”. When checked buyers will have the option to bypass the Direct Liquidation shipping partners and work with their own 3rd party shipping service to ship their order. This is a very popular option especially for larger customers who have arranged their own special shipping rates with carriers. Sellers have the option to enable / disable this option for each shipping address they add independently.
Disputes
- What happens if a buyer files a dispute against me?
If a buyer initiates a dispute our support staff will collect pictures and supporting evidence from the buyer to investigate their claim. Direct Liquidation support staff will investigate their claim and develop a resolution that will be provided to both the buyer and seller for agreement. Buyers must initiate a dispute within five (5) business days of receiving their shipment. If a dispute is initiated payment for the order will be held in escrow by Direct Liquidation until the resolution process completes. This typically takes up to one week. If no agreement can be reached between the buyer and seller they will then enter an arbitration process administered by the American Arbitration Association.