B-Stock: Connecting Retail Buyers to Sellers with No Middleman

B-Stock was founded a little over 10 years ago and since then has become the world’s leading liquidation platform that moves billions of dollars worth of returned, excess, and other liquidation inventory from the largest retailers. Much of that success is based on how we treat our clients. B-Stock believes that advocating for clients will pay dividends over the long-term. We do that by providing private marketplaces for nine of the top 10 U.S. retailers (and hundreds of additional retailers across the globe) to sell their overstock and returned products with no middleman involvement and no price mark up for the buyer. Historically, it was difficult for small to medium-sized buyers to purchase excess inventory directly from large retailers and manufacturers; however, today B-Stock provides an efficient system that automates previously manual work. This post provides a quick overview on how the B-Stock platform works. 

A level playing field for buyers + simplicity for sellers

A great benefit that B-Stock’s marketplaces provide is a level playing field that allows vetted, professional resellers an opportunity to compete for inventory that retailers need to sell, but can no longer place on shelves as ‘new.’ These private marketplaces enable a direct relationship between resellers and retailers via a transparent platform with no middleman markup. Because an open, auction platform eliminates all negotiation over price, it is just as easy to have thousands of buyers involved as it is to manually sell to just a handful. This provides ease-of-use for our sellers who are no longer restricted to negotiate with only a couple of buyers. The platform that we built has evolved into an ever growing ecosystem of new retailers joining the network, current retailers expanding their auction lots, and new retailers signing up on a daily basis. All of this growth attracts new buyers, which in turn increases competition, and as a result, prices increase across all marketplaces.

An Overview for New B-Stock Sellers

At B-Stock, your success is our success, so we want to see all of our sellers do well by selling their lots at the highest current market value. We do that through our auction strategies. These time-tested strategies have proven to work well no matter the category—appliances, fashion, consumer electronics, mobile phones—and will help you generate the most amount of revenue for your excess stock. Here is a quick overview of how success is achieved.

The Right Buyers

Having the right buyers is always the most important first step to maximize recovery on auctions. It’s important to segment buyers by product category, condition code, and ability to participate (financial ability, geographic location, etc.) in order to properly drive demand. B-Stock’s marketplace experts will help guide you on finding the right buyers. 

Repeat Buyers

Repeat buyers create a foundation on which to build a successful auction marketplace and will also help boost recovery. There are many operational elements that help keep buyers coming back. Building customer loyalty programs that reward repeat purchases is one example; fun promotions are another. For example, one client once gave away a truckload of hangers with any apparel purchase.

Bidder Competition

More bidder competition (among ‘the right’ buyers) means higher prices every time. B-Stock is continually investing in attracting new buyers through targeted demand generation programs. We also suggest implementing a low start pricing auction strategy that effectively attracts a large pool of bidders that compete against each other to win the lot: many buyers get caught up in the idea of just-one-more-bid will win it for me. In the end, this type of competition allows retailers to sell their overstocked inventory at the highest market value. 

Optimize Auction Lot Configuration

How auction lots are assembled is extremely important to maximizing recovery. For example, after a Fortune 500 home improvement retailer broke its lots down into smaller quantities, more buyers were able to  participate. This had an immediate impact on recovery: at half a truckload, the recovery increased 40%; and quarter truckload lots experienced a 52% increase in recovery (over the original recovery rate of full truckload lots). You can also sort by pricing (group expensive items together and separate from lesser priced items). Another way to sort your lots is by category, for example, you don’t want to mix dog food with shoes. And, last, you can sort auction lots by condition, so that all of your Like New items are sold together and all of your items that need repair or refurbishment are sold together. 

Quality Customer Service

A customized, private-label B2B liquidation marketplace promotes a direct relationship between you and your buyers; and with that comes the responsibility of providing a great buying experience. By offering quality customer service that includes resolving the inevitable disputes that will crop up amicably and quickly, you’ll reap benefits in the form of better prices and repeat buyers.

There’s lots more to say about auction strategy, but this should provide a high level overview of the B-Stock approach. When you sign up to start selling through us, our experienced marketplace experts will guide you through every step of the way to realizing a new source of revenue.