Can Selling Outdated Electronics Be Lucrative?

If you’ve been in consumer electronics sales for any length of time, you’re familiar with the problem. The latest version of a product is released, and suddenly you’re stuck with shelves full of obsolete electronics inventory. Sure, some might sell if you put it in a clearance bin, but the rest will just clog up your warehouses until you do something about it.

Some brands in the past have elected to dump this inventory and cut their losses. This so-called solution equals electronics tossed into landfills, a practice that can be incredibly damaging to our environment. Green-conscious brands and consumers alike know that this is no way to solve the problem. So what’s a brand to do?

Believe it or not, there is money to be made selling these outdated products into the secondary market. True, they usually won’t fetch the same price they did before the newer version dropped in most cases. But you can still recap some of your investment while freeing up inventory space for the latest and the greatest.

Electronics Liquidations

If your outdated goods are only a generation or two behind, they likely still have some consumer value. But that doesn’t mean you want to clutter up your warehouse or stock your shelves with them. After all, they won’t command the same price as newer inventory.

Fortunately, online auctions offer a lucrative and straightforward solution for moving these obsolete or used electronics out of your warehouse and into the hands of resellers who deal in the secondary market. By listing your unwanted inventory on a trusted site like B-Stock, you can unload pallets or even truckloads of obsolete and used inventory quickly, and rest assured that you’re getting the best price the secondary market will currently support.

Carefully vetted resellers will bid on your auction lots, driving the price up as they compete for your unwanted goods. Then they’ll arrange to ship from your warehouse and take possession of your inventory, with no need for back and forth negotiations. You’ll free up inventory space and get cash in hand, fast.

Used Electronics Sales

It’s easy to imagine that there’s still a market for last year’s brand new smartphone or laptop model. But what do you do with open-box goods or returned consumer electronics? B-Stock can solve this problem, too.

When a consumer returns an electronic item to your store or ships it back to your eCommerce business, you shouldn’t just turn around and resell that item. Instead, it needs to go through a thorough testing process. You need to ensure that it’s not missing any parts or instructions, sensitive data is wiped, and you need to check that the item is still in perfect condition and working correctly. Once you’ve thoroughly inspected the item, you still need to let consumers know that it is open-box or used condition.

If you have a team dedicated to inspecting and refurbishing your products, this is no big deal. But for most retailers, it can be a considerable headache. Instead, they opt to offload these products, selling them into the secondary market.

Auction buyers are often happy to take those uninspected, obsolete, or used electronics off your hands. They have the time to devote to inspections and refurbishment, and they’re willing to gamble on the condition of used or open-box electronics goods. You won’t even need to provide any sort of warranty or customer support if the products turn out to be defective or missing a few pieces.

Recycled Electronics

Of course, there is a third category of consumer electronics that you may not want to even think about: salvage electronics. What do you do with products that you know to be defective? It would be unethical to unload them onto some unsuspecting reseller without disclosing their condition. But why would anyone buy these products from you if they know they don’t work?

Fortunately, there are plenty of buyers out there who are happy to buy up broken or defective salvage goods. Electronics recyclers are often similar to salvage yards for cars. In some cases, these buyers have the knowledge and ability to repair broken electronics goods. In other cases, they’ll take the products apart and sell the parts for repairs. Either way, it’s a much more profitable and earth-friendly option than just dumping goods into a landfill.

Get Started With B-Stock

Whether you’re sitting on a warehouse full of brand new but obsolete goods or you have a growing salvage electronics problem, B-Stock can help with your used electronics sales. We have the world’s largest B2B marketplace for secondary market consumer electronics and mobile devices and a thriving auction space to sell all sorts of other outdated, used, or broken consumer electronics. We offer solutions for both enterprise-level and small businesses alike. And our years of experience and extensive pool of thoroughly vetted business buyers mean we can help you get the highest recovery on your secondary market merchandise.

Isn’t it time you got started selling with B-Stock? After all, you have nothing to lose but that excess inventory!