A Guide to Online Liquidation Sites

We’ve all heard it – liquidation has gone online. But where exactly? There are quite a few online liquidation sites to choose from, but not every marketplace operates the same or will fulfill your business needs. In this post, we’ll break down a few different websites to help you find the best liquidation site for your inventory needs.

Online Liquidation Sites: A Comparison

B-Stock Solutions

B-Stock is made up of a network of online liquidation auction marketplaces that B-Stock operates for large retailers and manufacturers like The Home Depot, Walmart, Target, Amazon, Nordstrom Rack, Whirlpool, and more. Via their marketplaces, retailers auction off bulk quantities of products across all categories and conditions (new/unopened to salvage). A key difference is that B-Stock never touches or poaches the inventory; buyers are purchasing directly from the retailer, via the retailer’s own liquidation marketplace. This enables a direct relationship, fostering a better experience for both buyers and sellers. What’s more, because the marketplaces are auction-based, buyers can decide what they are willing to pay and also know what those around them are offering to pay. Keep in mind, to bid on any of the B-Stock operated marketplaces buyers must have a valid resale certificate.

Here are B-Stock’s three main buying channels:

• B-Stock Auctions – Search across all B-Stock liquidation marketplaces by category, region, retailer, or even specific products.
• B-Stock Supply – Supply sellers range from Fortune 500 companies to small or medium-sized businesses. It’s a good starting point for buying smaller quantities if you’re not quite ready to dive into a full pallet, LTL (less than truckload), or FTL (full truckload) of merchandise.
• B-Stock Private Marketplaces – 65+ private marketplaces for today’s largest retailers and manufacturers including Amazon, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy, Unilever, Ashley HomeStore, AT&T, and more.

Liquidation.com

Liquidation.com buys and consigns returned merchandise from large and small sellers and auctions it off via its Liquidation.com marketplace. More often than not, the product comes from one of several warehouses across the country that Liquidation.com stores inventory in. However, on occasion, the products may come from an individual seller directly so be sure to check the fine print. Buyers don’t need a resale certificate or tax ID number. Quantities vary from auction to auction and can be as small as single unit auctions. Keep in mind, the sellers on the marketplace are typically anonymous and Liquidation.com never connects buyer and seller directly in a way that would allow them to establish a direct relationship.

Genco Marketplace

Genco Marketplace is a subsidiary of FedEx Supply Chain. The marketplace sells bulk lots of products including customer returns — as well as closeouts, refurbished products, and other liquidated merchandise — to liquidators, discount retailers, eBay sellers, flea marketers, and other entrepreneurs. The marketplace offers dozens of categories including apparel, computers, and other electronics, office supplies, sporting goods, and general merchandise sold “as-is where-is”. Keep in mind, Genco purchases the inventory first before selling to you, the buyer; as such, very few of the lots are in brand new condition. In addition, they aren’t selling inventory online and you will have to contact your sales rep or customer service. So if you’re trying to browse online and compare pricing, you’ll have to jump through a few hoops!

BULQ.com

BULQ.com is owned and operated by Optoro. Optoro purchases the merchandise from large retailers and manufacturers and then sorts the inventory into bulk lots for resale on BULQ.com. The marketplace offers new, like new, uninspected customer returns, scratch & dent, and salvage inventory for sale– all at fixed prices. Once registered, you can purchase a small case up to multi-pallet loads. However, BULQ.com will only ship to registered U.S. addresses. In most cases, BULQ.com handles all shipping; except in the case of full truckload shipments, buyers must arrange their own shipping. Additionally, BULQ.com requests resale certificates from all buyers.

Direct Liquidation

Direct Liquidation purchases the inventory first from retailers (as a liquidator) before reselling the merchandise to you. This means, they handle and house the inventory, and also reap the deep discounts by purchasing direct from retailers and brands. They have a number of facilities across the country where they receive, sort, test, refurbish and re-package the merchandise before listing it for auction. You can choose to have Direct Liquidation handle the shipping, or choose to arrange shipping yourself. They sell a wide variety of categories and conditions from a small handful of retailers and manufacturers.

So there you have a few options for liquidation sites. Now let’s pivot a bit and look at a few wholesale sites. And, if you’re wondering how liquidation differs from wholesale, be sure to read Liquidation vs. Wholesale: What’s the Difference?

Toptenwholesale.com

TopTenWholesale.com is a search engine that enables buyers to connect with suppliers and gives access to millions of products. This can be risky because buyers never know how accurate the descriptions of products may be or how reliable the vendor is as far as shipping, payment, and item condition are concerned. Another important note is that prices are usually fixed and the volume of product varies. Wholesalers frequently purchase large liquidation bulk lots from large liquidators, break those lots apart, then repack and redistribute them in smaller lots to smaller retailers and resellers at higher prices. So be wary of any markups!

AliExpress

AliExpress is one of the trade platforms created by Alibaba Group, a China-based company. Alibaba has created three trade platforms, enabling millions of buyers and suppliers to connect around the world and do business online. Alibaba is for importers and exporters, while AliExpress is the global site geared towards smaller buyers looking to buy smaller quantities combined with fast shipping. While this is an international site, it is also another wholesale distribution site with steep competition from Chinese manufacturers. This means the prices are usually fixed and the amount of product can vary substantially. Most importantly, finding trusted sellers can take time with knock-offs running rampant.

Dollardays

DollarDays is another online wholesale distributor that caters to small businesses and nonprofits looking to stretch their donation dollars. Their products are sold by the case and single packs but priced at par with or below wholesale rates. Their minimum required purchase is a single case, not in pallets or truckloads like many other distributors require. In order to see prices, one must first register. Registration is free, and depending on availability, you can receive samples of merchandise. As with any wholesale site, you will see prices offered and can decide to purchase or not, as opposed to auction sites like B-Stock’s that allow you to make any offer you want and if it happens to be better than the other offers, you will win at your chosen price.

Download your copy of The Complete Checklist for Buying Liquidation Pallets!

BlueLots

BlueLots is a B2B marketplace for resellers to source liquidation inventory from retailers, wholesalers, and closeout suppliers. Inventory type ranges from customer returns to shelf pulls in brand new, like new, and used condition. Once you register, you can view the full lot manifest, shipping costs, and place a bid.  There are also ‘Buy Now’ options on certain auctions. This takes away from competitive bidding among interested buyers and you may end up paying more than you budgeted for.

A few things to note: orders of $3,000 or more have to be paid through a processing software called Plaid. Buyers who aren’t used to this technology may be inconvenienced. Also, on BlueLots you can’t filter auctions by region. Which as a buyer, you’re likely trying to shop closer to your region so you don’t pay hefty shipping fees. Don’t miss your chance to win great inventory and with a decent shipping quote. On B-Stock, you are always able to filter by region so you never have to pay more in shipping than your budget allows. If you’re looking to make larger bulk orders for less-than-truckloads (LTL) or full truckloads (FTL) of merchandise, BlueLots might not be for you since their inventory is offered per parcel or pallet. You can enjoy more bidding flexibility on a site like B-Stock Supply.

888 Lots

888 Lots started as a distributor for electronic goods and evolved into a B2B liquidation platform with over 30 categories. They boast negotiable prices, brand new inventory, and rich data like UPC, MSRP, and real-time selling prices on different marketplaces. Bear in mind that you won’t have direct access to retailers’ surplus and liquidation inventory. 888 Lots receives unsorted liquidation and overstock inventory and sorts and categorizes it themselves. You risk losing out on valuable pieces of inventory from a lot when pallets are transferred through multiple hands and warehouses. And without the transparency of auctions, you’re unable to see what others are willing to pay. If you’re looking for individual items, “dollar store” lots, or even the chance to select items and consolidate them into your own custom lot, you can, but it will make scaling your resale business take longer.

Other auction-style liquidation sites allow you to purchase the inventory you need, at the right price, and without the middlemen.

American Merchandise Liquidators

On American Merchandise Liquidators, you can browse truckloads, lots, and pallets of returns, closeouts, overstock, and other liquidation inventory in a variety of categories. Bear in mind, these are liquidators. They specifically buy closeouts and customer returns in large quantities and then break them up to resell to buyers like yourself. So you aren’t bidding competitively for inventory and you’re at the mercy of their pricing. There is also no guarantee of your profits since you can’t view the approximate MSRP of a lot or its items. On B-Stock, you can always download and view lot manifests and find detailed information in auction listings as well. If you have any problems with your B-Stock order, buyers have a set timeframe to file a dispute. You can see each marketplace’s terms of purchase before bidding. Additionally, you can also see the acceptable range that listing discrepancies can fall into depending on the seller.

TechLiquidators

If your resale business specializes in consumer electronics and tech, this site might work for you. TechLiquidators is another online auction marketplace but one that specializes in wholesale electronics! You can find bulk amounts of new, used, refurbished, returned, end-of-life, and salvage consumer electronics from Best Buy. Source products like video game consoles, computers, cell phones, tech accessories, TVs, Apple products, and more. The only downside is if you’re looking for a variety in product categories, you won’t find it on TechLiquidators. On B-Stock, we offer auctions not only in electronics and mobile, but also apparel, home & garden, furniture, health & beauty, toys, grocery, and more!

Get Started on an Online Liquidation Site

There are quite a few options available when it comes to buying liquidation and wholesale inventory. And there is even more to consider when you go on to resell said inventory. Luckily, B-Stock is with you every step of the way. There is a starting place for every buyer on our site, starting with B-Stock Supply to all 65+ of our private marketplaces. The most important thing is to find a reliable source to fit your business inventory needs. A great way to begin is by browsing through current auctions and the merchandise available to see if it’s a match. We’d love for you to start your buying journey with us on B-Stock. Check out all of our live listings now!

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