Major Appliances, Trade Tariffs & the Secondary Retail Market

Recent reports by Reuters show that U.S. retail sales increased in May by 0.5%; an indicator that the economy could be on the upswing after many reports showing weak data. In addition, after releasing negative losses in April, financial reports have been revised to show April having a favorable month gaining 0.3% growth. While much of the growth is attributed to increased motor vehicle purchases, there were also increases in consumer electronics and appliances. 

Trade War Concern

New research also shows that retailers and manufacturers are concerned about the ongoing trade wars between Trump and China; especially when it comes to the increased cost of exporting and importing. Overall, imported merchandise such as washers, dryers, and other major appliances may wind up costing Americans much more in the coming months. Due to these increases in costs, many consumers may be looking for deals when purchasing major appliances. This is where the secondary market will come into play. 

Secondary Retail Market

The secondary retail market provides a sales channel for retailers and manufacturers to sell overstock and returned merchandise in bulk to a network of professional resellers that operate discount stores throughout rural America. Many of these discount stores are located in areas without big box stores. Consumers will seek out these discount stores to find the best deals on new washers, dryers, ranges, refrigerators, and more when shopping for their home. Meanwhile, the owners of the discount stores are constantly looking for new sources of inventory.

B-Stock Auction Platform for Top Retailers

A great source of inventory is B-Stock, an online auction platform where the world’s top retailers and manufacturers liquidate their overstock and returned merchandise to increase profit margins, keep inventory moving, and stop warehouses from reaching capacity. 

B-Stock has an extensive history of working directly with both buyers and sellers on the secondary market. We know from experience that secondary retail stores are not caught up in the so-called retail apocalypse. The secondary appliance market is a robust industry that’s doing better with certain major retailers imploding and closing stores; with the store closures, a vacuum is being created that’s leaving a ton of demand left unserved. This is where smaller Mom & Pop and SMB owners can fill in the void with their local stores so that consumers can still get a touch and feel for the merchandise. Many of the appliance store owners that we speak with agree with that sentiment.

Retailers Benefit from Buyer Network

When selling major appliances—ovens, ranges, washers and dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators—inventory needs to ship fast so that it doesn’t take up warehouse space and cost you money. At B-Stock, one of our goals is to help clients sell overstock inventory within the business week to an approved buyer base. Major retailers gain access to an extensive buyer network of professional resellers when they sell on B-Stock. Read more on how B-Stock works. 

B-Stock is a transparent auction platform that directly connects the world’s biggest retailers to SMB owners looking to resell that inventory.

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