Posts Tagged liquidated
Bulk, Consumer Returns, Wholesalers Consider Purchasing Returns from Consumers
Posted by Scott in Liquidations, Wholesale, Wholesale Sources on July 17th, 2009
Some desires that bought simply don’t make it as possessions. You take it back to the house, and somehow, you’re just not as crazy about it. It returns from whence it came, an agreement is finally negotiated with the store, and now the product is just another consumer return. So, what happens now? Does the product return to its’ old shelf-life? Is it simply disposed of? Consumer returns exist in a rather gray area, but when retailers can brush away the fog, these returns can equal out to big profits.
If something is being returned, either it is defective, or the customer has had a change of heart. A major irritation faced by wholesalers is the serial returner, or people who use the product for a while and then take it back. A lot of retailers are reducing these returns by using databases that supply the number of the customer’s driver’s license. Another type of chronic returner is the “Undecider,” These shoppers simply can’t make a decision between styles or types of the same product, and so buy a collection, make the decision at home, and then bring the unwanted items back. However, honest, trustworthy shoppers make up the last division of customers. They will only bring something back if it’s defective, and if they’ve had a change of heart, they replacement buy from the original company.
Attempting to obtain absolute information concerning client returns is an exercise in futility. Don’t lie to yourself though, they’re out there. In fact, a lot of retailers employ very savvy technological equipment to keep an eye on customer returns. Thanks to fast networks, special computer applications, and unified cash registers, the time it takes to get return data is now only 48-72 hours after the return is made. These impressive systems that process returns have also made it possible for the returned items to be quickly liquidated and put on market by wholesalers.
Change of heart returns and returns made due to a defective product will not be handled in the same way. A returned item will be refurbished if at all possible. “Refurbishing” is when the product goes to the manufacturer to be inspected, repaired, and then returned to the shelf for someone else to fall in love with. It’s a given that a few items will receive some injuries en route from plant, to sales floor, to the home of the consumer. Sometimes a renovated item will be labeled with an entirely new brand name in order to save the image of the original brand name. These items usually still end up being sold by wholesalers and liquidators, but sometimes they are advertised as a a whole new being for first-cycle retailers.
Wholesalers and liquidators often buy change of heart returns and defective items that can’t be prepared in large quantities. They don’t usually contain much merchandise that is honestly harmed or broken, and the wholesalers will mark them with the term “customer returns.” Getting a good deal and making a nice profit when the item is resold are worth the small amount of uncertainty involved. Internet sales continue to lengthen the distance between change of heart returns and defective returns. Every year more people are choosing to do their shopping with internet merchants, or online locations of known chains. Consumers are shopping by photograph, unable to try anything on, unable to touch or feel the product, and so many items are received with disappointment. This works out great for wholesalers because it gives them more “like-new” items that can be made available for resale.
These days, an items’ return factor, liquidation cost, and refurbishing are all part of what suppliers and manufacturers use to make up the base price of the item well in advance of advertising. Lousy, archaic, undesirables no longer reign supreme in the world of wholesale marketing. As businesses become more interested in the correlation of customer happiness with return information, it is the wholesalers who will reap the bounty. Unequal budgets can now manage to afford equal quality, albeit at different stores, thanks to the tighter cycle of consumer returns. Wise wholesale businesses can take the increase in consumer returns and make a profit with it, your business could be one of them!
Why are Wholesale Liquidators needed, and Who are They Exactly?
Posted by Scott in Liquidations, Wholesale, Wholesale Sources on July 3rd, 2009
For products that are needed no longer by the original sellers, or when there are too many of them, wholesale liquidators are the ones that receive these products. These items are received from closing businesses, stores that need to clear away their out of season items, and businesses that have lost all of their money, etc.
A wholesale liquidator is the one to go to when businesses want to get wholesale goods from closeouts. People starting an Ebay store, as well as retail and small time sellers, are able to purchase goods from a wholesale liquidator. You can go online and find countless suppliers that have all of the products you want and need.
When wholesale liquidators can buy large amounts of closeouts, they can sell the goods far below the normal wholesale price. They can still make money even by offering these things at great prices. The goods are sold in quantities that are much smaller than the way they bought them. This can be a great source of products for a new business. Your own business can be started quite simply and cheaply.
In some instances, wholesale liquidators do not hold or even own the goods that are being sold. The are more like brokers for the products. Prospective buyers are shown catalogs that have been created by them with very detailed descriptions and pictures. They buy the goods from their source after they sell it to the customer, and then it is delivered to the customer. Arranging the transportation from the source to the customer, is what their main job entails. A commission is added to the sale price offered to the last buyer by the brokers, and this is the way they make their money.
wholesale liquidators can be found easily on the Internet. wholesale liquidators can sometimes be skipped, and goods can be purchased right from the source. Liquidators have already been hired by some companies to deal with their assets. The only direct source for buying from these companies is the hired liquidator.
Commission rates are not made high for his services, and the nature of the brokerage is made clear to the customer when the broker is ethical. Before entering into any business agreement that may be binding, time must be taken to research and find legitimate wholesale suppliers. You can lose thousands of dollars if you don’t spare the time to research a company thoroughly. People that are trying to make a quick dollar, and have no morals, are all over. An actual visit to the company is a great idea, so that you can see for yourself how they are, and know as much about them and their history as you can possibly learn. Another way to learn about the company, is by finding other clients they have and talking to them.
It is just smart to find out everything you can about a company before giving them your money. After all, you want to make money, not lose it on an unscrupulous company. Be on the lookout for offers that seem too good to be true. When you are wary and calculated, you will gain much more than you could ever lose.
Exclusive Costco Customer Returns Contract Part 2: Fraud Prevention and Label Sanitation
Posted by Wholesale News in Wholesale, eBusiness on April 27th, 2009
There are a few more terms you need to familiarize yourself with if you are still interested in obtaining an exclusive contract with Costco for customer returns. In Part 1, I talked about how you simply get the contract, who you need to talk to, and what you can expect in picking up the Costco customer returns for wholesale liquidation.
Real liquidation of customer returns does not just stop with early pick up times. As a liquidator, you are responsible for protecting your supplier from return fraud with label sanitation. When the original supplier, Costco in our case, liquidates products they fully expect to never deal with them again. Here is how you make sure this happens:
Return Fraud With Liquidated Products
The last thing Costco wants to see is their salvage items finding a way back to their front end returns desk. As fraudulent as this seems to be, it’s easy to do and happens with regularity. “How does this happen?” you might ask?
- Costco sells its salvage batches of customer returns to the contracted liquidator.
- A wholesale liquidator markets the customer returned products. The customer returns are sold to either a retail store, in case lots (re-wholesale), or in a secondary retail outlet (flea market or eBay).
- The customer who buys a salvaged customer return drives to the nearest Costco and seeks a full retail refund. Even without a store receipt, the refund policy will usually give store credit or exchange for a brand new item.
A customer returned digital camera for example may end up in the customer’s hands for only $60.00. After taking it to Costco for a retail refund, the refunded amount could be as much as $199, or more. Even in store credit, this is a huge theft by return fraud for Costco, or any other retail outlet!
Prevent Return Fraud With Label Sanitation
It’s up to liquidators to stop return fraud from happening. After all, why would Costco want to sell their customer returns if it will just lead them to more returns? A simple label sanitation process will stop return fraud thieves in their tracks.
Label sanitation covers three basic areas:
- Remove all references to the original source. Sales tags and store stickers are often stuck on the products themselves.
- Remove brand names or strike through with black permanent ink if the brand is store-exclusive. Costco has a few brands exclusive to their stores, such as the Kirkland brand. Make sure you know which brand names scream “I’m from Costco!” and handle them appropriately.
- Disable the bar code or scan tag. Be careful here– only draw a black line with a permanent marker through the black and white bar code so a customer return agent cannot scan the item back in. Do not remove or disfigure the model number or serial number. Those are indications of stolen property, not liquidated products.
Tips and Tricks for Label Sanitation
Label sanitation can be a ton of extra work though. Make sure your contract with Costco, or any other retail outlet, spells out your label sanitation responsibilities. Distinguish between low-risk and high-risk customer returns. Liquidated items like food, paper goods, and household staples are not likely to be returned for personal gain to the original supplier. There are a number of red flag categories for customer return fraud, such as:
- Clothing
- electronics
- Appliances
- Jewelry/Watches
These high risk categories MUST have all labels sanitized. A regular permanent black marker will disable a bar code very easily, and it takes only a moment to do so. Clothing tags should have a black slash through the brand name to denote returned status. If the clothing tag is black, use gold or silver permanent ink instead.
Another strategy is to mark large electronics and appliances with the term “SALVAGED.” You may see this in grease pencil or some other colored marking on the back of a wholesale good in secondary markets. Be leery about agreeing to this practice on every electronic. First, try to make sure you can place such a term discreetly near the model number or other area a customer return agent would look for information during the return process. The reason is that you still need to remember you must resell these items, whether to another wholesale distributor or in another discount retail market. Customers and wholesale buyers will be reluctant to buy liquidated electronics and items with large writing on the back of a negative term like “SALVAGED.”
Bringing up effective strategies to prevent customer return fraud is another valued service you bring as a liquidator. Large retail sellers, like Costco, will be happy you bring this up as it saves them on fraudulent returns. It may take some negotiation on how to handle label sanitation, but make sure you don’t sacrifice your ability to resell the items. Finally, label sanitation shows your supplier that you are a professional player in the liquidation industry.
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