Clear the Deck. Effective Donation Strategies for Closeouts and Excess Inventory.

Every business encounters the dreaded inventory problem – closeouts, overstock merchandise, dead stock, excess inventory and even abandoned items. These products eat up valuable warehouse space, tie up working capital and hinder your ability to bring in fresh new inventory because there isn’t enough room in the warehouse. But before you resort to throwing away inventory, consider the power of donation. Donating excess inventory and giving away closeouts for free can not only free up space and resources, but also benefit your community and potentially offer tax advantages.

This article can help you with effective strategies to donate various types of excess inventory, including:

• Closeouts: Leftover stock from previous seasons or promotions. These may be closeout housewares, closeout pet products or even leftover inventory from a sales promotion or premiums at casinos. If you are looking to offload closeouts, consider donating to charity.
• Excess Inventory: An overabundance of a still-relevant product. This can be excess home goods inventory, too much merchandise leftover in your stationery line or excess inventory of toys.
• Overstock Products: Products with little to no resale value due to obsolescence or damage. These are overstock products as a result of canceled orders or slow sales. In any case, the result is having too much inventory sitting in the warehouse taking up valuable space.
• Abandoned Inventory: Products left behind by former customers. This is dead stock that has no value to you because it was never yours to begin with. How frustrating is it to have your warehouse filled up with someone else’s inventory? Sure, your tenant moved out of the warehouse but they abandoned the inventory and left behind all the old merchandise.

We'll explore different donation channels, legalities, tax implications, and tips for a smooth donation process.

Understanding Your Overstock Inventory, Closeouts and Dead Stock.

Before diving into donation options, it's crucial to assess your inventory. Categorize the items based on condition, marketability, and potential use by a charitable organization.

• Closeouts: These are generally in good condition and may be slightly outdated. Consider if charities could use them for fundraising events or raffles. You will likely have tried offloading inventory in bulk to closeout buyers, and this hasn’t worked. If you are looking for inventory liquidators, an online Google search may be helpful. Try the following key words: closeouts, sell old inventory, keen to clear stock from warehouse, getting rid of overstock inventory, liquidation buyers, shutting down warehouse, overstock liquidation, buy excess inventory.
• Excess Inventory: Evaluate if these items are still relevant to your target market or could be repurposed for a different audience. Businesses often get stuck with old inventory due to slow sales, canceled orders, importing too much inventory and not having enough warehouse space to store large amounts of products. If you need to make room in the warehouse for new products arriving, it may be worth donating old inventory to get rid of bulk inventory quickly.
• Dead Stock: Assess the extent of damage. Slightly damaged items might be repairable for donation, while heavily damaged ones may need recycling options. Sometimes, there may be nothing at all wrong with the inventory and you simply have too much overstock. Closeout buyers that specialize in liquidating inventory can make you an offer to buy everything in bulk and take the inventory in one fell swoop. If you are looking to get rid of closeouts and abandoned inventory selling is your best option; donations are you next best alternative.
• Abandoned Inventory: Check with the original owner if possible. Sometimes when a tenant goes out of business or liquidates inventory, they move to a smaller warehouse and leave all the inventory behind when they move out. This abandoned inventory can be closeout housewares products, closeout pet products and excess inventory of any other category. The point is, they abandon inventory and now you are stuck with a warehouse full of stuff that you don’t need or want. Closeout buyers can be a good option for you if you are keen to clear stock from a 3PL warehouse or if you are looking to offload abandoned inventory.

By understanding your overstock inventory, you can target appropriate donation channels and maximize the impact of your generosity.

Donation Channels for Excess Inventory and Abandoned Stock.

There are numerous organizations eager to receive well-conditioned donations, depending on the type of inventory you have. Here are some key options to consider:

• Local Charities and Non-Profits: Research local shelters, community centers, schools, or religious organizations that align with your brand values. These organizations often need overstock furniture, excess inventory of office supplies, closeout pet products, overstock toys, and even non-perishable food items (for unopened, in-date food). Every business has closeouts and inventory they are looking to move out of the warehouse. It doesn’t matter what type of business you have, you are likely to have last year’s inventory, items that are no longer selling, leftover merchandise if business is slow, or closeouts due to downsizing warehouses.
• National Donation Programs: Organizations like Goodwill Industries, Salvation Army, or Habitat for Humanity have a nationwide network and accept a broad range of closeout items. Maybe you have overstock due to closing down your ecommerce business. Perhaps you have new seasonal products arriving and need to offload last year’s products. You might even be closing down all operations and looking to liquidate all of your inventory. In any case, you have too much inventory in your warehouse and you can make room by donating dead stock.
• Disaster Relief Organizations: In times of disaster, relief agencies often need essential supplies like blankets, toiletries, and non-perishable food. These organizations are always on the lookout for closeout pet products, closeout housewares and home goods, overstock inventory of any lawn and garden products and inventory liquidations of abandoned inventory of toys and games that children can play with.
• Veteran and Military Support Organizations: These organizations might appreciate donations of clothing, furniture, and household goods to support veterans and their families. If you have closed your business and want to sell merchandise you have left, consider making a donation to support these organizations. If you are keen to liquidate excess inventory and clear out your 3PL warehouse, consider making a tax-free donation instead.
• Animal Shelters: Animal shelters can use blankets, towels, pet toys, and unopened pet food. Basically, and overstock pet products and excess inventory of pet beds, leashes, collars and closeout pet toys would be perfect donations.

Contact the chosen organization beforehand to inquire about their specific needs and donation guidelines. Some organizations may not accept certain items due to space limitations or safety concerns. For example, if you have excess inventory of children’s toys, you may want to donate them to a children’s hospital rather than an animal shelter.

Considerations for Donating Dead Stock, Closeouts, Excess Inventory.

Dead stock, with its limited resale value, requires a bit more creativity. Here are some possibilities:

• Repurposing: Can damaged inventory be turned into fresh goods? Can broken electronics be recycled for parts? Explore ways to breathe new life into damaged items. Many organizations only want brand name closeouts or excess inventory in perfect condition. Getting rid of overstock inventory that is damaged can be more challenging.
• Donation Programs for Damaged Goods: Certain organizations specialize in repairing or refurbishing damaged goods for further use. Research programs in your area. If you have overstock inventory of parts, components or damaged products, consider making a donation of this kind of overstock inventory. It is a great way to offload inventory in bulk and clear out warehouse space for new goods coming in. If you have a limited amount of warehouse space and you are moving warehouses or downsizing to a smaller warehouse, this is a good strategy.
• Recycling Programs: Many manufacturers have recycling programs for specific types of closeout products. Explore options for responsible electronic or textile recycling.

By thinking outside the box, you can find ways to dispose of dead stock, abandoned inventory, closeouts, excess inventory and overstock merchandise responsibly and sustainably.

Handling Abandoned Inventory

Abandoned inventory presents a unique challenge. Here are some steps to follow:

• Attempt to Contact the Original Owner: If feasible, try contacting the owner of the abandoned items to see if they still want them. If an owner moved to a smaller warehouse and left behind all of their excess inventory and stock lots, you should have control of the inventory. In this case, if you don’t donate the inventory, you might consider contacting inventory liquidators that specialize in buying overstock inventory and liquidating large warehouses filled with abandoned inventory and unwanted merchandise.
• Check Legalities: Consult with a lawyer regarding local regulations on handling abandoned property. There may be specific holding periods before the items become legally yours to donate. But once they become yours, you can make the decision to donate abandoned inventory, liquidated excess inventory, offload closeouts to inventory liquidators, etc.
• Follow Donation Guidelines: Once you have the legal right to donate the abandoned inventory, categorize and donate it through the channels mentioned previously.

Merchandise USA buys closeouts, abandoned inventory, excess inventory, overstock products and dead stock from import and distribution companies. We can help if you are shutting down your business or downsizing and moving your warehouse to a smaller location. We have been buyers for excess stock since 1984 and we buy closeout housewares, closeout toys, overstock lawn and garden inventory and abandoned inventory from businesses that are keen to clear stock and liquidate inventory. If you decided to close your warehouse and are looking to offload inventory in bulk, Merchandise USA can help. If your company was bought out and you have excess inventory, we are liquidation buyers for toys, housewares, home goods, lawn and garden and closeout tools.