From Casino to Closeout: A Guide to Clearing Surplus Inventory

Discovering a warehouse filled with overstock toys, housewares, and lawn and garden closeout products, especially those with a past life supplying casinos, presents a unique disposal challenge. The sheer volume and specialized nature of these items necessitate a strategic approach, involving a network of specialized liquidation contacts. This article outlines the key players you should engage to efficiently and profitably clear such a warehouse. Providing casinos with inventory to use for promotions and giveaways can be a great business. But when large amounts of inventory are leftover and can no longer be used for promotions, it is time to liquidate the inventory and get if off your hands.

1. Liquidation Specialists:

• National Liquidation Companies: These overstock companies specialize in handling large volumes of distressed or surplus inventory. They possess established networks of closeout buyers across various industries and can quickly move large quantities of excess inventory. Look for closeout companies with experience in handling diverse overstocked product categories, including overstock toys, closeout housewares, and liquidation of lawn and garden products. They often offer comprehensive services, including inventory assessment, warehousing, and transportation.

• Regional Liquidation Brokers: These closeout brokers operate on a smaller scale than national companies but can offer more personalized service. They often have strong relationships with local inventory buyers and can be particularly effective for moving inventory within a specific geographic area. If you are looking for a reliable closeout partner, consider looking online and using these search terms: Looking to get inventory off my hands, keen to clear inventory from warehouse, shutting down warehouse, closing business, need to reduce inventory, liquidating entire stock, selling closeouts, looking to offload abandoned inventory.

• Online Liquidation Platforms: These platforms connect sellers looking to offload inventory with buyers seeking discontinued, obsolete or surplus merchandise. They provide a convenient way to reach a wide audience of potential closeout buyers. Be sure to select a platform that specializes in your product categories.

2. Wholesale Distributors and Jobbers:

• Discount Retailers and Wholesalers: These overstock businesses specialize in purchasing and reselling closeouts, unwanted inventory and overstock merchandise. They often have established relationships with discount stores, dollar stores, and other retailers seeking low-cost inventory. If you are looking to offload a large amount of inventory, this is likely your best option to get rid of everything and one time, in one fell swoop, to a single buyer.

• Specialized Wholesalers: Identify wholesalers specializing in overstock toys, housewares, or garden products. They may be interested in purchasing specific categories of your excess inventory. Keep in mind when offloading discontinued inventory you will only recover a small portion of the original cost. But the good news is you will get rid of everything at one time and clear your entire warehouse at once. Sitting on dead inventory is too expensive and it is always a better idea to liquidate your inventory and make room for new products.

• International Distributors: Explore liquidation opportunities to sell your inventory to international distributors. They may have access to markets where your closeout products are in high demand. Name brand closeouts will definitely have more value overseas, because International buyers prefer name brand closeout liquidations over generic products.

3. Auction Houses and Auctioneers:

• General Merchandise Auction Houses: These auction houses conduct auctions for a wide range of unwanted merchandise, including closeouts, abandoned inventory and overstock. They can be particularly effective for selling large quantities of inventory quickly, especially if you are downsizing your warehouse and need to get out of warehouse space in a short time.

• Online Auction Platforms: Online auction platforms provide a convenient way to reach a global audience of potential closeout buyers. Consider platforms that specialize in business-to-business (B2B) auctions, inventory liquidators and overstock buyers who sell online.

• Specialized Auctioneers: For unique or high-value items, consider engaging specialized auctioneers who have expertise in specific closeout product categories. These may include buyers of overstocked housewares, companies liquidating pet products, and inventory liquidators for lawn and garden closeouts, overstock tools and more.

4. Charitable Organizations and Donation Centers:

• National Charities: Organizations like Goodwill and the Salvation Army accept donations of various types of closeout and overstock merchandise. They can provide a socially responsible way to dispose of usable items that you can’t get rid of through liquidation channels. It doesn’t matter what the reason is for looking to offload the inventory. Maybe it was slow-selling products, maybe you imported too much inventory and you may even be shutting down and going out of business.

• Local Charities and Community Organizations: Contact local charities and community organizations that may be interested in receiving donations of overstock toys, housewares, or if you are liquidating lawn and garden products.

6. Casino Suppliers and Gaming Industry Contacts:

• Former Casino Suppliers: Reach out to companies that previously supplied the casinos with these products. They may have a network of buyers or be interested in purchasing the inventory you are liquidating themselves. Closeouts and overstock inventory can make good deals for casinos in need of promotional products to give to their customers.

• Gaming Industry Associations: Contact gaming industry associations for potential contacts or resources. The casino industry is huge and liquidating inventory through this channel can be and effective way to get inventory off your hands you don’t need, and sell overstock.

• Casino Liquidators: There are closeout companies that specialize in liquidating assets from casinos. They may be interested in offloading your excess and abandoned inventory.

7. Online Marketplaces and E-commerce Platforms:

• Amazon and eBay: These platforms provide a convenient way to sell individual items or small quantities of overstocked or merchandise. Online options are especially effective ways to liquidate if you are looking to unload inventory to make room for new products.

• Specialized Online Marketplaces: Explore online marketplaces that specialize in closing out toys, liquidating housewares, or if you are looking to offload lawn and garden products, tools, housewares, or discontinued pet products.

• B2B E-commerce Platforms: Utilize B2B e-commerce platforms to reach wholesale buyers and inventory liquidators that can help unload large amounts of excessive inventory.

8. Legal and Regulatory Consultants:

• Customs Brokers: If you plan to sell your overstock inventory internationally, consult with customs brokers to ensure compliance with import/export regulations. Duties may be less since the value of closeouts and excess inventory is only a fraction of the original costs.

• Environmental Consultants: If your inventory includes potentially hazardous materials, consult with environmental consultants to ensure proper disposal.

• Legal Counsel: Consult with legal counsel to address any legal issues related to ownership, disposal, or sale of overstock products, discontinued inventory, particularly abandoned items.

9. Logistics and Transportation Companies:

• Freight Forwarders: Engage freight forwarders to arrange transportation for large quantities of merchandise. If your supplier is keen to clear stock from the warehouse quickly, it will be important to work with a freight forwarder or trucking company accustomed to picking up quickly and getting all the merchandise out of the warehouse right away. Your supplier may want to get the inventory off their hands before the next storage billing cycle starts. Storing inventory is so expensive that this can be the #1 reason importers and distributors want to get rid of excess inventory from the warehouse.

• Trucking Companies: Contact trucking companies for local and regional transportation.

• Shipping Companies: If you plan to liquidate your overstock inventory internationally, contact shipping companies for ocean or air freight. They can handle all types of merchandise, including overstock hardware and tools, closeout pet products and discontinued solar lights and outdoor lighting being liquidated.

10. Networking and Industry Associations:

• Industry Associations: Join industry associations related to toys, housewares, pet products, lawn and garden products, stationery, novelties and home goods. These associations can provide valuable networking opportunities and resources for getting rid of closeouts and liquidating inventory.

Strategic Considerations for Casino-Related Inventory:

The fact that these items were once sold to casinos adds a layer of complexity. Some items might be branded with casino logos or have specific features tailored to casino use. Liquidating inventory that has proprietary logos or brand names might create an extra layer to the closeout process.

• Branding and Intellectual Property: Ensure you have the right to sell branded closeout items. Consult with legal counsel if necessary before liquidating name brand products.

By engaging a network of these contacts and developing a comprehensive disposal strategy, you can efficiently and profitably clear your warehouse of overstock toys, housewares, overstocked home accessories, hardware, tools and closeout pet products.

Merchandise USA has been liquidating inventory in the closeout business for 40 years. We buy excess and abandoned inventory of pet products, closeout office products, liquidations of housewares, overstock inventory of school supplies and hardware, and discontinued toys, games and closeout sporting goods. Contact us and we will educate you on the liquidation process and closeout process if you have not liquidated and offloaded inventory before. We buy lawn and garden closeouts, we can help you get rid of home goods overstock or any excess inventory of consumer products. If you are liquidating due to closing down operations or moving your warehouse, or even due to health reasons, we can help you. Inventory liquidators are not all the same, so contact Merchandise USA if you are getting rid of overstock inventory, closeouts and abandoned inventory. We buy closeout inventory in bulk.