The Great Ecommerce Cleanup: Strategies for Liquidating Closeouts, Excess, and Unwanted Inventory

Running an ecommerce business is a challenging game. You source exciting overstock products, curate a compelling online store, and strive to delight your customers. But even the most meticulously planned operation can end up with unwanted inventory, obsolete stock, closeouts, excess inventory and dead stock. This could be due to closeout inventory, discontinued products and slow-selling products gathering dust in your warehouse, or abandoned carts that never reached checkout. While these items might seem like a burden on your resources, don't worry too much! We will explore various liquidation strategies to help you effectively offload excess products, free up warehouse space and recoup valuable capital.

Understanding Your Inventory Glut:

The first step is to classify your unwanted inventory. Here's a breakdown of the different categories you might be dealing with:

• Closeouts: These are discontinued products from importers or wholesalers, often available at discounted prices. You might have scored a fantastic deal, but now you're stuck with overstock merchandise your target audience might not be interested in. Now this doesn't mean the product is necessarily bad, it just means it may not be the right inventory or the right prices for your customer base. Sometimes, the fastest and best option is to contact inventory liquidators and other buyers of excess inventory and offer them closeout opportunities.
• Excess Products: These are items that haven't sold as well as anticipated. Maybe you misjudged demand, or perhaps a marketing campaign fell flat. Whatever the reason, you're left with more overstock products and unwanted items than you can realistically sell at full price. Liquidation inventory has a way of piling up in the warehouse and it has to be sold off to inventory liquidators so it doesn't get in the way of doing everyday business.
• Abandoned Inventory: These are closeout products left behind in shopping carts when customers don't complete their purchases. There could be various reasons for abandonment, like unexpected shipping costs or a change of heart. Also, abandoned inventory can happen when a company shuts down operations, goes out of business or moves into a smaller warehouse because it is downsizing. Sometimes the cost of moving the inventory to the new location is too costly, so the business simply abandons the inventory and leaves it behind. This leaves the warehouse management in a position where they have to dispose of the excess inventory to recoup some of their storage costs.
• Overstock Merchandise: This refers to an excessive quantity of a particular product compared to its actual demand. Maybe a seasonal trend fizzled out faster than expected, or you received an unexpectedly large shipment. Overstock companies specialize in helping businesses that may have too much inventory on hand. This can be due to many different factors including closeouts, package changes, abandoned inventory, slow-moving products, making room for new merchandise in the warehouse, containers arriving late, and even shutting down a 3PL warehouse or downsizing and moving to a smaller warehouse. While there are reasons explaining slow sales growth, online retailers may start feeling the pinch both because of inflation and because of the rise in the cost of living
• Unwanted Goods: These could be returns, damaged items, or products that no longer align with your brand strategy. Perhaps your business has shifted focus, or customer feedback indicated certain items don't resonate with your target audience. One of the things closeout websites or other buyers for excess inventory and closeouts do to get rid of overstock merchandise is donate. You can often donate at the full value of the inventory and get a tax write-off for the full amount. This is great if you are only able to recoup 10 cents on the dollar from a closeout liquidator, because in this case an inventory liquidation sale would actually result in a lower recovery that a donation at full value.

Choosing the Right Liquidation Path:

Now, let's explore various methods to liquidate your excess inventory and get rid of closeouts and excess products. The ideal approach depends on the level of control you desire, the types of overstock products you're dealing with, and your desired profit margin. Here's a breakdown of your options:

1. Sell Directly Through Your Ecommerce Store (Maintaining Control & Higher Profits):

This approach allows you to maintain control over branding and customer experience, potentially leading to higher profit margins. Here are some effective strategies:

• Clearance Sales: This is a classic method for getting rid of dead stock and unwanted inventory that is taking up space in your warehouse. Create a dedicated "Clearance" section on your closeout website or overstock inventory website and offer significant discounts on excess products. Promote the sale through targeted email marketing campaigns, social media blasts, and website banners. Consider using eye-catching visuals and clear messaging to grab attention ("Everything Must Go!" or "Up to 75% Off!"). Bargain shoppers will definitely respond to this and it's a very good way to get rid of old inventory you don't want to deal with anymore.
• Flash Sales: Generate excitement with limited-time offers. Announce flash sales on social media platforms and offer deep discounts (think 50-75% off) for a short period (24-48 hours) to create a sense of urgency and encourage quick purchases. Highlight the limited-time nature of the sale to incentivize immediate action. Selling closeouts through a flash sale is like having an auction. Put your excess inventory out there for a limited time at a crazy low price, and you will get buyers grabbing any overstock inventory or unwanted products you need to get rid of. Whether you are making room in the warehouse, moving to a smaller warehouse or shutting down your operation completely.
• Bundles & Promotions:Group slow-selling products with popular ones in a bundle deal. This creates perceived value and incentivizes customers to buy the entire package. Offer free shipping or bonus items with clearance purchases to further entice customers. Experiment with different bundle combinations to find the most effective pairings. As an example, you can bundle closeout pet products with an overstock inventory of sporting goods. You can take a large lot of overstock lawn and garden products and combine it with closeouts on housewares. If you are looking for a company that buys closeouts, try a Google search using these terms: closeouts, sell your inventory, overstock liquidators, shutting down warehouse, going out of business, inventory liquidators, excess inventory liquidations, buyers for closeouts and overstock items, excess inventory for sale, keen to clear stock from warehouse, offloading excess inventory.
2. Online Marketplaces (Wider Audience & Faster Sales, Potentially Lower Profits):

Several online marketplaces cater specifically to selling excess inventory. Popular options include:

• General Marketplaces:Giants like eBay and Amazon Marketplace offer a vast audience, but be prepared for competitive pricing and potential selling fees. These platforms can be a good option for high-demand items, including closeouts, canceled orders, overstock products, excess inventory, abandoned products and unwanted items that you have to get rid of and move out of your warehouse.
• Specialized Liquidation Platforms:These platforms focus on connecting businesses with excess inventory to a network of professional closeout buyers. They typically offer streamlined listing processes and faster discontinued sales cycles, but the profit margin might be lower compared to selling directly to closeout buyers. Research different platforms to find one that specializes in your closeout products category and offers competitive commission rates.
3. Partnering with Others (Faster Liquidation & Lower Control, Potentially Lower Profits):

Here are some strategies that involve partnering with other businesses to move your inventory:

• Liquidation Companies:These companies that buy closeouts specialize in buying excess inventory in bulk. They typically offer quick turnaround times and handle the logistics of product pickup. This is a good option if you need to move a large quantity of products quickly and don't mind sacrificing some profit margin. Research reputable liquidation companies, reliable closeout buyers, largest inventory liquidators in the United States and compare their offers before making a decision.

Merchandise USA buys closeouts and it an inventory liquidator in business almost 40 years. We specialize in buying closeout products, overstock inventory and excess merchandise of all consumer categories including closeout lawn and garden, discontinued pet products, overstock housewares inventory and abandoned inventory of hardware and tools. If you are closing your operation down and shutting down your warehouse we can help you offload excess inventory before you close. If you are keen to clear stock from your warehouse and need to get rid of inventory quickly, we are one of the most reliable closeout buyers in the United States. Selling excess inventory does not have to be stressful; we make the liquidation process easy and can help if you are keen to clear stock.