Transforming Your New Warehouse: A Guide to Handling Abandoned Inventory.

Congratulations on your new warehouse purchase! You’ve worked hard to purchase a new building, but when you moved in you found the old owner left behind all their old inventory, closeouts, abandoned inventory and overstock products. When they shut down their business, they were supposed to move everything out. Instead, you found piles of old inventory sitting in the warehouse. What are you supposed to do now? While it may seem daunting to inherit a stockpile of abandoned inventory, this presents an opportunity to transform your space into a profitable venture. Let's explore strategies to effectively manage and monetize this surplus, and how to dispose of unwanted inventory you don’t need.

1. Inventory Assessment and Categorization

• Detailed Inventory: Conduct a thorough inventory of all items, including quantity, condition, and estimated value. This means counting boxes of closeout housewares, overstock lawn and garden, excess inventory of toys, and other abandoned products you found.
• Categorization: Group items by product type, brand, and potential market. Consider categories like:
  • Salvageable: Items in good condition that can be sold directly. These may be brand name closeouts, overstock stationery, excess inventory of home goods and hardware, closeout housewares, or simply any other inventory you won’t be needing for your business.
  • Repairable: Products with minor defects that can be fixed and resold. These may be customer returns or other goods not in perfect and brand new condition. Keep in mind, if you approach closeout companies or other inventory liquidators to help you get rid of inventory, many of them will only want brand new, name brand closeouts. Most closeout buyers won’t deal in damaged or returned goods. For this category, you may need to find liquidation auctions.
  • Recyclable: Materials that can be recycled or repurposed. This would include things like parts, components and goods that can be sold into a different market. For example, if you have closeout pet products and overstock pet toys, you may be able to dispose of them to discount retailers selling general merchandise. This is an example of taking excess inventory intended for the pet market, and selling it into a more general discount arena.
  • Salvageable Components: Parts that can be salvaged and sold separately.
  • Unsalvageable: Items that are damaged beyond repair and must be disposed of properly. These goods may literally have to be thrown away. You can try donating them to Salvation Army and Goodwill, because these stores are happy to have overstock inventory and closeouts, but they may not all take damaged products.

2. Valuation and Pricing Strategy

• Market Research: Research current market prices for similar products, both new and used. Find out how much retail stores in your area are selling similar products. If you are looking to offload closeout housewares, find out how much Home Goods and Marshalls sell overstock housewares. Compare like items. They may have name brand closeouts, but it will give you a good idea of how much you should expect to get for liquidation inventory of similar products. Consumers are always looking for overstock inventory, closeouts and abandoned freight they can buy at deep discounts. This is why it seems the entire retail industry these days is all about discounts, closeouts and half-off sales.
• Realistic Pricing: Set competitive prices that reflect the condition and value of the inventory. Keep in mind, when liquidating inventory you will only recover a portion of the original cost. Closeout buyers are capable to purchasing bulk inventory in large lots, but only if the price is low enough. In today’s economy there are always businesses downsizing warehouses, shutting down businesses and looking to offload excess inventory for other reasons, so the landscape is competitive. If you are looking to offload closeouts in bulk, but don’t price them right, you won’t be able to liquidate inventory effectively.
• Flexible Pricing: Consider offering discounts for bulk purchases or bundle deals to attract buyers. Think about selling all your closeout pet products together with overstock inventory of camping products. Bundle them in an effort to get rid of everything in one fell swoop. If you are looking for closeout partners to help you clean your warehouse, and if you are keen to clear out stock, try searching online. You can search these terms: closeouts, closeout buyers, shutting down warehouse, keen to clear stock, looking to offload excess inventory, need to reduce inventory, inventory liquidation, going out of business.
• Online Marketplaces: Utilize platforms like eBay, Amazon, and specialized online marketplaces to reach a wider audience. Sometimes, the problem is simply that you don’t have a wide enough audience. Consider doing bulk mailings or mass emails offering new customers closeouts, liquidation stock and abandoned inventory you are looking to offload in bulk.

3. Sales and Distribution Channels

• Liquidation Companies: Partner with liquidation companies that specialize in buying excess inventory. There are many different kinds of liquidation buyers, and they are in all different parts of the country. Some specialize in buying closeouts of pet products, others are inventory liquidators for housewares, and some buy and sell discontinued lawn and garden products or furniture. You can sell your entire inventory to one company, or you can find liquidation buyers who only take certain categories. There are always different reasons for wanting to clear stock and get rid of inventory. These can range from family disputes to deaths to simply wanting to shut down operations because you don’t have the time to deal with it anymore. But whatever the case, getting rid of excess inventory is essential to running a clean warehouse and making room for new products arriving.
• Online Auctions: Conduct online auctions to sell items individually or in lots. The internet offers a window of opportunity to anyone wanting to move out overstock products. You can reach new buyers by advertising closeouts online, or sending out mass emails to liquidation buyers who may be able to purchase your entire inventory in bulk.
• Consignment Stores: Consign items to local stores that sell secondhand goods. You may also be able to make a deal to consign your products and split and proceeds. Maybe you have a full truckload of pet products you want to get rid of to make room for new products, so the best option is to send to to a consignment store and split any proceeds with them.
• Pop-Up Shops: Organize temporary pop-up shops to sell directly to customers. Pop up stores are popular with Halloween closeouts and overstock or excess inventory of Christmas goods leftover at the end of the year. These outlets have the advantage of only selling off inventory at the best time of the year, coupled with low rents because you only occupy the outlets from October to December. If you have seasonal goods you are looking to offload, or excess inventory of Christmas products leftover at the end of the season, these stores may be a good option for unloading inventory.
• Social Media and Online Marketing: Utilize social media platforms to promote sales and build brand awareness. Facebook marketplace is a great way to get the word out on any overstock products, discontinued items, abandoned inventory and closeouts you are keen to clear out. Consumers love bargains and if you give them an opportunity to buy good deals, they will likely take it.
• Direct-to-Consumer Sales: Create a website or online store to sell directly to customers. You can create your own closeout store or liquidation site online, and offer discontinued products direct to the consumer. Closeout websites and overstock websites are great ways of liquidating products if you are looking for excess inventory buyers. Liquidation companies can also help you get rid of dead stock and sometimes you can have success working with closeout brokers. These businesses help buyers and sellers meet each other.

4. Creative Re-purposing and Upcycling

• Product Bundling: Combine complementary items into attractive bundles. If you don’t know how to liquidate inventory, you can find tutorials online. One helpful tool is to bundle closeout products together. Consider an overstock liquidation where you put together closeout merchandise of similar categories, and offer an inventory liquidation in bulk to buy everything.
• DIY Kits: Create DIY kits with leftover materials for a creative twist. There may be closeout opportunities for DIY projects with schools and charities. These organizations are always in need of inexpensive inventory. If you are keen to clear stock of arts and crafts or closeout toys, think about reaching out to the educational system, charities, hospitals, etc. Excess inventory buyers are only one option when it comes to getting rid of dead inventory.
• Upcycling: Transform old products into new, trendy items. Sometimes you get lucky, and the closeout products you are looking to liquidate just happen to fit a trend. Think friendship bracelets at the same time Taylor Swift came on the scene. There are many different ways to skin a cat, so getting rid of overstock products does not have to be limited to closeout brokers and overstock buyers. Whether you need to make warehouse space for new products arriving, canceled order in the warehouse, closeouts you are keen to liquidate, or if your company was bought out and you have excess inventory, you have options for how to offload unwanted products.
• Donating to Charity: Donate items to charitable organizations for tax benefits. Donating overstock inventory is always on option open to you if you don’t care about getting revenue. Most charities will take overstock housewares, closeout toys, discontinued lawn and garden inventory, closeouts of sporting goods and abandoned inventory of home goods, stationery and other merchandise left over.

By following these closeout strategies and adapting them to your specific situation, you can successfully navigate the challenges of managing abandoned inventory, getting rid of closeouts and understanding the liquidation process. Remember, creativity, flexibility, and a strategic approach are key to maximizing the value of your surplus merchandise and overstock inventory.

Merchandise USA is a leader in buying overstock inventory and closeouts. We are an expert in inventory liquidations and specialize in buying closeouts and abandoned inventory. We handle liquidation sales online as well as buying closeouts direct from importers and 3PL warehouses. If you are shutting down your warehouse, or keen to clear stock from your 3PL we can help you. Not all inventory liquidators are created equal, and our 40 years in business proves we are a leader in inventory liquidation services and buying overstock inventory, closeouts and discontinued products.