Closeouts And The Truth About Online Selling. Road To Riches Or Road To Ruin?

shutting down Amazon warehouse closeouts excess stock

Selling online is more than setting up a website and uploading pictures of closeouts; It is sort of like having a closeout warehouse open to the public 24/7 and it requires knowledge of how inventory liquidators operate, expertise, and marketing experience in order to sell unwanted inventory to the public. The good news is that there are tools to help your online shop be a success. Follow some simple steps to get started selling closeouts online. Selling a product online is easier when you use an e-commerce platform or an online marketplace like Etsy or Amazon Marketplace. These outlets are accustomed to sellers of excess inventory and they can work with you if you are looking for buyers for overstock and surplus inventory. They exist to help inventory liquidators set up shop and begin selling. There are also standalone stores if you want to create your own closeout websites. This is a great way to take goods from a 3PL warehouse shutting down or importers getting rid of unwanted inventory, and sell online at big discounts.


If you're operating your own website and want to process payments, you can work with a payment processor to add a shopping cart, a payment page or a payment form. You can have your own closeout warehouse selling online and you can carry closeout housewares, closeout toys, excess inventory of pet products, overstock home décor, etc. Third party companies will handle the payment transaction for all closeouts when your customer places a liquidation order. When a customer makes a purchase online. In a matter of seconds, the payment processor communicates between you and the bank to ensure there are enough funds to make the overstock purchaseIf you intend to sell surplus inventory or discontinue overstock inventory It also employs security measures to ensure it's not a fraudulent payment method. Inventory liquidators use these payment processors all the time to sell unwanted inventory, closeouts, and other merchandise to excess inventory buyers. Popular payment processors for online businesses include Square, Stripe, and PayPal. They work well with closeout brokers, inventory liquidation sales and companies that buy and sell overstock.

When it comes to the type of payment methods your e-commerce store should accept, the more the better. Different inventory liquidators have different needs and their customers vary. When buying liquidated merchandise it is important to understand your customer and the easiest way for them to work through payment during the closeout process. You absolutely want to accept credit cards and debit cards, but you should also consider digital payments such as Apple Pay, PayPal and Google Pay. When running an online closeout warehouse you need to accept more than credit cards and it is helpful to accept the most broadly used payment methods. Surplus wholesale suppliers might even have multiple closeout websites selling all different kinds of surplus inventory. Some may carry home décor and rugs, others may specialize in the liquidation of toys and games, while others might only work with closeout liquidators for lawn and garden or overstock pet products. Basically, if there is a desire to sell unwanted inventory it can be sold online either on your own website or on another platform.

If your closeout warehouse uses an e-commerce platform like Shopify, payments are usually built in. Some allow you to work with a third-party payment processor, but they may charge you an extra fee. You can have the best e-commerce closeout website in the world but if nobody knows about it, its worthless. Selling closeouts online is different from having a brick and mortar retail store. If you have liquidation stock for sale and want to reach a broad market, think about using closeout brokers, closeout websites and overstock buyers to liquidate merchandise. Social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter are all great platforms for building awareness about your liquidation stock. Brand building is a big part of online selling success and one of the best ways to reduce excess inventory.

Whereas physical shops are restricted to opening and closing times, online stores run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All the time. Keep your closeouts and excess inventory in front of overstock buyers day and night by promoting and selling with closeout websites and liquidators for inventory. It doesn’t take a genius to see the potential in this business model. If you have a constant stream of traffic coming to your closeout website and you optimize your conversions to a good standard, you can essentially earn passively while you sleep. Sell surplus inventory and closeouts all day every day.

This touches on another substantial benefit of selling online – if done right, it can be a sweet source of residual income. It is less time-intensive than running a brick-and-mortar liquidation warehouse because you don’t need to be present at all times. With automated inventory management and a robust online marketing plan, you can liquidate closeouts and overstock inventory 24/7. You will find it is not difficult to sell excess inventory and have inventory closeout sales working for you.

Merchandise USA is an inventory liquidator in business 37 years. We specialize in closeout toys, overstock housewares, home décor and gifts. We are also a large buyer for any overstock inventory of pet products and lawn and garden closeout inventory.