Trucking Delays And How It Affects Closeouts.


Selling excess inventory, selling excess merchandise

The trucking industry seems to be in a free for all. There are shortages of containers everywhere, both coming from China and also everywhere in the United States. Buyers of closeouts are making deals with companies who want to sell excess merchandise, but there aren’t enough trucks available to move the freight from their warehouses. There are shortages of containers everywhere from China to small town USA and it seems there is no reprieve in sight. It’s difficult for us to understand why this is happening but a lot has to do with the affect Amazon is having on importing and distributing a huge amount of goods throughout the country. Also, due to Covid-19 there is still a shortage of workers at rail yards and ports, and this is contributing to the problem. Finally, increased demand from consumers who are purchasing goods at a profound rate is another reason for this unprecedented container shortage. This has created the “perfect storm” for companies who want to sell closeouts and ship large quantities of goods.

If you want to sell excess inventory in today’s market, the best thing to do is contact buyers of closeouts who are interested in making deals. They will work with you to buy everything you have so you don’t have to worry about selling inventory in small portions. The challenge in selling excess inventory is having the right product at the right prices. When we work with our customers, who are generally buyers of closeouts only, they are very price sensitive because their customers do not have a lot of discretionary income. Also, with the current turmoil in the trucking industry, freight rates have been steadily increasing making it even more difficult for us and our customers to sell excess inventory unless we are buying it right.

You may want to sell closeouts that have been in the warehouse for a long time to generate cash. Or maybe you are selling excess merchandise because you are moving your warehouse or shutting down and need to liquidate. But if there are no trucks to move your goods from point A to point B, it doesn’t matter if you can sell excess merchandise in large quantities or not; there still aren’t enough trucks available to schedule pickups. Currently, it is taking more than a full week for us to schedule a container from LA to Chicago and even shorter over the road moves are becoming challenging, too.

Companies that must sell excess merchandise too make room in the warehouse are at a disadvantage since their hands are tied and they cannot bring in new merchandise until they get rid of the old. If it takes an extra week or two weeks to get these orders out, it means that much more time is wasted before they can make room and receive new and profitable merchandise. Buyers of closeouts seem to understand what is going on in the industry now, but many smaller niche and boutique buyers don’t understand. At the end of the day, it is a challenge to sell closeouts to begin with, but now it is even more of a challenge and it seems like finding trucks to ship or pickup are becoming more scarce by the day.