Buying Liquidation Pallets: A Complete Guide

By Christopher Traylor
liquidation pallets

You want to buy liquidation pallets, right? We recommend starting with our Complete Checklist for Buying Liquidation Pallets!

We begin with basic concepts like what liquidation is and how to turn retail arbitrage into a reselling business. The rest of this checklist consists of five parts:

Part 1: Doing Product Research

  • Top reselling categories
  • Sourcing options
  • Financing

Part 2: Finding The Right Product

  • Product conditions
  • Things to consider before bidding
  • Auction terms
  • Paying for your winning auction

Part 3: Shipping

  • Money-saving opportunities

Part 4: Storage & organization

  • Size of liquidation pallets
  • Organization
  • Inventory management tools

Part 5: Reselling

  • Marketing tips
  • Create your listing

At the end of this checklist, you will be able to print out a downloadable checklist to fill in for yourself!

liquidation pallets

What is liquidation?

Liquidation is becoming more and more commonplace as retailers and manufacturers seek sustainable solutions to overstock and customer returns. Shortly, liquidation is the process of disposing of unsold, damaged, or returned merchandise. Unless it is recycled, it will sit in warehouses taking up valuable space or end up in landfills.

Retail arbitrage ? Making Money on Margins

What does all this have to do with reselling? Reselling is just a more efficient form of retail arbitrage. Retail arbitrage is simply the process purchasing products from a retailer at a lower price and reselling them for profit. Purchasing liquidation inventory in bulk or via liquidation pallets for a lower per-item cost can easily turn this concept into a profitable enterprise.

Where Does Quantum Commodities Come In?

Quantum Commodities is the bridge. We offer a valuable service for these companies looking to offload liquidation inventory. You, the buyer, get access to deeply discounted inventory from top retailers like Amazon, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, and Best Buy to turn for a profit. And sellers get to free up space, recoup some of their losses, and make way for new inventory.

Let’s jump right in!

Part 1: Research

Music to your ears, right? You will want to do your research and choose a category that appeals to you and makes sense to you. Moreover, you also want to make sure it will be profitable, too. For example, appliances and power tools have high returns, but with other categories, your margins may be slim.

Top reselling categories

Almost any product found on the primary market can be found on the secondary market. Most resellers find success in the categories they know well. For example, if you’re a fashion guru you could start here. Or, if you’re a home renovation wiz, maybe stick with the home & garden category.

Here are some top reselling categories:

  • Apparel
  • Toys
  • Electronics
  • Appliances
  • Furniture
  • Home & garden

Sourcing options

Well, you’ve come to Quantum Commodities, so we can help you get bulk liquidation by the truckload, delivered right to your business location.

Other sourcing options include visiting local brick and mortar stores to buy out their clearance stock, scouting out local thrift stores, and estate sales. These options are a bit more manual, and you definitely won’t have the chance to buy in bulk like on one of our Quantum Commodities sites. So if sourcing liquidation pallets is what you’re interested in, we recommend going with either Quantum Commodities Auctions, Supply, or one of our 65+ private marketplaces.

If you choose another sourcing option, make sure it’s legit. Always look for reviews when possible to avoid any scam companies out there. If it seems too good to be true, you’re better off steering clear.