Tips and tricks in buying pallets, trucks, bulk

I have bought 6 different pallets from liquidation.com and have had mixed results so I thought I would post a topic on buying in bulk and what advice, stories, tips successful members have had when buying in bulk. The pallets I have purchased were all Returns which I have found out is very risky. Even though I have researched each auction carefully I lost money on 2 of them. I thought this would be a good topic to help each other out when we buy pallets and other bulk items from liquidators. What strategies do you guys use on liquidation auctions to make sure you don't get burned? Also what are some of your favorite bulk wholesalers?

I have personally bought all of the pallets off of liquidation and have found that the number one tip would be to carefully study the Manifest and read through the description of the items you are bidding on. Even though I have done my homework on each pallet I have bought I have found out the hard way that this isn't always a guarantee you will be getting what you think you're getting. I think we could all benefit from each others experiences of buying in bulk so I hope this turns out to be a good post...

The tip you've given is about the best one anyone can learn: if you can get a manifest, read it carefully. Raise hell if what you get doesn't match the manifest. If you can't get a manifest, bid accordingly.

Also: use trusted providers. I've had nothing but good experiences with TDW for years now, and almost never buy from anywhere else unless I'm buying in person. Link hidden: Login to view


Frank

Thanks a lot Frank. I have to apologize to eveyone as I see I put this in the Name Them Shame Them category. I am new to Salehoo as this blunder shows. Can anyone move this to the appropriate category? I'll make sure to pay more attention to that when posting from now on.

As for your advice. The Manifest that you can pull up on liquidation.com doesn't list the condition of each item in most cases and I have found out that some of the Return items I have bought haven't worked. I have bought mostly electronics thus far. Any advice for checking further into the per item condition for Returns? Also do you have any advice on researching the Seller listed for some of the auctions to see if they have a good reputation? I think this could be a very helpful topic for new and old...

Actually, iowasellers, since the post was indeed speaking of bad service received from a company, this is in fact the right place...good luck..

Yea I got burned a couple of times with Liquidation.com. I wish they would have a rating system or feedback system for their sellers. I noticed that most of the lots at least the ones I look at seem to go way too high. Seems like there is a lot of people purchasing for themselves and not reselling and are willing to pay more.

posted by iowasellers

The Manifest that you can pull up on liquidation.com doesn't list the condition of each item in most cases and I have found out that some of the Return items I have bought haven't worked. I have bought mostly electronics thus far. Any advice for checking further into the per item condition for Returns? Also do you have any advice on researching the Seller listed for some of the auctions to see if they have a good reputation? I think this could be a very helpful topic for new and old...

Honestly, I don't think I've done enough business at Liquidation.com to be any kind of an expert, but common sense can be your best fried when dealing with any new supplier. If a manifest is provided, and you don't like what you see, or there isn't enough info, contact the seller. How and how quickly a seller responds to legit questions about quality is a good indicator of whether or not one should do business with him. Bear in mind that many sellers are used to annoying PITAs who don't ever actually buy anything but just ask endless questions, so try to phrase your questions in a realistic, one-pro-to-another kind of tone. (eg. 'What is the approximate ratio of working to non-working units?' 'Regardless of working condition, are these clean returns in the original boxes or are they repackaged?' that kind of thing.) Do and say things that help the seller understand that you're a serious potential buyer and not someone looking for a pallet of unlocked iPhones for $2,000 with three complimentary Wii systems thrown in.


Frank

Any recommendations for good liquidators Jimmy? Who have you used before? Or is that taboo to ask?

The biggest problems I see with liquidation.com is the fact that the sellers pay higher fees to liquidation.com. I contacted them about selling lots of merchandise for the company I work for. And I believe they said it was 5% or $200 whichever is higher. Thats just to sell the item. Then they mark up the freight and the end user pays the freight and they keep the difference. Also with fees that high they wouldnt want to discourage bidders from bidding. I myself have lost money on a few lots and made money on others. But in most cases the manifests, listings and photos are very sketchy or in some cases arent the actual photos.

Also submitting a question to a buyer is another problem. When you submit a question it goes through liquidation.com staff ifrst. Then if it is deemed appropriate then it is passed on to the seller. Their response is then passed through the staff and on to the buyer. That way you cant share contact info or anything else.

Im sure there is some other issues with them. But there are alot of places that sell material of this type, its just finding a good one. i am sure all companies that deal in items like this have their share of problems and its not just liquidation.com