How to Vet Liquidation Suppliers and Build a Sourcing Plan That Works?

Going into liquidation without a sourcing plan is like buying a pallet while blindfolded. There is significant potential in liquidation, but part of the long-term success is assessing suppliers and their risk and building a process that can scale. Here are steps for getting started correctly.

Research Your Suppliers

One of the best things you can do prior to wiring money to any liquidation company is to research the business. Do they have a physical address? Can you find feedback about them on independent forums or Facebook groups? Have other resellers done business with them?

Commerce Central checks suppliers before they ever put inventory on our site so their is no guessing. We are available to answer questions if asked but all sellers are validated and you have the option to view ratings and past performance before purchasing a supplier's sale.

Start Out Small And Learn Quickly.

Do not go out and buy truckloads of whatever you are buying in your first week. Wise buyers start with "test" purchases so they can gauge the supplier’s overall quality, confirm their shipping timelines, evaluate their customer service, etc. This test run reduces your risk as you will learn who is worthy of scaling with.

Commerce Central makes this easy with low minimums, case pack options, and first time buyer support. We advocate small sample buys to allow you to benchmark your suppliers and scale confidently.

Read Manifests Like a Pro:

Manifests are your financial road map. Learn how to read them. Look up the item resale ($) value. Check for product duplication or look for red flags; ex. 500 units of something that does not sell.

Compare MSRP to resale on eBay or Amazon, not the seller.

Commerce Central provides you with detailed manifests with items listed UPC, category, and count; and allows you to filter by category, retailer, etc., and source smarter. You can even drill down on opportunities, like sourcing well from a profitable liquidation deal on health and beauty products that are trending.

Know the True Landed Cost

To make a profit, you need to know your landed cost: the total of goods + shipping + fees +, potential losses. Many new buyers will fail to include freight or buyer premiums, and before they know it, they have lost money.

When using Commerce Central, the shipping estimates or fee breakdowns are all upfront. You can't be surprised by what you are paying before you hit the buy button.

Network

Join reseller groups, liquidation forums, or some local networking groups. People post where they have found solid brokers, how to fix the most common inventory issues, and which pallets are selling.

When you work with Commerce Central, you tap into a community of verified buyers and sellers, and we are always looking for feedback to weed out bad actors and raise the level of the trustworthy ones.

Plan For Storage / Sorting / Returns

Before ordering pallets, you need to ask yourself - where will I store them? Do I have a place to sort, take product photos, and list? Am I equipped to deal with junk or unsellable items?

Start small, and if you need storage space, rent it, and scale as needed. Some buyers on Commerce Central started from their garage or storage locker before they upgraded their business.

Maintain Control and Optimize Your Numbers

Track everything: what you spent, how much sold, and exactly what profit (or loss) you made. This information will help you learn which suppliers, categories and platforms work best for you.

Many buyers on Commerce Central use spreadsheets or any software that can track performance at the lot-level so they can focus on scaling winners and losing the losers.