Buying liquidation stock is not complicated, but almost everything written about it online is written to sell you something. This guide is the version we would give a friend who asked how it actually works in Australia, including the parts that cost people money.
What a liquidation lot actually is
Retailers and fulfilment centres generate surplus constantly. Customers send goods back, ranges get replaced, seasonal lines fail to clear, and warehouses eventually need the floor space more than they need the stock. That surplus moves in volumes far too large for any individual reseller to buy directly, so it gets broken down and sold on by the pallet, the box or the truckload.
You are buying a lot, not a product. The unit you pay for is the whole pallet, and the price reflects what the lot is likely to be worth in aggregate, not what any single item inside it retails for.
Condition grade matters more than category
The single most important thing on any listing is its condition grade. A pallet of electronics can be superb or close to worthless depending entirely on where the stock came from.
- Customer returns are goods a shopper sent back. Mixed by definition. Some items are untouched, some were returned for a genuine fault, and most sit somewhere between.
- Overstock never reached a customer at all. Usually the cleanest grade to work with, though packaging can be shopworn or the range seasonally dated.
- Shelf pulls came off a display during a range change. The goods are typically sound even where the box is not.
- Salvage is damaged or incomplete, priced for people who repair or part out rather than resell as working goods.
We cover the differences in more detail in our guide to condition grades. If you read nothing else before your first purchase, read that.
Manifested or not
A manifest is an itemised list of what is in the lot. Where one exists, it is the single most useful thing you can be given, because it lets you price the lot yourself rather than trusting a description.
Plenty of lots have no manifest. That is not automatically a problem, and unmanifested stock is cheaper precisely because you are buying without the list. What matters is that the seller says so. A supplier who implies a manifest exists and then cannot produce one is telling you something useful about how the rest of the transaction will go.
The four numbers that decide whether a lot works
The listing price is only one of them, and on its own it tells you very little.
- Cost per unit. Lot price divided by the working item count. This is the figure to compare between lots, not the headline price.
- Expected sell-through. The share you realistically expect to sell. On graded returns, plan for a portion that never sells at all.
- Your time per unit. Sorting, testing, photographing, listing, packing. A cheap lot of many low-value items can cost more in hours than it returns.
- Storage and disposal. Space while you work through it, and the cost of getting rid of what does not sell.
You will notice we have not given you a margin figure. That is deliberate. What a lot returns depends on your channel, your pricing, your market and your patience, and any supplier quoting you a guaranteed return is guessing at your business.
Freight is a real cost, so check how it is quoted
Pallet freight in Australia is expensive, and a lot that looks cheap can stop making sense once delivery is added. Ask before you order whether freight is included or charged separately.
Our listed prices include delivery to any Australian address, on a tail-lift truck that lowers the pallet to ground level so you do not need a forklift. The practical thing to check at your end is access. Most failed deliveries are access problems rather than distance problems, because a pallet truck is a large rigid vehicle that cannot always reach a narrow street, a steep driveway or a car park with a height bar. Details are on our shipping page.
Start smaller than you think
The most common expensive mistake is buying a truckload in a category you have never sold. Buy one box or one pallet in something you already understand, work the whole lot through to the end, and count what actually happened rather than what you hoped would happen. Familiarity with a category is worth more than a low price in one you do not know.
Before you order
- Read the condition grade on the listing and ask for a manifest where one exists.
- Work out cost per sellable unit, not cost per lot.
- Confirm truck access at your delivery address.
- Check what happens if the lot arrives damaged. Ours is set out on our returns page.
- Ask us anything before you buy. We would rather answer a question than process a dispute.
If you tell us what you sell, the space you have and the budget you are working to, we will tell you honestly whether a lot suits you. Browse what is available or get in touch.