What’s it All About?
The liquidation auction is one of the ways that companies liquidate their stocks. Some companies keep fixed prices but most companies often auction off their stocks to get better deals. Auctions can happen online as well as offline. Many liquidation wholesalers auction off liquidation pallets as well. People who own liquidation stores in Seattle, Charlotte, Austin, Boston, etc. might find suitable liquidation auctions happening nearby. You can use these auctions to buy liquidation pallets. One of the reasons why many companies prefer going to auctions is because they can get good merchandise at good prices. There are online and offline auctions as well.
Finding a Liquidation Auction
Let’s now see how you go about finding a liquidation auction and the steps you need to take to register.
- First, browse online to find different auctions. Ask experienced businesses as to which auctions are good. Read reviews.
- You will need to find auctions that sell merchandise that you are interested in. Many companies often provide helpful filters that can be useful to check if a company is holding auctions for the kind of merchandise you are looking to get.
- Once you have a list, you can either go for the online auctions or the offline ones depending on what’s the best option for you.
- Next, you must register yourself as a bidder for the auction. Different companies have different rules for registration but in general –
- You need to provide some form of identification to show your authenticity.
- Provide your contact information as well.
- If you are bidding for your business you need to provide a reseller license as that’s mandatory to resell items.
- You might also be needed to provide credit card details. This is needed to check if you are a real customer and not wasting everyone’s time.
Once the registration process is complete you can bid on the liquidation auction.
The Process Behind Liquidation Auction
Let’s now look at how a liquidation auction works.
- There is a time duration mentioned for each auction. The bidding starts taking place during this time. For offline auctions, you don’t have a lot of comprehensive options to help with your bidding. It is traditional where an auctioneer lists the items and prices. Online auctions give you more flexibility. You can participate in multiple auctions to bid on different items.
- The starting bid for a pallet will be listed or will be decided by the first bidder. You can start providing your bids for a pallet. The bidding will go on till the duration expires. If you have placed the highest bid then you may win the lot and buy liquidation pallets. Why did we say ‘may’? Well, that’s because many auctions have another rule. The items have a reserve price. If the highest bid has met the reserve price then the bidder can get the item. This rule will be mentioned beforehand. Also, there are auctions where there is no reserve price and you can buy the items you bid on and won.
- After the bidding has been completed and the winners have been decided the company will provide the ‘final’ price. Many times, the price of the items that you find in an auction will not include any taxes. So, after you win a bid the company will add VAT and other applicable taxes to decide the final price. Of course, these details will be mentioned beforehand. Another charge that may get added would be the delivery charge. If you have chosen to collect the item yourself then this will generally be waived off. So, if you own liquidation stores in USA. and the auction warehouse is nearby you can drive down to the place and get the pallets.
- The company will generally send you a link for the payment after you have successfully won a bid. You can pay via card, bank transfer or other methods as dictated by the company. There might be a limit to how much money you can transfer by card. If the amount is more than the limit you may need to do a bank transfer.
Couple of things to keep in mind:
- Never bid more than your set maximum. Many websites now allow users to set their maximum bid. That way if you want to bid more you need to change that variable. So, it adds another layer of decision-making.
- Only bid on lots you have thoroughly researched. You don’t want to spend a lot of money on merchandise that brings no value to you.
- The company may extend the auction time if they see a surge of bidding activity during the closing moment or if someone has entered a bid that is close to the reserve price for the lot.
- Always do tons of research before getting into an auction. Ask experienced bidders and businesses about how to approach the process.
So, that was a brief look into the wholesale liquidation process. If you want to buy liquidation pallets then you can participate in auctions. Many companies hold liquidation auctions online. This allows businesses to just place their bids from the comfort of their home. Always know your spend amount and try not to bid past that. We hope you found some useful info from this post. Wish you all the best!
