Full disclosure – if you opened this post, hoping for a list of liquidation pallets to resell, you won’t find it. It’s not because it’s my “best kept secret”. It’s just not helpful. If I post this blog now, a week from now, the market may change, leaving that list obsolete.
I’m going to tell you how to find your own liquidators. Something like giving a man a fish versus teaching a man to fish, right?
How To Find Local Liquidation Pallets:
Which Liquidator Do I Choose?
How to find and vet liquidators and liquidation pallets
in your area BEFORE you buy!
Google Search (or any internet browser):
The most used way to find liquidators is through Google searches. If your location services are turned on, most web browsers will automatically recommend the closest liquidators in your area. The first searches you see will be the larger, more common liquidators. If you’ve done any research so far, you’ll already recognize these names. Liquidators like bulq.com and liquidation.com offer pallets and cases that you can either bid on, auction style, or buy outright.
Local businesses will show up on an internet search, but only if the business put their information on Google themselves. Many startup businesses and smaller liquidators may not have done that, which gives you the opportunity to miss some locally owned liquidators in your area. So be sure that you don’t only rely on this method to find all the liquidators in your area.
Facebook Search
Some businesses may not put their information on Google search, but many of them will make a Facebook Page first. Facebook is an amazing tool to help you spread the word to your local community and is highly effective.
Do a similar search in the Facebook Search bar. You’re more likely to see local businesses around you. Look at the options available to you, their location, and scout out what products they have. If they have a website available on their Facebook page, then make sure to check that out!
I’ve Found a Couple Potential Liquidation Pallets in My Area… How Do I Choose and What Should I Get?
There is more to vetting a potential liquidator than searching them up and taking a blind pick of the lot. The liquidation reselling industry is already unpredictable and risky. To lower your chances of losing any potential profit on the businesses you buy from, don’t rush this process.
Here are some tips:
The business owner will tell you more than the products will.
People shopping for pallets and lots will always study the product. They want to get as much information about those products as possible. And yes, you absolutely should do that. But an experienced liquidation reseller will tell you that there is a correlation with bad profits and customer service.
Pay attention to how the business responds to customers. Watch their live videos and read the engagement from the audience who are already customers. Check online forums, reseller groups, etc. What are their customers really saying about their business?
However, don’t look too far back into the past of the business because we must expect that change will happen. Many young businesses make mistakes, and we don’t want to hold it against them. You want to know how the business is CURRENTLY treating their customers. Assume that is how you will be treated as well. Judging a business based on its mistakes early on is unnecessary. You could miss the great business connection they turned out to be.
Check out the reviews but know how to read them.
Read the best reviews. Read the worst ones. Then look for a common theme. If all the negative reviews have the same theme, take note. It’s up to you to decide if that may be a potential problem for your personal business in the future. This is a terrific way to vet for strengths and weaknesses in a potential business connection. Treat this as part of your interview process.
Now, the most reliable reviews are the ones in the middle. The ones that don’t rant and rave about the business but appreciate it for what it is. These reviews are from people who see that there is room for improvement, but still appreciate the business. Look for common themes in those reviews and pay attention to the dates they were written. Reviews written a long time ago may not be relevant now if the business took the feedback to heart.
Consult Your Reselling Community
If you’re not a part of reselling communities online, I would recommend that you do so. I find myself frustrated many times because of the negativity in some of these groups. Unrealistic expectations and a lack of understanding of how the world of liquidation works can make these groups difficult places to manage. But it’s not enough to not see the value in communities like these.
Most of the time, you don’t even have to ask a question yourself. Just search the group and someone has probably already asked it. If someone asked the question over a year ago, I’d ask the question again, to see how the business may have changed over time.
I would also look at unboxing videos for the liquidation companies you’re looking into. Look at unboxing videos from channels of all sizes. Just because a channel is larger does not mean they are more credible. You want small channels, medium-sized channels, and large channels to get a decent idea of what is possible. This can be invaluable– each reselling business is different and the more you see from different business models. You’ll find yourself leaving with more than just a better idea of what a liquidator provides.
Download this freebie to help you organize your thoughts.
It’s a simple little chart that can help you vet potential liquidators when it comes to purchasing product. It’s important to do your research in this part, because it could save you a lot of heartache and lost money in the future.
Click the image below to download for FREE!
Resist the urge to impulse buy! Trust me on this.
Also, check out the Pallet Shopping Checklist freebie I created. When you decide to finally start shopping for a liquidation pallet, these are the top things to consider!
