Got Excess Stock? | Why you shouldn’t sell it on online auction sites
Author: John Coorey
If you get left with excess stock, chances are you will want to sell it as quickly as possible and get as much cash as you can in return. By selling your excess stock you will be able to release the money that is tied up in it and start thinking about new investments.
There are several different options for selling overstock. One popular option is using an online auction website. Be cautious – while this may seem like a great solution at first glance, there are some substantial drawbacks to using these services and you should take them into account before deciding how to proceed.
Excess stock sales on online auction sites attract high fees
The most common deterrent for potential vendors are the fees that online auction sites charge for listing your items. In return for connecting you with an audience of potential customers, they charge a large commission on each item sold. On top of this, they also may charge sellers an insertion fee. Essentially this is a fee that you pay for every product you list on the website. The most important thing to remember about this fee is that it is payable whether your items sell or not. As a result, if your products do not get snapped up first time around you could end up paying more than once. The insertion fee varies with different types of auctions and products.
Online auction sites have strong competition for excess stock
Aside from the standard fees, if you want to sell wholesale stock on online auction sites you may also run up against the problem of extreme competition. The best part about selling on auction sites is that you can reach customers around the world, the worst part is that you are up against fellow vendors from a similarly enormous user base. It is common to see goods being sold for just pennies in profit. When it comes to online auctions the supply tends to be greater than the demand.
You can put a reserve price on your surplus stock
In order to safeguard your cash return on wholesale stock, online auction sites do allow vendors to add a reserve price to their listings. This means that you can state the minimum price at which you will sell your products. Be warned though, there is a further fee for this service and you will still be liable to pay the insertion fee should your product fail to sell in the highly competitive marketplace.
Be careful: online auction sites will publicise your excess stock!
Another common problem for excess stock sellers is the highly public nature of auction sites. Be warned that these listings can and do appear in Google searches and this has been known to cause problems for existing business relationships.
Overall, selling your excess stock through an online auction site can work well, but you need to be sure that you are prepared to put in the time and effort to research the market and understand the fees involved. You also need to be aware that potential buyers often have a lot of questions and are likely to contact you requesting details of your products. Again, this is usually fairly straight forward to deal with but can be time consuming.
Sell excess stock fast using our service
If you have tried everything and still cannot sell your excess stock, then it is probably a good idea to get in touch with us. We have been buying and selling surplus stock for over 21 years from our Sydney warehouse. Sometimes we can buy your excess inventory straight away on the same day, and sometimes it takes a bit longer. It depends on what type of excess inventory you have and the current state of the market.
If you have excess stock, get in touch with us for a free consultation and we will give you a report on the state of the market. Call us on +61-2-9893 1899 or email to john@coorey.com to let us know more about your excess inventory.
Author: John Coorey
Managing Director