How to find the Best Liquidation Company? If you’re actively looking for a liquidation company then obviously you want to work with the best. But how do you know who the best liquidation company is? And how do you even know where to start?
Because every situation is different, and every situation has a different end in mind, the criteria for determining who the best liquidation company is, is going to be different depending mainly on what your needs are at the time.
Here’s 3 unique situations that can give you some “Big Picture” perspective:
Example #1- Retail Department Store Insolvency
Let’s say your closing down one of your retail outlets and your main product is in-season merchandise. Obviously, your main concern is going to be protecting your brand and controlling your distribution.
Of course, you don’t want this liquidated merchandise to interfere with the sales of your current merchandise either, especially if they’re in neighboring markets.
In this case, you will likely exchange a higher capital return for the channel control, maintenance, convenience, safety, and brand protection.
And because of that, I wouldn’t recommend an online liquidation auction.
The web is never as safe as talking to a company face to face and knowing where your goods are going and where they’ll end up.
In a web auction, your inventory could end up anywhere and it’s hard to maintain any reasonable measure of control over that. Because the internet is so unrestricted, your own inventory could end up in a tent sale right down the street from one of your retail outlets, and end up becoming your own competition.
I would also shy away from wholesale auctions for this reason as well. It’s very difficult to ensure that you can protect your brand and channels of distribution.
So in this situation, where your cash return is not as important as your brand control, the best liquidation company is one that has their own channels of distribution or can ensure that your goods are strategically channeled away from your existing markets.
Those channels may be manufactured through temporary event sales, international contacts, or they may even have their own retail outlets in place.
If you find a liquidation company that is well established, both financially and logistically, they will offer you more flexibility, security, and experience than a company that is not as established or financially sound.
An established liquidation company trumps an auction in this situation every time.
Example #2- Small Business Owner
Another situation, particularly common in this economy, is that sales may have slowed down, causing inventory to pile up.
In this case, an auction or any other middleman is only going to slow you down.
If your top priority is speed, then you need to find a liquidation company.
Usually, they can give you a semi-reliable free quote over the phone. If you can find a really good liquidation company they will even remove the inventory, load and ship it. (Sometimes at no additional cost)
I would stay away from auctions in this situation because your turnaround can be very unpredictable, both with price and time. If you’re looking to make room for new product or pay your creditors, and you need cash fast, sometimes the guaranteed immediate return is worth more in the long run.
Example #3- Warehouse Manager
If you’re a warehouse manager and you just need to get rid of some old, musky inventory that is dated and taking up valuable space, there are lots of liquidation companies out there that can help you.
In this situation your best bet is to place value on the potential for relationship. You can’t put a price on trust or integrity. And you never know when you might need these type services again.
An auction might be okay, but your product, depending on how dated and out of season it is, may not be something that is very desirable.
I highly recommend auctions when you are selling direct to consumers, but if you’re looking to liquidate a large inventory, your best bet is to find a reliable liquidation company that has a reputation to uphold.
In this situation it might be of more value just to get it out of your warehouse at any cost. Quite possibly even throwing it out or donating it to charity. But before you do, shop around for a reputable firm that may be able to give you professional service at a fair price.
So who is the Best Liquidation Company?
