There are many types of electronics out there. Some are best-selling items that can’t stay on shelves for long. Other electronic devices, for one reason or another, don’t achieve the previously mentioned levels of popularity. When this happens, these electronics often end up getting liquidated fast.
We’re here to let you know everything about liquidated electronics. At first glance, this topic might not sound like the most exciting subject in the world. We get it. We’re going to make these types of electronics easy to understand. Even better, we’re going to explain how you can make serious money from liquidated electronics.
There’s a lot to go over in this article, so we won’t waste any time. In this article, you’re going to learn:
What liquidated electronics are
Why electronics get liquidated
Beneficial reasons to buy liquidated electronics
Where to buy liquidated electronics online
How to sort electronics like an expert
Tips to help you list electronics that sell fast
What Are Liquidated Electronics?
First things first, let’s go over what liquidated electronics are. If someone liquidates something they typically exchange it for some form of payment. For example, a business can be something that needs to get liquidated. If this is the case, all of a company’s assets and remaining net worth are sold.
Why Do Electronics Get Liquidated?
Now that you know what liquidated electronics are, it’s time to find out why a company decides to sell these items right away. Here’s some information to give you a basic understanding of why electronics end up in liquidation pallets.
A Company Needs to Raise Cash ASAP
Companies can face a wide range of challenges. If these challenges involve money, a business might have no other choice but to liquidate some of its inventory. If you can find these types of sales taking place, it’s definitely worth it to take advantage of them.
You can find companies liquidating goods both in their physical stores and online. When it comes to finding liquidation sales locally, this depends on where you live. If you live in or near a business district, you could regularly end up checking out liquidation sales. Finding these sales won’t be as easy if you live in a fairly remote city.
Making Room for Other Items
The word liquidate can make almost anyone think there’s some type of emergency happening. However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes, companies liquidate electronics because they need to make room for other items. If the electronics getting liquidated weren’t selling well, it makes sense for a company to bundle these items for sale at a lower price.
The Items Can No Longer Be Sold
Sometimes, a company has to liquidate items that it would otherwise sell but can’t. This might sound a little confusing. Let us help explain this concept with an example.
Let’s say that a company only sells brand new smartphones. These smartphones are all factory sealed and haven’t been opened. A customer returns a smartphone because they assume it’s broken. If this company can’t resell open box items, it has no choice but to liquidate them at a lower cost.
What Are the Benefits of Buying Liquidated Electronics?
If you’re unsure of whether or not you want to buy liquidated electronics, it could be wise to learn why buying these items are so beneficial. Here’s a closer look at the benefits of buying liquidated electronics.
Saving Money
No matter where you look, one of the first business lessons you’ll see covers spending less money than what your company makes. By doing this, you should be running a profitable company. One way to help ensure you remain profitable is by keeping your company’s expenses as low as possible.
That’s why it’s great to find liquidated electronics. As mentioned earlier, most companies that liquidate items want them sold in exchange for money right away. To do this, these companies need to price liquidated electronics affordably. As an electronics wholesaler, you can find a lot of amazing bargains by purchasing these types of electronic devices.
Easily Stocking Up
Another advantage of buying liquidated electronics is that it’s easy to stock up on inventory. It’s extremely rare for a company to only liquidate one or a few items. Instead, it’s much more common for these businesses to list multiple items in a single liquidation pallet.
If you can buy these pallets, your business can stock up on electronics within one or a few transactions. This is great news if you’re new to the electronics industry and want to stock up on items fast.
Potentially Finding Valuable Surprises
Have you ever watched those television shows where people look for bargains in storage units, old barns, and similar locations? It’s no wonder why these television shows are so popular. There’s something exciting about finding something valuable hidden in plain sight (even if you're not the one finding it).
If the thought of doing some digging to find hidden treasure (or at least, valuable electronics) sounds exciting to you, check out liquidated electronics. Sometimes, a company will rigorously list each and every item in their liquidation pallets. However, this doesn’t always happen.
You might run into companies that give little to no information about what’s inside of their pallets. If you come across bundles of electronics without knowing what they contain, it could be beneficial to buy these pallets of items.
Pay Lower Overall Shipping Costs
The next benefit of getting liquidated electronics isn’t one you might think of right away. However, the lower shipping costs that these pallets provide are incredibly beneficial. If you bought one or a few electronics at a time, you (or the seller if you’re lucky) will be paying costs to ship these items.
If, on the other hand, you only buy a single pallet of electronics, you’re only paying shipping costs one time. With that said, you’ll have to determine how much you typically spend on shipping to decide if liquidated electronics are the right option for you.
Where Can I Buy Liquidated Electronics Online?
You’ve learned a lot of information about the basics of liquidated electronics. But where are you supposed to find these items for sale? Don’t worry - we’re here to help. When you’re ready to find and buy liquidated electronics online, check out the sources below.
Trade-In Tech
When you’re looking for electronics online, you have to check out Trade-In Tech. This wholesale electronics platform has been in business since 2012, welcoming members from all over the world. With that said, you might not yet have heard of Trade-In Tech. Let us walk you through everything this amazing platform has to offer.
A Platform Dedicated to Electronics
You probably don’t need us telling you that there are many places to shop online. With that said, you can deal with a lot of wasted time and energy on platforms that try to offer everything to their members. You won’t have that problem after joining Trade-In Tech. That’s because Trade-In Tech is a platform strictly for electronics.
You won’t have to spend time sorting through listings that aren’t relevant to your business. Instead, the Trade-In Tech marketplace is organized to make shopping as easy as possible for you.
Members Throughout the World
Another thing that matters when you’re buying electronics online is selection. If you’re checking out buy and sell platforms with a low number of members, this situation can lead to frustration. You won’t have to deal with this problem on Trade-In Tech. That’s because we have tens of thousands of members throughout the world.
On Trade-In Tech, you can work with people and companies from countries with thriving electronics markets. We have members throughout the United States, China, Europe, and many other locations! Whether you want to only work locally or are ready to expand into international markets, Trade-In Tech’s members have you covered.
Protecting the Safety of Our Members
Understandably, you want to feel that you can trust any platform you join. No one wants to be taken advantage of by scammers, especially on the internet. With that said, certain platforms only worry about welcoming new members and not keeping things secure.
Trade-In Tech, on the other hand, places immense importance on the safety and security of our members. That’s why every new Trade-In Tech member must complete our verification process. We do this to make sure that no scammers become members of Trade-In Tech.
We also utilize a rating system to keep our members safe. After you complete a transaction with a member, you can rate how it went. This provides clarity for other members of Trade-In Tech.
Find Anything You Need With a Buyer’s Request
Wouldn’t it be cool to go into your favorite store and order anything you wanted? Sadly, most companies won’t let you do this. But that’s not the case with Trade-In Tech. At Trade-In Tech, our main mission is to keep our members happy. That’s why we created an exclusive feature called the buyer’s request.
Trade-In Tech’s buyer’s request gives you the power to connect with our massive network to find the electronics you need. Since you’re reading this article, it’s fair to assume that you’re interested in liquidated electronics. Using the buyer’s request, you can easily create a request only for liquidated electronic devices.
Creating a buyer’s request is incredibly easy. All you need to do is type up what you’re looking for. After describing the electronics you’re after, you’re able to send it out to each Trade-In Tech member within a few clicks.
Stay Informed About Upcoming Trade Shows and Industry Events
Many successful people and companies in the electronics industry know that there’s always something going on in the world of electronics. With that in mind, one of the best ways to stay on the cutting edge of the electronics industry is by attending trade shows.
Unfortunately, trying to manually track and keep up with all of the electronic industry trade shows and events can be a daunting task. Considering that, Trade-In Tech doesn’t want you to spend your free time searching for events to attend. Instead, we did all of the work for you.
When you become a member of Trade-In Tech, we’ll keep you informed of all upcoming trade shows and events in the electronics industry.
Seeing What You Can Find Locally
Your next option is to potentially find liquidated electronics by looking locally. Sometimes, you can luck out and find a company or two that needs to liquidate its inventory. It’s also worth checking out any local (non-big-box) electronic stores in your area. You might even luck out and find electronics at decent prices at local pawn shops.
If you need a little extra help sourcing electronics locally, it could be worth using websites like Craigslist or Letgo. Both of the previously mentioned services allow people and companies to buy and sell things locally.
Checking Social Media
Another good source to check out if you want liquidated electronics is social media. With enough digging, you’re likely to come across a few tempting deals on liquidated electronics. As you likely know, there are a lot of social media platforms on the internet.
To help you avoid spending all of your time browsing social media, we recommend checking the most popular platforms. Most likely, these will be social media websites you already have an account on like Meta (formerly Facebook), Instagram, and Twitter.
Join Trade-In Tech’s free electronic group by clicking or tapping here.
Before you can start browsing posts and communicating with others, you’ll need to create accounts on these social media websites. Fortunately, almost all of the popular social media platforms are 100% free to join!
After you get your accounts created, you can simply start searching each platform for electronics. Another wise option would be to join various groups dedicated to buying and selling electronic devices. Sometimes, it can take a while to receive approval into these groups. So, be patient and it could pay off.
Amazon Liquidation Auctions
Being one of the largest retailers in the world, it makes sense that Amazon would get a lot of returns or items that would otherwise need to be liquidated. Fortunately, Amazon often places these items on return pallets (another term commonly used for liquidation pallets).
If you can find pallets that contain electronics, it’s possible to walk away with some good deals from browsing Amazon’s liquidation auctions. With that said, the main drawback of using this source is that you’ll have to take part in auctions.
Some people enjoy the competitiveness and excitement that comes with bidding on items in an auction. With that said, auctions aren’t for everyone. Other people would prefer to spend a predetermined amount of money to buy something without the hassle of an auction environment.
Sorting Your Electronics
After you order liquidated electronics, there’s still some work you’ll need to do. Namely, you’ll need to sort all of the electronics you purchased. This might not sound like the most exciting task to take part in. However, sorting your electronics is something you must do when you’re buying liquidation pallets.
Checking Condition
One of the first things that everyone from phone flippers to distributors do before selling their items is to check the condition their new products are in. Sometimes, you’ll get lucky and a seller will give you lots of information about the condition of what they’re selling. Unfortunately, that’s not always guaranteed to happen.
By checking the condition of your items, you can avoid potentially embarrassing situations. For example, let’s say that you ordered a liquidated pallet of smartphones. You receive your pallet, look at the first few and assume each phone is in brand-new condition. Unfortunately, near the bottom of your pallet, some phones were damaged.
If you had originally checked the condition of each smartphone, you’d know about this problem right away. But, if you didn’t, this could lead to stressful situations where you might have to turn customers away until you have the phones they want. So, always make sure to check the condition of your items. It might take a little extra time, but checking your electronics can save you from serious headaches in the future.
Counting Your Items
While you’re sorting your items, it’s always a good idea to double-check order quantities. Unless you’re working with someone you trust, you never want to assume all of your purchased electronics are in a pallet.
The good news is that you easily knock out this task while you’re sorting in your electronics. Most pallets will have a piece of paper with them that list what’s in the pallet and the number of electronics inside of it. Match the count on this piece of paper with your electronics and you’re good to go!
Separating Items by Category
This next step is dependent on whether or not you’re ordering pallets containing multiple types, brands, or models of electronics. If this is the case, it’s also a good idea to separate your electronics. By doing this, you’ll make things much easier on yourself when it’s time to list your electronics online.
Listing Your Electronics for Sale Online
With your electronics all sorted in, it’s now time to start getting these items listed online. This is the last step before you start making sales and money. Considering that, it’s important to follow our tips for listing electronics.
Taking Pictures of What You Want to Sell
One of the first things we recommend doing before anything else is taking clear pictures of your electronics. You don’t need an HD camera or some top-of-the-line setup to take high-quality pictures. Instead, focus on getting your electronics captured in a well-lit space.
If possible, it’s always good to take your pictures during the daytime with some natural light shining through. However, you might not be able to have this setting available. If not, that’s okay. Try to take images in an indoor space with good lighting.
Another tip to remember while taking pictures of electronics is to photograph these devices from multiple angles. If you’re selling your electronics online, images are sometimes the only things people see before deciding if they want to make a purchase from your business. With great images for them to see, you’ll make a positive first impression on almost any potential buyer.
Taking high-quality images can also protect you as a seller. While it’s a rare thing to deal with, it’s possible to deal with a non-legitimate buyer who tries to claim your products aren’t in the right condition. If you have clear images in your listings, it becomes harder for this other person to make any false claims about the condition of your electronics.
Coming Up With a Catchy Title
With your images taken and uploaded, you can start thinking about your listings. Considering that, one of the most important parts of any good listing is a great title. Don’t worry - you don’t have to be an author or best-selling writer to come up with engaging titles.
The first thing to remember when creating titles is to be as descriptive as possible. Your titles are likely to be competing with many other sellers. Along with your images, a good title could be the one thing that makes someone click on your listing and not a competitor’s listing.
Let’s say that you were buying and reselling iPhones that were in brand new condition. If this was the case, you would want your title to reflect that you have brand new iPhones. Wondering how to create engaging titles? Head over to eBay and check out titles from sold listings. By doing this, you’ll start seeing patterns among these titles.
Creating Descriptive Listings
Lastly, another incredibly important thing to work on when selling electronics online is the product listing. Besides titles and photos, this section of your listing is where buyers will gain the information they need to make a buying decision.
While it might not seem like it, creating descriptive listings can also save you time. If you list all available information about what you’re selling, you shouldn’t encounter as many buyers filling up your inbox with questions.
When you’re getting ready to create a listing, it’s never a bad idea to have the device you’re listing right by your side. As you write up your listing, make sure to add as much information as you can about your electronics. This information should also include any faults with your electronic devices.
Some sellers try to minimize the defects and faults of their devices by leaving out this information, which we do not recommend. You never want a buyer to think that your company has something to hide regarding what it sells. Instead, be honest and let the seller know if there is anything wrong with your electronics.
Trust us, being honest about the condition of your electronics will help your business (especially in the long-term) much more than harm it. People value honesty, especially when they’re about to purchase something online.
Use These Strategies to Boost Liquidated Electronics Sales
Buying a lot of liquidated electronics is good. But, eventually, you'll need to start selling these electronics to make money. If you need tips to help you sell more electronics, you’ve come to the right place. Use the following methods to ramp up how fast you sell your liquidated electronics.
Be Responsive to Potential Buyers
One of the best tips we can give you is also one of the easiest to implement. That tip is to always be responsive to potential buyers. Even if you think they might not seem legitimate, the person you don’t respond to could be the one who’s ready to start buying.
Most of the time, you won’t have to worry about very complicated questions. However, there’s one question that no seller wants to see in their inbox: a buyer asking if you’re willing to accept a lower price.
From a seller’s perspective, none of them ever want to sell something for less than it’s worth. If you price your items a little higher for the people who like to haggle, and you’re comfortable with that process, that’s up to you. However, you don’t have to entertain offers that are too low. If your items are priced decently enough, buyers will come to you.
Ask for a Review
Some sellers assume that their interactions with buyers are over after a sale is complete. While that can be the case, your company doesn’t have to do things that way. After your company makes a sale, and the customer gets their item, why not ask this person for a review?
It’s understandably a little nerve-racking to think about asking someone for a review. But don’t let those fears get to you. Honestly, most consumers almost expect to be asked to leave a review after buying something online.
So, what makes getting reviews from customers such an important thing? That has to do with the power of social proof. This concept is basically a way of saying that the average person will be more inclined to buy from someone with a history of reviews than a seller with no reviews or negative ones.
If you really want to make things easier for a satisfied customer, you can always send them a link to where they would leave their review. Always follow-up with an ask for a review. As time goes on, you might be amazed at how many positive reviews start showing up about your company.
Launch an E-commerce Website
Another great way to boost your company’s sales is by having a website. If possible, register a domain in your company’s name. By doing this, you’ll also need a hosting plan. However, this smart strategy enables you to create your very own e-commerce store.
Having an e-commerce website is incredibly important in this day and age. By doing this, your company has another potential avenue to start making sales. You might be thinking that setting up this type of venture requires a lot of technical expertise. Fortunately, that’s not the case.
You can check out programs like Shopify, Squarespace, WooCommerce, and Magento if you need a helping hand setting up an online store. You’ll need to spend a little money for a membership on one of the previously mentioned services. However, the money you spend might be worth it if you don’t have time to build a website by hand.
Create a Loyalty Program
Need more ways to drum up new business? Then, it’s time to think outside of the box and start a loyalty program. You’ll typically see companies of all sizes with loyalty programs of their own. Why? Because these programs can be extremely effective.
The terms of your loyalty program are entirely up to you. Some companies choose to reward customers by creating and implementing a point-based system. Other businesses give rewards to customers after they make a purchase.
Loyalty programs are great ways to help ensure your customers remain loyal. You can also easily modify the terms of a loyalty program to reward customers that refer other people to your company. This is otherwise known as a referral program. Whether you prefer rewards or referrals, either type of program is a great way to ramp up your company’s sales.
Start Creating Your Own Pallets of Liquidated Electronics
By this point in your journey as a seller, you’ve likely learned a lot about liquidated electronics. As you continue buying these items, you might also consider reselling these pallets to other sellers. By doing this, you’re sort of becoming a distributor. As time goes on, your knowledge of electronics could easily allow you to also start selling pallets of electronics.
As you can see, there’s often a lot of money to gain from liquidated electronics. The key to having success with these types of electronics involves knowing where to get these items at a fair price. In time, you should soon see your company starting to profit by selling liquidated electronics. Want to learn more about the world of wholesale electronics? Make sure to visit Trade-In Tech’s blog.