Tag Archives: tips and tricks

How To, Liquidation

Some Liquidation Tips and Tricks – Buying Product

I’ve been purchasing liquidated items for over a year and a half now and I’m not an expert by any means.  But the process I have developed helps me get the best product at the best price from Liquidation.com.

Same Seller: Find a seller that works for you.  You can discover them from trying new ones out of the blue or discussions with current resellers.  I find out a lot of my tips and tricks through my own trial and error, but also through a large Facebook group that I have formed relationships with resellers and liquidators.  You can visit their group here.

Make a List of Products: Once you start to get the hang of reselling then try and stick to the same items that do well.  I have started a running list of products that I intentionally comb through manifests to find.  Once I find these manifests I add the auctions to my wishlist.  I then look up other other high priced items on the list to gauge profit.

Homework: Make sure you put in your homework and comb the manifest prior to bidding and check your shipping costs.  I take the top 10 or so items and look up their value on eBay.  I look at what they are actually selling for, not what they’re listed at or what their MSRP is.  Ultimately their value is only as good as what they are selling for.  To understand your net profit then before bidding make sure to quote your shipping cost so you know what your total cost is all and what you can expect to sell your items for.

Gut Check: Keep your wits about you when you’re bidding.  Don’t let the thrill of bidding and getting new product keep you hooked into bidding.  If the bidding gets too high, meaning it gets over what you think your profit could be on that total auction then let it go.  There will always be similar auctions with similar products.

The only secret is doing your homework and networking.  It will not guarantee that you will make money but it will increase your odds of winning.  You will make as much as the effort you put back into this process.

-Chris
LiquidationOH@gmail.com

Want to follow my day to day?  Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow along!

eBay

So You Want to Open an eBay Store?

So you want to start an eBay store?

When should you start an eBay store?

When I first started selling on eBay, I was awarded 50 free auction listings a month.  Keep in mind for those starting out now, your free auctions amounts might be different.  There are also selling limits for each buyer.  Starting out that was awesome for me as I never approached the 50 item selling threshold. On top of that if I listed items as a Buy It Now I was getting charged a $0.20 per listing.  I started out selling auctions that would only sell with auctions.  When I started buying liquidation items, I frequently surpassed the 50 item auction limit and auctions weren’t the greatest option.   So thats when I started to question if I was losing money on listing fees.

Listing fees become an issue if you’re listing more than 50 auctions a month (or what ever your current threshold is for free listings), and if you’re keen on Buy It Now auctions.  When you start a store, Buy It Now auctions are included in your “free” listing quota.  If you’re listing a ton of items it makes sense to start a store.

My first tip is to use eBay’s store fee calculator which is located here: http://www.fees.ebay.com/feeweb/feeillustrator

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For me the Basic Store was the best option.  I am now able to list 250 items per month for “free”.  I get charged a $24.99 (I believe you can pay 12 months up front and it works out to be $19.99) fee per month.  If I didn’t have a store I would definitely lose money on my listings as I’ve increased my purchases.  The calculator will give you an idea of how much money you can save if you increase the number of listings per month.

Keep in mind every month you get get those 250 free BIN listings free a month, but that ALSO INCLUDES YOUR RELISTED LISTINGS for items that didn’t sell.  So if you have a ton of rollover every month then your free insertions will be eaten up pretty quickly.  You either have to make the decision to end those auctions, or do something to try and get it to sell.

My next step is figuring out if I need to increase to the Premium store as I increase my listing frequency.  As I buy more and more frequently from Liqudation.com my limits are getting eaten up pretty quickly.

Investing in the eBay store option definitely has paid for itself!

-Chris
LiquidationOH@gmail.com

Liquidation

How I Buy Auctions from Liquidation.com

Why buy auctions from Liquidation.com?

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www.Liquidation.com is a great website to source products from

I use liquidation.com to source all of my products currently for selling online.  I go to their website daily to look for auctions on two categories that I love.   You do not need a business license or special privileges to bid on their auctions.  Depending on the state, you might need to submit sales tax, but their website will explain which states. I keep track of the auctions through their watchlist feature.  I want to walk you through how their website works.

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  • eBay – Their auctions function a little like eBay’s auctions work.  You find the auctions you want and click into them.  You then submit a price that you’re willing to pay for the auction in the bid field.  Keep in mind this is for product cost only.

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  • Auction Costs – The other costs include shipping and buyers premium.  Buyers premium for any auction i’ve seen is 8%.  BEFORE you bid make sure to get a shipping quote.  You can click on shipping options below and click “get a quote”.  All you have to do is put in your address and if its a residential or business address.

COSTS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING

Bid price + Buyers Premium + Shipping Cost.  In some states you’ll have tax added on.

  • Multiple Auction Shipping Costs – If you win multiple auctions you will have the ability to consolidate shipping costs.  I will call them and ask what my options are for lowered shipping costs.  Only if my auction shipping costs are higher than the minimums will I call and get consolidated shipping.  For me the minimums currently are $40 from Indiana and $86 from Vegas (I’m currently in Ohio).
  • Auction Sniping – Sniping auctions does not exist with liquidation.com auctions.  If you bid within the last 5 minutes of the auction ending then the auction will extend out 5 minutes.  There are some tips I use here.  I will wait until the auction is close to closing until I bid on items as if I bid too early then I just drive the price of the auction up.
  • Why? – I have tremendous success with auctions from Liquidation.com.  They are a great company to work with and supply great products.  Their manifests have matched against everything Ive purchased from them.  I know exactly what I’m bidding on and the quality I expect. ALWAYS check the manifests to validate what you’re getting.  Keep in mind there is some risk with purchasing “returns” as there will be some items that don’t work.  I have always been able to recoup my costs.

Secret Tip: Make sure their MSRP values match against the market value at the time.  Take the first few high priced items in your manifest and validate them in eBay.  There have been some times where their value doesn’t match against what they’re actually worth.

What are some concerns you may have in purchasing liquidation items?

My next blog will go through how I search for items and what I do to sell them.

-Chris

LiquidationOH@gmail.com

Shipping

Shipping Secrets: Regional Boxes

USPS Regional Boxes

What are they, how do I get them and save money?

Where? – I get my regional boxes for free from USPS.com.  If you go to their website you can order them and get them shipping to your door at no cost.  Make sure you order both the regional A and regional B boxes.  Keep in mind they take awhile so make sure you order in advance is you’re running out.

Get boxes here: https://store.usps.com/store/browse/category.jsp?categoryId=shipping-supplies

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When? – I’ve found they are comparable if not better than shipping Priority.  They basically combine the low price of zone shipping while using the speed of Priority.  Here are some other benefits of using regional boxes.

  • Up to $50 in insurance included (for mail pieces with barcodes)
  • Tracking included in rate
  • 1, 2, or 3-day delivery based on package origination and destination
  • Free package pickup for many locations
  • Saturday and residential delivery at no extra charge for many locations

Tip:  They are the lowest cost option when the weight is between 2 and 15 pounds.

How? – Purchasing the label is just as easy as purchasing a first class label or priority label.  There are options within eBay to select the regional A or B options and the price will populate.  Then you simply place the item in the box and ship it.  There are different box options as show in the table below.

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How do you know when to use this option?

  • First, I always see if my item will fit in the regional box if I think the item will be over 16 ounces.
  • I then weigh the item and plug the weight into eBays shipping screen
  • I price out both priority and regional options (A and B).
  • Choose the cheapest!

I hope this helps you pick the most cost effective solution!

-Chris

LiquidationOH@gmail.com