Reduce costs and get a bigger business through Raw Returns

In these restless economic times many companies have to deal with profit decline, but this doesn’t have to be the case for your business. All you need is a good wholesale appliances or liquidation stock online platform and refocus your business practices to raw returns offers, one area that companies often overlook.

Raw Returns are goods, mainly clothing, consumer electronics and home appliances, that have been returned to the store they were purchased from. These products have not been checked for flaws or tested for malfunctions. The potential for big profit margins rises even more when purchasing truckloads and pallets of raw returns, at a price much lower than the wholesale rate. The pallets or truckloads are usually a mixed “goodie bag”. For example if you are looking at a raw return pallet of consumer electronics it may contain coffee machines, ironing and DIY gardening tools.

The good news about returns is that they are in-demand products, many of them still in perfect condition, only returned because the color, size, or model were wrong. There are also risks in this situation, such as buying damaged products that can’t be resold. To avoid this kind of stock try to find out all the details about the products’ condition from the wholesaler, or you can even consider visiting their warehouse.


It's best to have more than one source when reselling raw returns goods or liquidation stock. Two of the best places to do that are the mighty eBay.com and wholesale appliances platforms such as liquidation.com, britcomdirect.com and globalstockuk.com. A lot of companies have been doing this with success for years.

Customers return products they've purchased for a variety of reasons and this implies a reduction in the store’s revenues and an increase of costs in the logistical and operational sector. So it is business-wise to handle raw returns as fast as possible since they cannot be re-shelved, and the best way to do that is to sell them to a wholesaler. Or, if you can’t sell them, then at least find a wholesaler that will process your raw returns in an ecological way.


Surprisingly or not, merchandisers do not realize the full potential of buying and reselling raw returns. Buying them can be very profitable for a retail business, since they can be purchased at unbelievably low rates. You need little experience when sourcing wholesale products, but it is a proven fact that due to prices with up to 90% off RRP there is a lot of room for substantial profit.

Most of the high-end retailers and manufacturers all over the world offer raw returned stock for sale to B2B trading platforms and wholesalers as part of their stock clearance program. Therefore, raw returns have a market for resell and it is up to you to make a success out of it.

Clearance stock - How does this work?

Would you like to find out more on the stock clearance supply chain? Here are more details on how this works:

Also known as the reverse supply chain, the process of stock clearance represents the process of management (collection, upgrade, disposal, reselling and logistics) of all categories of ‘secondary’ inventory:

- Slow moving surplus stock (new unsold products)
- End-of-life and obsolete stock (unsold old model products)
- Manufacturer first and second choice products (rejected on the production lines because of substandard design features)
- Refurbished (customer returns or products displayed on store shelves that have been tested and restored technically and aesthetically)
- Raw returns (retail products returned by end-users within return policy terms and conditions)
- Used products (previously sold and put in used products, may present clear signs of use)

The stock clearance reverse supply chain usually starts from manufacturers’ and resellers’ need to dispose of large quantities of unsold consumer goods, of their recurrent raw customer returns and of obsolete stocks created by industry innovations and by changes in consumer demand trends.

Brand manufacturers and retailers usually work with dedicated partners for the disposal of their clearance stock that is re-sold in wholesale on the secondary market or is recycled.

Companies like Britcomdirect.com for appliances and DIY tools or Anovo for multimedia devices, handle both upgrading of raw returns (by professional refurbishing and repair of faulty products in ISO accredited facilities) and reselling of surplus stock to their network of international wholesale buyers and traders. The different types of clearance stock are then sold in local markets to clearance resellers and retailers.

In some cases, depending on the suppliers’ network of distribution, retailers and local resellers can buy clearance stock directly from these dedicated wholesale suppliers, which gives these small businesses a great advantage on the deals and the potential margins they can make from selling surplus stock to end-users, in outlet-type stores and on big e-commerce platforms like Ebay.com.

Finding great clearance stock deals worldwide is especially possible thanks to the development of the online environment. On the web you can find online trading businesses that offer various quality services for retail businesses in search of good suppliers of clearance stock. These services start from contact sourcing and business development, to online publishing of buying and selling leads, promotion of stock opportunities and of other companies’ services and online purchasing of surplus stock in bulk.

To give you some examples, international online marketplaces (e.g. alibaba.com) allow buyers and sellers in the stock clearance industry to find stock opportunities, connect and start remote business relationships; online auction websites (e.g. stockshifters.com) allow resellers and suppliers to publish their own offers online and sell them through automatic bidding systems; big stock clear

Stock Liquidation Companies on the Internet

The stock liquidation industry had undergone a lot of changes in the past few years, developing more and more in an online environment. Today the Internet offers a massive load of opportunities for retailers, distributors and wholesalers to purchase liquidation stock online. We present here three of the online B2B businesses out there that offer trading and liquidation services to manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, traders and resellers.

TheBiggestClearance.com

is a global marketplace for B2B as well as B2C trading of liquidation stock, bankrupt stock, refurbished and raw customer returns, offering to both Sellers and Buyers a place to post and advertise their stock online. By registering on this online marketplace, you can benefit from free online merchant or buyer accounts, an online store for sellers, online enquiries management and safe online transactions. You can browse for liquidation stock offers from a variety of product categories and conditions from resellers and wholesalers from all over the world. The website offers the possibility of contacting the seller before purchasing a stock offer, but you need to create a buyer account in order to see the contact details.

Liquidation.com
Is an online auction marketplace targeting small business and web based retailers as well as resellers in search of suppliers of liquidation stock, salvage and clearance products, used or raw returns. Sellers have the option to create their own auction listings and promote their liquidation stock, refurbished and returned stock lots through the online bidding system where buyers can place bids on the offerings of interest to them. Every buyer needs to create a buyer account and is bound to submit shipping and billing information in order to place bids on the stock lots displayed on this auction site. The user can browse through a variety of categories of products, from fashion items to industrial machinery, ranging from packages to few pallets stock lots.

BritcomDirect.com
Is a B2B Trading Platform for new surplus stock, refurbished stock and raw customer returns, specializing mainly in selling liquidation stock by the truckload and refurbished wholesale appliances, DIY and gardening tools, home fitment items and consumer electronics.

Unlike the other B2B marketplaces, this online trading platform offers stock lots on behalf of manufacturers, retailers and distributors. Taking care of all aspects related to publishing, marketing, selling and shipping refurbished and liquidation stock Lots. Buyers can browse for wholesale lots in the specially designed categories and search for products they are interested in through a user friendly internal search engine or can receive the latest available stock offers directly in their inbox, by subscribing to daily rich e-mails. This website has quite a unique selling system: it allows buyers to buy stock lots immediately at their displayed selling price or to submit Best Offers on specific lots (how much they are willing to pay for it) by simply creating an online buyer account. It allows you to manage e-mail subscriptions, offers and invoices directly online and have access to customer support services that will guide you through the entire sales process, from online ordering to shipping the stock to your destination and after-sales services.

These are just a few examples of global resources that offer online trading services for wholesale liquidation stock, refurbished and raw returns buyers. Stock liquidation is becoming, with the help of the Internet, a more transparent and a more secure business, every day.

Finding the best suppliers of clearance stock

Planning to open your own retail business? Start by finding the best suppliers of clearance stock for the products you would like to sell. In the business to business market you will find suppliers specializing in niche products such as wholesale appliances, consumer electronics, DIY, fashion etc. or in special clearance stock categories such as raw returns, refurbished, first and second choice product lines from manufacturers and retailers.

You can search and connect with these suppliers at industry trade shows, by subscribing to trade magazines in your local market or by actively looking for company contact details on the web.

Online research of clearance stock suppliers

You will be able to find very helpful online resources of clearance stock suppliers on your local market, by searching through local business directories and online wholesale magazines like The Trader directory in the UK.

When targeting suppliers of clearance stock from other countries, international B2B marketplaces such as Tradekey.com are a good way to start, as they are real trading hubs where suppliers provide verified company information and where multiple options exist for checking the clearance stock you are interested in purchasing: full contact details, virtual showrooms, virtual showcases and virtual trade shows.

If you choose to work with dedicated global suppliers, the Internet offers many opportunities for uncovering and connecting with suppliers and big distribution companies. Britcom for instance is a recognized supplier of wholesale appliances and other stock categories, specializing in specific stock clearance solutions, such as raw returns and refurbished consumer goods. Acting as a supplier of pre-owned refurbished wholesale appliances but also offering clearance stock from big manufacturers and retailers throughout Europe, this company is a first hand supplier of wholesale deals that will give your retail business an important push start.

Find these types of suppliers of clearance stock directly on the web - most of them have a visible online presence with their own company websites and even online “shops” - or on niche social networks, forums and online marketplaces.

Verify your clearance stock suppliers

Make sure you are making secure wholesale purchases by verifying these suppliers’ credentials, the actual condition of the stock and availability before starting to order. Look for details such as company address and VAT number, size of the company, online presence, pictures of the goods, stock condition and product technical details. Get to know the supplier before engaging in a transaction and also try to build a long term relationship with the suppliers of clearance stock you can trust - this will secure you the best quality products and even better exclusive deals in the future.

Making money with raw returns wholesale lots

If you’re in the business of buying and selling wholesale clearance and surplus stock, one of the greatest sources of revenue for your business is going after raw returns lot offers. Most of the high-end retailers and manufacturers all over the world offer raw returned stock for sale to B2B traders and wholesalers as part of their stock clearance programme.

The easiest way to find these raw returned stock offers is by doing a quick search on the web. On websites like Ebay.com and Liquidation.com you can find many stock offers from resellers that trade branded raw customer returns at prices that go at up to 90% off RRP.

Despite the massive saving opportunities, raw returns must be looked at with caution. When purchasing this type of clearance stock, it is crucial to see the goods first or have comprehensive information on the condition the returns are in. This is because raw returns job lots usually come in a mixture of working, damaged and faulty items, with no warranty that they are fully functional products for you to re-sell to end-users. Which in the end will result in additional repair costs for your company.

Most of the untested raw returns bulk deals you find on the web present this risk. Getting in contact with the seller and directly dealing with his company or obtaining information regarding individual SKU condition and packaging are 2 ways of lowering that risk.

Another possible solution for safely purchasing raw returns is through trading platforms like Britcomdirect.com where suppliers and their stock are verified before being listed online. Unlike other auctions sites, this B2B trading platform operates as an agent in getting you the best deals of raw returns and surplus stock from retailers and manufacturers directly.

Moreover, here you can find raw returned stock that has been upgraded through a professional refurbishing process, owned by the company and sold directly online. Other important lot offers represent brand new and end-of-line surplus stock of household appliances, DIY tools and consumer electronics in great condition from top International Brands. The savings you get against RRP on these types of stock are still substantial and can give your business a competitive advantage on the local and international market.