Getting rid of old/unsold stock

[Shrimper]

Hi all, I'm sure there are a few PH'ers on here that own/work for businesses that have a large amount of stock in your shop/warehouse at any one time. Forgive me if this is a silly query, but I think I have found a bit of a niche in the industry that I have a lot of experience in.

Can any of you tell me what happens when a company has a batch of stock that is old or now outdated?

I know many companies have sales to try and get rid of their old gear, often slashing prices etc. I have recently come across a company that has a large amount of stock that is a couple of years old. Because of new designs etc, the company no longer sells any of this gear, although it still markets it at the original price. To make some space, I have heard stories from some of the employees that some of this 'old' stock is just being thrown away - despite being still functional and fully sellable! Unfortunately these employees don't really appreciate the market value of such items, and so don't do anything about it. I have thought about raiding their bins...

Anyhow, this has got me thinking that I may be able to approach this company and offer them a price for their 'old' stock that they are just throwing out. I have plenty of contacts that I could sell the stuff on to, and know these kind of products very well because of my own hobby.

What does the PH community think? Do any of you sell off older items as a batch that you are finding difficult to shift?

Thanks in advance!

[Piglet]

Sounds a bit like TK Maxx to me?

[mcflurry]

Piglet said:

Sounds a bit like TK Maxx to me?

I was thinking Poundland

[jamesuk28]

Shrimper said:

Hi all, I'm sure there are a few PH'ers on here that own/work for businesses that have a large amount of stock in your shop/warehouse at any one time. Forgive me if this is a silly query, but I think I have found a bit of a niche in the industry that I have a lot of experience in.

Can any of you tell me what happens when a company has a batch of stock that is old or now outdated?

I know many companies have sales to try and get rid of their old gear, often slashing prices etc. I have recently come across a company that has a large amount of stock that is a couple of years old. Because of new designs etc, the company no longer sells any of this gear, although it still markets it at the original price. To make some space, I have heard stories from some of the employees that some of this 'old' stock is just being thrown away - despite being still functional and fully sellable! Unfortunately these employees don't really appreciate the market value of such items, and so don't do anything about it. I have thought about raiding their bins...

Anyhow, this has got me thinking that I may be able to approach this company and offer them a price for their 'old' stock that they are just throwing out. I have plenty of contacts that I could sell the stuff on to, and know these kind of products very well because of my own hobby.

What does the PH community think? Do any of you sell off older items as a batch that you are finding difficult to shift?

Thanks in advance!

If you think you can shift it then just contact the company and either say you will remove the lot for nothing (freeing up valuable space for them), or make them an offer. They can only say no.

[sa_20v]

There are some who have made a fortune from going to auctions, buying old or repossessed stock, and flogging it on eBay. If you can go direct to the company you'll be laughing.

Can't hurt to try, can it?

[2 5HAN]

Saw this last week:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/consumer_af...

Worth a punt if you think you can get the stuff shifted?

[Pappa Lurve]

Depenmds what it is obviously but as another post said, offer to clear it for free and split and profits with them, 80/20 in your favour. You may even be able to get it totally free and not have to split as you will be saving them storage costs and disposal costs. I have done this with all sorts of odd stuff over the years - standing in the middle of a self storage place auctioning off old office furnitaure and 15 year old PC's was a tad odd but we got rid of it all and the company was happy just to be rid of the stock.

On that occasion I gave the office furniture, which had value, out free depending on how many PC's, printers etc, they bought. That way they had to clear the rubbish stuff in order to buy the stuff that had value. Hardly made me a fortune but we made a decent sum and had great fun doing it. On a totally unrelated note... anyone want to buy some old chairs and PC's?!

[V8mate]

What kind of gear is it OP?

Or are you deliberately keep us wolves at arm's length?

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Go for it, one of a few things can happen:

1) They say no
2) They let you have it and either:
i) You sell it and make a good profit
ii) You don't sell it and have to put some in your bin/local tip every week.

At the end of the day, they'll be paying to store it and having to pay to dispose of it. I'd actually go the route of buying it off of them for a nominal sump i.e. 50p - That way you've got an invoice, and no one can say that you're not buying product and that you're taking part in waste removals - whcih you need a waste transfer license for - Which if you do come out laughing, some jealous neighbour may happen to mention to the wrong people and you'll be pulled up for it, unfortunately crap like that happens.

[Shrimper]

The gear is all sailing related. I'm only 21, but know alot about the industry and think I could flog on most of the stuff to people and other business's I know, as well as probably on ebay. I have seriously thought about approach them, and think I will in the new year.

Thanks for everyones input, does anybody else already do this kind of stock clearance?? How would I go about approaching the company?

[E31Shrew]

Have a friend who owns 9 shops in the Midlands. Gets huge lists from major catalogue retailers who have over ordered and need to shift trailer loads of clothing and other items to release warehouse space. Prices paid are incredibly low including branded trainers for 20p and LCD TV's [ 32"]for less than £100.00 [unbranded tat!]
I tried to flog some kit for him on Ebay about 5 years ago but even then the market for this stuff was saturated, so no money to be made there.

[HiRich]

Questions you should ask yourself are:

• How much are they likely to have? Can you take it all, making their life easier, or can you only take a small amount (in which case you'd be more trouble than its worth)?
• What are your costs? Hire a van to transport it? Storage?
• What are their costs of disposal?
• How much do you think you can sell in a short period (say a month ans allowing for pre-orders, walking round the marina, eBay)?

From there you can judge the upper limit you would be willing to pay (but it may still be worth starting at nothing), and how quickly you think you can break even. Work out a one-page proposal (but without an offer)

From there, find your contact. Go high (MD or sales director). Depending on who they are, you might be able to drop in (if it's retail or a small business unit). If larger, phone first. Odds are you may get baulked by a Secretary, in which case get the secretaries email (or fax) and agreement to put the proposal you send through in front of the Director. Quickly fine tune the proposal (name, anything you've learned from the conversation) and get it over in the hour. End with "I will contact you on Friday 10th January. Or at your convenience you can contact me on (phone) or (email)"
They can only say no. Even if they pass you down to an underling, there's implicit approval from the Director. Finally, through any discussions, don't dick around - you are meant to be saving them hassle. So if they need it collected at 5:00am, just agree and do it.

It's always worth a punt. As an example, in our race series one of the most sought after parts is the gasket & bladder set for a 1940s Lucas fuel pump. Someone turned up 5,000 in MOD excess stock (quite why the MOD had them at all is a mystery). Despite knowing his large profit margin, everyone bought half a dozen. We're all happy, and the guy was in profit before he even brought them to a race.

[GreenV8S]

If you were selling their old stock, wouldn't you effectively be competing against sales of their new products? You might also be reducing the perceived value of their brand by selling the stock cheaply. From their point of view, this could be a very bad idea.

[Shrimper]

Thanks for that Rich! Going to mull it over and do some more research over Christmas. I'm quite confident in being able to shift the products on, I think the issue for me will be making that contact with the company and getting myself heard. Thanks again everyone!

[softtop]

GreenV8S said:

If you were selling their old stock, wouldn't you effectively be competing against sales of their new products? You might also be reducing the perceived value of their brand by selling the stock cheaply. From their point of view, this could be a very bad idea.

This comes from the discussion, the stock has to go somewhere and since they are not high branded goods with a street presence it is unlikely to cause any issues. Remember, you can buy most things on a market stall or similar and it does not affeect the sales of new current lines that are only on offer in the mainstream locations.

[Stitch]

What you are looking to do is called jobbing in the clothing industry

Offer the company 10 or 20 pence in the £ for the items (bought in cost, not wholesale or retail price)

Agree that you won't market the stock in the same outlets that they sell to

They should be open to this kind of deal as it is a bit of ready cash for them

Be warned, at these kind of levels they will expect you to take the lot, which might include stuff you don't want

If it is clothing also likely that there is not a good range of sizes

[Horse_Apple]

Shrimper said:

Hi all, I'm sure there are a few PH'ers on here that own/work for businesses that have a large amount of stock in your shop/warehouse at any one time. Forgive me if this is a silly query, but I think I have found a bit of a niche in the industry that I have a lot of experience in.

Can any of you tell me what happens when a company has a batch of stock that is old or now outdated?

I know many companies have sales to try and get rid of their old gear, often slashing prices etc. I have recently come across a company that has a large amount of stock that is a couple of years old. Because of new designs etc, the company no longer sells any of this gear, although it still markets it at the original price. To make some space, I have heard stories from some of the employees that some of this 'old' stock is just being thrown away - despite being still functional and fully sellable! Unfortunately these employees don't really appreciate the market value of such items, and so don't do anything about it. I have thought about raiding their bins...

Anyhow, this has got me thinking that I may be able to approach this company and offer them a price for their 'old' stock that they are just throwing out. I have plenty of contacts that I could sell the stuff on to, and know these kind of products very well because of my own hobby.

What does the PH community think? Do any of you sell off older items as a batch that you are finding difficult to shift?

Thanks in advance!

It really depends on the stock and the company etc.

For example, I'm sure that you can write down the value of old stock int he accounts but then you might not want to flog it off cheap as it could butcher sales of your new stock?

[Brown and Boris]

Not forgeting to tell HMRC about the income of course! If the seller gets an inspection after having written off the value and shows you bought it.......