How to Use Liquidation Auctions to Your Advantage

If you visit a flea market, you might encounter some stalls or tables filled with various household products like bottles of shampoo, toothpastes, picture frames, etc. And there seems to be a whole lot of them, and they’re really cheap. How did those items get there? Chances are the flea market seller attended a liquidation auction, whereas a company, such as a store, needed to raise funds to satisfy their creditors… and they may or may not have gone out of business. Or perhaps a store bought too many items– they thought they’d sell 1,000 “widgets” but only 200 sold and now they’re stuck with 800 just sitting on shelves gathering dust, so they sell them at a liquidation auction. Someone comes along and scoops them up for a really great deal– “a steal!” Then they take those items and resell them at a place like a flea market, hoping to make a decent profit.

Liquidation Auctions Are Popular For a Reason

Liquidation auctions are popular. They can be used to “get rid of” lots of things, including government cars, store fixtures, farm equipment, office furniture, etc. Typically an auction company (aka an auction house) handles the liquidation auction on behalf of the business or organization that wants to get rid of things. Sometimes these are voluntary liquidation auctions and other times they’re forced; funds obtained from these auctions go to pay off creditors first, and the rest gets divided among shareholders/owners.

Why You Should Consider Attending a Liquidation Auction

Why attend a liquidation auction? Well, they’re a great place to get great deals on things. That said, you might not be able to fully inspect what you’re bidding on, so there could be some risk involved. Returns aren’t accepted, so you might buy something and get it home and realize, “Oops, I didn’t know it was like this/I really didn’t want/need this.” Generally, though, buyers are happy with their purchases at liquidation auctions.

Sometimes you can bid low and win. Other times an item comes along that everybody wants, and the price goes sky high. Certain items hold higher value than others at these auctions.

Finding Liquidation Auctions

Typically you’ll find out about liquidation auctions in a newspaper advertisement that gives people in a community notice of when and where the auction is to be held. Other times people find out about these auctions online through Facebook groups, websites, etc. You can also get on mailing lists so you get paper notices from the U.S. postal service… or you might see a sign in a store window advertising an upcoming liquidation auction, too.

If you’re the type of person who loves to buy low and sell high, liquidation auctions might become your “thing.” After all, you can get some great stuff at rock bottom prices, which you can then turn around and resell to others to make a profit.

If you’re interested in liquidation auctions, don’t be afraid to do research first. Get an idea what items are truly worth before you attend an auction. Find out who your competition is, too. Perhaps pick a niche and stick with it– such as “I want to buy and sell used cars” or “I want to buy and sell land.”

For those with items to sell, a liquidation auction can help you reach a larger audience (getting a larger number of customers), earn back your invested monies, get a decent price for your items and reach your target market of people particularly interested in that which you are selling off.

Do you want to know about upcoming liquidation auctions or do you have items you want to liquidate at auction? Call TurnKey Auction & Realty Co. of Bryan, Ohio, at 866-870-5500 to discuss these topics.