A Liquidator’s Guide on Buying Wholesale Electronics – Part II

If you are starting a business and looking for electronics to sell, you will need to look for trustworthy wholesale suppliers. Electronic wholesalers specialize in purchasing and distributing new and refurbished electronics, overstock deals, opportunity buys, closeout, and end-of-life products. Their buyers include businesses in various channels and industries such as e-commerce businesses, independent stores, retail chains, incentive and premium companies, trading companies, distributors/wholesalers, and more.

When looking for resale, procuring wholesale electronics can save a lot of money. There are several types of wholesale electronics —from video games to DVD players, camcorders, cellular phones, stereo systems and gadgets galore. Almost new or refurbished wholesale electronics like computers, peripherals, printers, and notebooks can be purchased through online wholesalers, or local warehouses.

Wholesalers might carry an assortment of new top-name brands, generic “knock-offs,” and refurbished models. Depending on how many items you ordered, you can find wholesale electronics at 30% to 75% off retail prices.

Every electronics wholesaler will have different items in stock in terms of model, design and quantity. When shopping wholesale for electronics, you should have a clear idea of the exact make and model of electronic you want to purchase. You can use the internet to get information about the product specifications and narrow down your search to the accurate make and model so that it becomes easier to locate and negotiate with the wholesaler.

Some electronic wholesalers might require you to purchase in large bulk shipments, typically when you purchase directly from the manufacturer. Buying from a manufacturer means a high minimum order, but you are likely to get a discount when buying in bulk.

Finding wholesale electronics can be challenging, and business owners need to be wary of a lot of pitfalls. Buyers are often warned about online electronics wholesale scams. To ensure that the wholesaler has a good reputation, you must check their ratings, reviews, and feedback from previous customers before placing an order.

In the United States, you can also want to inspect the wholesaler’s reputation through the Better Business Bureau. To avoid the risk of being cheated by deceitful overseas sellers, buyers are generally encouraged to place orders with electronics wholesalers in their own city or country. As a rule of thumb, if the price seems too good to be true, you might have reason to be suspicious of the wholesaler.

Liquidation and Wholesale – Knowing the Difference

Liquidation means that a company is trying to turn excess overstock and returned inventory into cash. The excess overstock and returned inventory become a liability to retailers because the products depreciate with time, occupy significant space in the warehouse, and have capital tied to them.

To avoid the additional costs, retailers aim to take out the excess inventory by selling it at a lower price. Liquidation inventory is sold in large bulk quantities and in negotiated deals, typically to large distributors. The distributors can purchase this inventory at prices well below the MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price).

On the other hand, some retailers choose to manage private auction marketplaces to make the distribution of these bulk lots more convenient to a large market of liquidation buyers. This gives liquidation buyers a chance to get in direct contact with retailers and gain access to highly discounted inventory that was not available otherwise.

The excess inventory at these auction marketplaces is available at a fraction of MSRP. Wholesale is the sale of merchandise to businesses and resellers, typically sold in large quantities, to be resold by others. Wholesaling is usually not available to an average consumer. Wholesalers usually buy in bulk and redistribute in smaller packs.

The wholesale cost is generally fixed and the quantity of product can vary significantly. Wholesalers frequently buy large liquidation bulk packs from big liquidators, divide those lots into different parts, and then redistribute them in smaller packs to smaller resellers and retailers.

Buying Wholesale Electronics Online

The digital marketplace for wholesale electronics is a place where professional buyers can come in contact with wholesalers to buy electronics in bulk quantities by truckload, pallet, or small package. The trickiest part of buying wholesale electronics from an online source is identifying a reliable seller. There are practically thousands of sellers out there that claim to offer high-quality wholesale electronics at lowest possible prices.

As a buyer, you should assess a seller’s reputation before placing an order when them.  The most convenient source for rating a seller is through the internet. You can use the wholesale supplier directories will help you locate potential distributors easily and quickly. These online directories display other customer’s experiences with quality and service of the seller to help you narrow down your choice.

Finding an Online Seller

You should first decide whether you want to use free or paid wholesale supplier directories. If you go for paid directories, they are generally inexpensive and show user reviews on the different sellers that give helpful insight on the quality of the products and services they offer. Free directories will list thousands of names, but they display limited user reviews and less control over quality of supplier listings.

You must visit the wholesale directory website and register by clicking in the “Join” or “Register” button. Both free and paid directories require you to register. Once your account is created, look for suppliers of wholesale electronics by using the search option. You can search for electronics in general or for specific products.

If the directory has filters, use them to narrow down your search. Common filters can be minimum purchase size, price, user rating or country of origin. Once you have found several potential candidates, make a list of them and record their contact information.

Purchasing from Online Seller

Once you have a finalized a list of sellers, visit their website to review details like purchase requirements, minimum purchase orders or tax resale ID.  You will be required to register on the seller’s website as they will need your information for authenticity verification.

Then you can start searching for the merchandise on these websites using keywords for product category, condition, shipping option and other filters. You can contact every seller via email asking details of purchases, approximate order sizes and frequency and ask whether you can receive a sample their electronic for quality assurance purposes.

If you can, do call the seller to ask the same questions outlined above. Talking to the seller personally adds a certain level of assurance to their claim of being a genuine business. If you find the required electronics on a particular website, place a small order as a sample.

Paying for the Order

Different websites will accept different payment methods. The most popular methods for payment are typically Bank Wire of Bank Transfers for higher value lots, and PayPal or credit card for smaller lot sizes.

Bidding

Some online electronic wholesalers allow buyers to bid on in-demand electronic liquidation in bulk, such as computers (desktops and laptops), TVs, DVD players, cameras, GPS units, and other liquidation auction electronics that they carry. If your bidding amount is the highest and you win the auction, you will receive an email on the email addresses you provided during registration.

How to Purchase From Outside US

Many distributors might turn to the digital marketplace to buy wholesale electronics because of the breadth and depth of options available on international websites and also because the price of certain products, especially electronics, can be much lower on international websites.

Considerations of Purchasing from Outside US

1. The first obstacle for purchasing wholesale electronics is the seller not shipping beyond their borders. Some US-based online seller ship worldwide but the final price will vary according to the weight of the order and the delivery.

2. Buyers also need to consider potential compatibility issues; electronic items purchased from the US have to comply with the local 110v voltage system. High value devices like projectors and laptops should come with worldwide adaptors, but they might not.

3. There is also a chance of being faced with bank charges when purchasing wholesale electronics from abroad. These charges can include commission and high conversion rates.

4. Last, but not the least, you must consider what happens if something goes wrong with the wholesale electronics you purchased from a US based website. Does your have the necessary resources to fix the product?

Most international buyers do have the frustrating experience of winning a bid on an online auction only to be told that the website does not deliver to their country. If you have had a similar experience and you wish to purchase wholesale electronics from outside US, there are few things you need to consider.

Contact The Seller Before You Buy Or Bid

Unless the website specifies that the seller will ship the wholesale electronics to your country, make sure you contact the seller by email or phone. Most US-based websites might not allow bidding for international buyers.

Get a PayPal Account

If PayPal service is available in your country, get a PayPal account. Very few US based sellers will ship wholesale electronics or any other product to international buyers who use anything but PayPal.

Offer Shipping Cost

If a seller website does not specifically mention the shipping cost for international buyers, they may be hesitant to spend extra money to deliver the product internationally. If you are in dire need of the electronic, offer the seller to PayPal the extra cost for shipping.

Using Package Forwarding Service

The mail and package forwarding industry in the US facilitates buyers who want to buy products from US online stores that do not ship overseas. After you register yourself in the international mail forwarding service, and they will provide you with a postal address which you can use at the online shopping sites.

Once you have made a purchase of wholesale electronics at a US online store, you must enter the shipping addresses provided to you by the mail and package forwarding service. Your package will arrive at the warehouse indicated by the postal address. You can then ask the package forwarding company to deliver the package to your home country on your actual postal address. You might have to pay import duties depending on the item type and the total cost of the shipment.

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