Should I Be Buying Liquidated Tools and Equipment For My Hardware Store?

If you run a hardware store, you’ll no doubt be on the lookout for a reliable source of cheap wholesale merchandise that you can sell to your customers at an attractive price that will match – and maybe even outdo – your competitors’ prices.

If you’re currently on the hunt for a reliable source of tools, in particular, one source you may not have considered is customer returns bought via an online liquidation marketplace. Customer returns can be a great way to bolster your stock, and they can also provide you with a very useful source of parts and spares for repairs.

What You’ll Find On A Liquidation Marketplace

If you’re on the lookout for a great source of tools, look no further than an online liquidation marketplace. You’ll find pallets of untested customer returns containing a wide variety of tools made by some of the biggest manufacturers in the home improvement industry, with names such as Kobalt, DeWalt, Porter Cable, Black & Decker and Dremel.

A liquidation marketplace carries a huge range of tools, from power tools such as drills, drivers, saws and oscillating tools, to air tools and compressors such as pneumatic nailers, air compressors, and hoses. And you’ll also find toolkits and accessories such as drill bits, batteries, and blades.

So, what do we mean when we say ‘untested customer returns’? Well, every year, customers across the States, Canada, and Mexico take back thousands of tools to the stores of industry giants such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. These big-ticket retailers are not discount stores, and they don’t sell second-hand goods. As that’s what these returns are classified as, they would simply sit gathering dust on the big-name retailers’ shelves despite the fact that, in a large majority of cases, they are in fact brand new products.

So, what to do with all these customer returns? That’s where online wholesale suppliers such as Direct Liquidation steps in. Liquidators of a certain size can handle the logistics involved with distributing large volumes of returns, and they do so on behalf of stores such as Lowe’s by offering them a place to sell their unwanted merchandise through a liquidator’s online liquidation marketplace.

That means that if your business is on the hunt for a cheap source of tools, from combo kits, rotary tools, and pneumatic staplers, to compact cordless wrenches, air hoses and screwdrivers, you’ll find pallets or truckloads of exactly what you’re looking for on a liquidator’s website.

And because this is merchandise coming from some of the biggest names in US home improvement retail, you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing you’re buying exactly what a liquidator describes on each pallet’s manifest. Nothing is cherry-picked before being sold on, and there’s no chance you’re buying counterfeits because the big-name retailers source their merchandise directly from the manufacturers.

Oh, and it’s not just tools that a liquidator can supply your home improvement business with. You’ll also find everything form ride-on lawnmowers, generators, AC units and heating units on offer, again coming from some of the biggest names in the industry. Something else to bear in mind when considering sourcing from a liquidator.

The Best Source For Liquidated Tools

So we’ve talked about the wide range of tools you’ll find on a liquidator’s site, but where is the best place to source them from? Well, if you’re on the lookout for untested pallets of customer returns from Lowe’s, the US’s second-largest home improvement retailer, you should head on over to Direct Liquidation’s online live auction and sales platform.

Direct Liquidation recently partnered up with Lowe’s, offering them a place where they can sell through their untested customer returns wholesale to businesses such as yours. Lowe’s trusts Direct Liquidation to handle its customer returns sales thanks to Direct Liquidation’s excellent reputation that’s been built through its very successful partnership with Walmart liquidations.

Direct Liquidation operates a network of distribution centers across the United States and Canada that are conveniently located next to major highways close to their client’s warehouses. This means you’ll reduce shipping costs when buying pallets of untested Lowe’s and Walmart pallets and truckloads due to Direct Liquidation’s centers’ ease of access.

Buying merchandise by the pallet from Direct Liquidation couldn’t be easier. On most pallets, Direct Liquidation offers you three ways to pay – via bidding in a live auction, by paying a fixed price, or by negotiating a price with the company.

Shipping can be arranged by the company or, if you prefer to arrange your own, you’ll find you will get your purchases in a very short space of time due to the aforementioned proximity of Direct Liquidation’s centers to the big-name retailers’ warehouses. This quick turnaround between purchase and arrival at your location means you can get selling the products you source from a liquidator to your customers in next to no time.

And if you have any questions, or in the unlikely event that a problem arises, Direct Liquidation has a dedicated team of specialist liquidation customer service experts to make the buying, shipping, and handling of the tools and home improvement products you buy from Lowe’s and other companies as easy as possible.

Should Your Hardware Store Buy Liquidated Tools?

Absolutely. Buying pallets or truckloads of untested customer returns from a top-tier liquidation business such as Direct Liquidation is a great way of filling your stock room with top-quality products made by some of the biggest tools and home improvement manufacturers in the world.

Customer return pallets are a great way of sourcing a wide range of top-quality products in a variety of conditions (such as slight box damage, for example) that you can sell to your customers at a wide range of attractive price points.

You’ll even find so-called ‘tested-not-working’ products, which you can use for spares if your hardware business runs a repair business. Tested-not-working products are a great way of bringing other tools and home improvement products back up to spec as well.

Finally, and perhaps most crucially, there are the savings your hardware store will make to take into consideration. Because liquidated stock bought via an online liquidation marketplace is much cheaper than buying it from a traditional wholesaler, you’ll save considerable sums of money by sourcing your stock this way. That means you’ll make more profit on the back end when it comes time to sell your merchandise on to your customers. Attractive prices, happy customers, a great range of products to sell, your competitors kept at bay and a healthy bottom line – what’s not to like?

Should your hardware store buy liquidated tools? We’ll say it again – absolutely.

Direct Liquidation is a goTRG company.

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Henley Johnson

Henley currently works as a sales representative for Direct Liquidation, assisting businesses with product sourcing of liquidated merchandise from the largest retailers in the world. Whether you are looking for a pallet or a truckload Henley is here to help you grow your business.

View Henley’s Bio on YouTube.