Closeout & Surplus Dealers, Auctions
and US Government Auctions

Before buying closeout and surplus merchandise or participating in online wholesale auctions, please take the time to re-read the section on this type of merchandise in The Complete eBay Marketing System or The Wholesale Buying System.

Here are links to several closeout auctions on the web and the three largest US Government auctions of seized and surplus merchandise. If you are interested in learning about US Government auctions, please visit our sister web site, www.skipmcgrath.com and read our Government Auction Guide.

One of the largest and most popular online liquidation companies is Liquidation.com.  Frankly I often get complaints from readers who used Liquidation, yet they are used by hundreds of small eBay and website sellers who are very loyal to the site and keep coming back. I have never been able to put my finger on the problem but I think it may have to do with the fact that Liquidation is much like eBay -there are good and bad sellers. I strongly recommend you read the two articles above before buying so you know what you are getting into. The other piece of advice is to start small. Don't dump thousands of dollars into merchandise. Start with a smaller order until you get some experience.

The categories available from closeout auction on the web include toys and games, tools, clothing & accessories, computers and peripherals, consumer electronics, office supplies and equipment and general merchandise. Typical lots can sell for anywhere from $500 up to $10,000. The average of items eBay users would buy are in the $500 - $2,000 range. That may sound like a lot of money, but these are lots that you can easily double or triple your investment if you buy right.

One caution, always check the shipping cost before bidding. I once bought a pallet of goods for $700 and the shipping ended up costing me over $800. Had I arranged the shipping myself, I would have paid less than $300.

Topper International is one of our advertisers, but I also like to mention them here   as I have received several emails from readers that they were pleased with the products they bought and the service and support.

RG Riley sells off brand and brand name clothing and apparel

If you live in the Mid West, Transworld Merchandise Center is located about 1 mile from Chicago O’Hare Airport.  They have thousands of brand name wholesale products in stock. They have also just launched online wholesale auctions that you can bid on if you can’t get to Chicago.  They only auction off a few things at a time, but if you check them every few days you will get a look at a wide variety of goods.

Genco sells deeply discounted wholesale closeouts, wholesale customer returns and overstock items, direct from America's largest retailers and manufacturers.

Jacobs Trading Company, JTC, is a direct source for many retailers' and manufacturers' customer returns, over- stocks, shelf-pulls, and damaged goods

Countryside Closeouts is a business to business firm specializing in low-cost, high return retail products to dollar stores; eBay stores; convenience stores; thrift centers; discount stores; discount furniture stores; hardware stores and other businesses interested in selling quality products bought at aggressive, below wholesale prices.

All-star Wholesalers offers wholesale lots, surplus merchandise, warehouse overstocks, salvage merchandise, store liquidations, shelf pulls, store closeouts, wholesale pallets and excess store inventory.

Surplus.net is the main portal for the Internet Marketing Association of Surplus Dealers. Here you will find Surplus liquidation overstock closeout salvage imports and exports sources.  Be sure and click on the link to Deal of the week.

International Dropship and Wholesale Corp. offers a wide selection of good quality surplus merchandise and they have a drop ship program for heavy items.

SBI Closeouts is a large closeout and wholesale liquidation dealers.

Liquidation.com has a sister site Government Liquidation. Government Liquidation, LLC (GL), a subsidiary of Liquidity Services, Inc. is the exclusive partner of the U.S. Department of Defense for the sale of surplus property. This is where you can buy anything from airplanes to palm pilots online from the Department of Defense. Upcoming auctions include new PDAs, microwave ovens, furniture and office equipment, military clothing, and thousands of professional and consumer items.

Liquid XS is a surplus dealer that concentrates on brand name and higher quality products. I have used them before and got some great deals.

Wholesale Ramp has both fixed price lots and auction lots that you can bid on. Mostly general merchandise but there are some unique items if you search the whole site.

Mid America Liquidators is the official liquidation source for Costco. They primarily sell furniture, but they also get pallets of electronics, footwear, and other household items. There are no prices on the web site. You have to call them to set up an account.

CloseoutCentral.com is a central source for closeout dealers. Over 100 closeout dealers are listed by product category.

Sav On Closeouts is a great source of collectible and branded merchandise such as Ertl, Star Wars and so on. They sell in small quantities and are one of the top suppliers to eBay sellers.

Overstock.com Auctions is slightly different than the regular Overstock site. The auction site lists both wholesale and retail auctions. You have to look carefully but there are some excellent deals here.

Surplus Net sells closeout items in fairly reasonable minimum quantities.

Premier Closeouts sells mostly toys, phones, gadgets, hi-fi and other consumer electronics. Great source for radar detectors. They will drop ship some products, but check the pricing on eBay before you list items to make sure they are selling at a profitable price.

One of the top listings on our search engine is Via Trading. They are one of the most popular closeout dealers used by eBay Power Sellers. Via only sells pallet loads of goods, but the pallets average between $200 and $400 each and can contain up to $1,200 Wholesale goods. You can easily double and often triple that price on eBay. Anything that doesn’t sell can be donated to your local thrift shop for a tax write-off at the full retail price. This can often return it’s full cost in tax savings.

Madison Avenue Closeouts specializes in name brand and designer labels of men’s and women’s fashions. For example, they recently had a lot of 10 Alfani men’s sport coats for $290 ($29 each) and Jones New York Ladies suits for under $27 each. The Alfani coats retail for $250.00 and the Jones NY suits usually go for over $300 retail. They often have lots by Liz Clairborne, Polo, Nautica, DKNY and so on. One word of caution. Madison Avenue sells two types of goods: Department store surplus and name brand catalog merchandise. They do not allow you to sell the name-brand catalog items on eBay, but many eBay sellers do this anyway. Just don't tell them you are doing so.

Closeout Solutions is the largest supplier of Brand Name Closeout Electronics and Computer's Products! They carry Sony , Logitec, Bellsouth, Samsung, Philips, GE, Monster Cable, RCA, Visioneer, Classic, AOL, Labtec.

OpenBox USA runs a hot-list newsletter. You sign up and they notify you of online auction and closeout sales. You might want to use a G-mail or Yahoo email address for them as they send a lot of notices but I have found some really great buys through their notices.