Frequently Asked Questions
GENERAL
How quickly will my liquidation inventory sell?
The time frame required to liquidate your inventory can vary from 1 day to 3 months or longer. The type of merchandise it is, the overall volume and value of the load, the price point and the liquidation option that you select are all factors that contribute to the length of time it takes to sell the load. As experienced wholesale liquidators, we do have some control over this and we can based our liquidation offer based on your specific needs including speed of recovery.
Why should we use LiquidateNow to liquidate our inventory?
Not everyone should use LiquidateNow. LiquidateNow is primarily geared towards vendors and businesses who have excess inventory that they have not managed to sell through their own channels and that they are ready to truly liquidate. Most often, this means selling the inventory for much less than they would through regular channels, and often below cost.
Recoveries in the liquidation industry are lower than your basic wholesale or closeout markets and are below cost. LiquidateNow, powered by Via Trading, a team of experienced and established wholesale liquidators, allows you to leverage Via Trading’s reputation, marketing, website, sales force, facility, marketing network and customer base to put your liquidation offer in front of hundreds of thousands of wholesale buyers.
What if the customer isn’t satisfied with the products?
It is extremely important to us that we set the right expectation for our customers.
Our website listing and the sales sheets we generate aim to do just that, to minimize any potential customer service issues. Our listings will aim to be thorough so that customers do not make any assumptions about the product condition, variety, packing or anything else.
We will also ask you to read and review the website listing so that you can confirm that the products are being advertised correctly.
All of the sales made by Via Trading are prepaid and sold as-is. Buyer remorse is not an acceptable reason for recourse. We ensure that our customers are aware that sales are final.
In the event that there are discrepancies in the number of units received or instances where the lot has been significantly misrepresented, we will work closely with you and the buyer to resolve the issue.
Via Trading will not hold back the entire funds, but reserve the right to hold back a portion that may be needed as part of the resolution (for instance if there is a 5% shortage of goods received, we would release 95% of the funds to you and retain 5% until the issue is resolved).
Via Trading is very experienced in selling liquidation merchandise such as excess inventory, outdated goods, customer returns and such imperfect items. We work with a long-term approach to business.
Can you liquidate customer returns, used or defective goods?
Yes. Via Trading can sell almost any type of product in any condition.
It will be very important for us to have a good understanding of the condition of the goods so that we can make a realistic liquidation proposal and set the right expectations for our buyers.
Customer return, defective or otherwise imperfect goods may be great candidates for our monthly liquidation auctions but may also be liquidated in other ways.
Please be up front about the condition of the goods at the time that you submit your inventory for liquidation so that we can propose a liquidation solution that will be most effective in selling those goods.
SHIPPING
Who pays the shipping cost?
If the goods are marketed from your warehouse, the buyer would typically pay for the shipping.
If the goods are marketed from the Via Trading facility, the buyer would pay for the shipping from our location to his, but you would be responsible for covering the cost of getting the goods from your location to ours.
This cost would be deducted from the payment we send you once the load is sold.
Who is responsible for preparing the goods for shipping?
If the liquidation inventory is being shipped from your facility, it is your responsibility to prepare the items for shipping and, when appropriate, ensure that they are properly loaded into the truck or shipping container.
We are happy to guide you through the process and if you need temporary labor to assist in preparing the shipment, we can facilitate that for you and put you in touch with a local temporary labor agency who can send you workers for the project.
You would be fully responsible for supervising the temporary workers sent from the agency.
Do I have to ship the goods to your location?
No. Depending on where the merchandise is located, the types of products they are and the liquidation method we agree upon, the inventory can be marketed FOB your facility to minimize the costs that you would incur in shipping them to our facility.
What are the advantages of shipping the items to your facility?
If you ship your liquidation inventory to our facility, you will benefit from the following advantages:
- greater exposure to over 5,000 monthly wholesale walk-in buyers who visit us in person
- easier inspection of the goods by prospective buyers
- exposure to our 15-person sales team who will be able to physically see and describe the items to their customers
- available for impulse purchase to many of our customers who need to find additional items to maximize the space used on a truckload or container purchase
- you receive immediate payment once we ship the goods to our customer
- it is easier to break up the load or adjust the liquidation option if it is on-site
What are the disadvantages to shipping the items to your facility?
There are few disadvantages to shipping the goods to our facility, but they should be noted:
- there is a cost involved in shipping the items here which will be deducted from your final payout
- in the very rare instance that the items do not sell, there will be a cost involved in returning the items to your facility
PAYMENT
When do I get paid?
If we liquidate your inventory using Option 1 or 1.5 (take-all buyer or several large buyers), you will get paid within 48 hours of our customer receiving the goods.
If we liquidate your inventory using Option 2 (hundreds of smaller buyers), payments are processed every Monday for the preceding week’s sales.
If we liquidate your inventory using Option 3 (auction), your payment will be processed on the Monday following the auction. Auctions take place on the 1st Thursday of every month.
COSTS
How much do you charge?
We charge a transparent commission (also known as revenue share) based on the liquidation method used and the types of products being liquidated.
Our commission percentage can range from 20% to 50%, though the majority of liquidations are done at the 20-30% commission rate.
Commission structures will be discussed and agreed upon when we set up our liquidation agreement.
What other fees are involved?
LiquidateNow only charges a transparent commission percentage based on the amount your inventory sells for. While there are several costs associated with listing and marketing a load, LiquidateNow only charges a commission if we are successfully in liquidating your inventory. No sale, no fee!
Aside from our commission and any shipping costs to get your products to our location if you choose to go that route, there are no other fees.
What do you mean by No Out-of-Pocket Cost service?
We aim to offer a no-out-of-pocket-cost service. This means that you will not incur any up front costs during any portion of the liquidation process. Any shipping costs (if we determine that the goods are better off being shipped and sold out of our facility) would be paid for by Via Trading and would then be deducted from your final payout after your lot is sold. You would not be responsible for fronting the shipping cost or any other costs.