The free guide to wholesale, closeouts & liquidation
Source smarter. Price right. Sell with confidence.
Plain-English guides to buying and selling merchandise in bulk, from reading a liquidation manifest to getting your closeouts in front of off-price buyers. Written by people who work in the trade.
$849.9B
in U.S. retail returns projected for 2025 (NRF)
5,214
stores run by TJX, the largest off-price retailer
100% free
no courses, no paywalls, no supplier pitches
Explore by topic
What do you need to figure out?
01
Closeouts & Liquidation
What’s really in the load, what the condition grades mean, and how to read a manifest.
03
Supplier Vetting
How to check out a supplier before you send money, and what to do if something goes wrong.
04
Selling to Retailers
What off-price and discount buyers want, and how to put an offer in front of them.
Latest guides
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Closeout vs. Liquidation vs. Overstock: What’s the Difference?
Closeout, liquidation, overstock, shelf pulls, customer returns, as-is: the terms get used loosely, but each one tells you something different about what’s…
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How to Read a Liquidation Manifest (and Spot the Red Flags)
A manifest is the closest thing you get to seeing inside a pallet before you buy it. Here’s how to read one…
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How Much Should You Pay for a Liquidation Pallet? A Worked Example
A percentage of retail sounds simple until you add freight, fees, and damaged units. Here’s a step-by-step way to figure out your…
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How to Verify a Wholesale Supplier Is Legit: A 12-Point Checklist
Fake wholesale suppliers are common, especially for liquidation pallets and hot products. Use this 12-point checklist to check out a supplier before…
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How to Sell Closeouts to Off-Price Retailers (TJX, Ross, Burlington, Ollie’s)
Off-price chains buy billions of dollars of closeouts and excess inventory every year. Here’s what their buyers look for, how to price…
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Supplier Agreement Checklist: 12 Terms to Get in Writing
A plain-English supplier agreement checklist: the 12 terms every small retailer or brand should get in writing before placing a wholesale order.
Featured guide
A $750 pallet is really a $1,150 pallet.
Freight, fees, and damaged units change the math fast. Our worked example shows how to find your true cost per unit and the most you should bid, step by step.
Quick glossary
Speak the language of the trade
Closeout
The whole remaining stock of an item, sold off at a reduced price, usually because it’s being discontinued.
Shelf pulls
Items taken off store shelves before anyone bought them. Usually new, sometimes with shelf wear.
Manifest
An item-by-item list of what’s supposed to be in a pallet or truckload, with quantities and retail values.
Landed cost
Everything you pay to get goods to your door: price, fees, freight, and for imports, duties and customs costs.
FOB
Free on Board. The seller loads the goods on the ship; from there, the risk and the remaining costs are yours.
As-is, where-is
You take the goods in their current condition, from their current location. Warranties generally don’t apply.
Built by people who work in wholesale
No fluff, no course pitches. Just what we’ve learned from buying and selling closeouts every day, backed by sources you can check.
Wholesale Handbook 