PHOENIX — Everybody is looking for a deal these days, and finding one at your fingertips might be easier with a new local warehouse.
This is especially true as Valentine’s Day approaches.
Katie Raml and the ABC15 Smart Shopper team checked out the newest surplus company to set up shop in the Valley.
Meredith Diggs, Consumer Marketing Manager at Liquidity Services, is on the ground floor at her company’s newest warehouse in Phoenix. She explained to us how it all works.
“We take retail returns, overstocked and unsold inventory from the country’s top retailers, both big box and online. And effectively allow consumers the chance to bid on them, on a single item basis.”
Liquidity Services has been in the surplus market for decades. Starting in 1999 as Liquidation.com, the founders set up their website designed to bring surplus sellers and buyers together directly online, but their company only focused on large-scale auctions that were sold to secondary retailers. Now, they are using their online platform, AllSurplusDeals.com, to auction individual items to consumers.
“This is the first time that we forayed into the direct-to-consumer market, really. Because we thought there was an opportunity to sort of share the savings, while also really helping to impact the environment; in that, all of these items could be destined for the landfill, were it not for an outlet like this,” Diggs explained, also noting the benefits to buyers. “This helps the consumer save money, as well as positively impact the environment by keeping these perfectly good items out of landfills here in Arizona.”
Retailers expect more than $761 billion in merchandise sold last year will be returned by the consumer, according to a report released by the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail in January.
Many items returned to retailers often cannot be resold because the box is ripped or there may be a small scratch on the item. So, the returns are sold to surplus buyers along with overstocked items.
If they fail to sell a second time those brand-new items can end up in a landfill trash heap. That fact was a major part of the idea to make individual items available to people online. The company wanted to sell as much as possible to keep it out of landfills.
“We as consumers really don’t think about what happens to an item when you return it,” Diggs stated, while also adding, “We return it to the store or online… and unless that item is 100% perfect, it doesn’t go back on the shelves… But we’re also, then, providing consumers with items that they need… at a price they can handle or that they are willing to pay for it. So, it’s really the “Reuse” part of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” motto.”
Diggs says that Phoenix was the best place to test this new concept.
That’s because of the population and growth in the Valley, meaning the demand is here. But, also because of our industry. “There’s a lot of supply here because several large major retailers do have return centers and processing centers here. So, this allows us to take that merchandise and, again, redistribute it to the consumers in an environmentally less-impactful way than trucking it to other places around the country or shipping it somewhere,” added Diggs.
Registration on AllSurplusDeals.com is quick, easy and, most importantly, free.
You can sort through categories and locations. Then, when you’re ready, you can place a bid. Everything starts at just $5. “Regardless, if it’s an Apple Watch or an iPhone cover, they all start at $5. And then, the market sort of takes over,” Diggs explained.
You pay online and then schedule a time to pick it up at the warehouse on Van Buren Street and 67th Avenue.
Someone brings it right out to your vehicle and should only take about 10 minutes. The entire process -- all created to be very convenient for you.
The ABC15 Smart Shopper team scrolled through items on the website throughout the week to see what was being listed.
We found a very diverse catalog. You could find everything from pet beds to playpens, baby gates to Lego sets, plus tools and furniture of all kinds.
Each item is up for auction for about 24-hours and if a bid is placed in the final few minutes, more time is added to give you a chance to respond. Plus, no one from the company is allowed to bid on any of the items, making it all truly market-driven.
We asked Diggs if there were plans to open another warehouse in Arizona, or elsewhere in the country. She told us there’s hope to expand, but not yet. “Right now, we’re concentrating on this Phoenix warehouse and bringing Phoenicians and Arizonans the best deals possible.”
For more information, visit AllSurplusDeals.com.