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When businesses conduct their year-end physical count a lot of companies will find that they have surplus stock which has reached the end of its product life cycle. It may be a good which has become out of style, it may become a product which is out of demand, it may be a good which has fallen victim to the release of a newer version – whatever the reason, you need to find an effective method of the selling of surplus assets in order to ensure that you retain some cash flow and thus maximise your recovery value. There are several different options at your disposal and which way you choose to go about disposing of obsolete inventory all depends on the situation of your business, the products you have to sell and how they became end-of-life assets.
When it comes to seasonal excess inventory you are dealing with products that are viewed as out of style in relation to your customer base. Nevertheless, not everybody is concerned with the seasonal value or current fashion value of a product. Thus, the good may have reached the end of its life cycle for your customer base, yet someone else may see this as an opportunity to make profit. Thus, B2B market place websites offer a great way to maximise your recovery value on seasonal excess inventory. For example, when a leading mobile phone company has surplus stock, there are plenty of companies waiting in the wings who sell older and cheaper mobile phones to customers.
Selling on a B2B market place website is just one of the methods at your disposal. In addition to this, you can use online auctions in order to retain some money from your excess inventory. This is a method which provides benefits because it is a great way to make fast cash. Moreover, the sky is limit with regards to the amount of money you can retain and thus whilst there are no guarantees this is something which can minimise the blow immensely. Thus, you will often see online auctions utilised when it comes to making liquidation sales. After all, companies can maximise their recovery value in a short period of time and this is something which proves to be highly beneficial when you have excess inventory as the result of having to close your business.
Aside from online auctions and B2B market place websites, you will also find that there are various innovative ways in which you can sell your products. When dealing with discontinued products it is very much recommended that you utilise the bundling method. This revolves around utilising the product as part of a set. You will need to keep these items in off site storage until sold. Thus, the product will be sold alongside other goods in what is known as product kitting and assembly services. This is highly beneficial because you can sell the excess inventory via the demand for the other products. People feel like they are getting a great deal and thus they are more likely to be inclined to buy.
Another mechanism to turn unclaimed items into a cash flow is to find free methods of promotion in order to market your goods to your contacts. One popular option is to sell your stock via an email marketing campaign. You can send a newsletter to all of your contacts informing them of your sales and you can tell them that they have first choice on the inventory before it goes to general sale. This is something which can prove to be very beneficial because people can panic buy and thus purchase the stock.
Obsolete inventory write off is marked down as a cost for a reason – it costs your business money! Nevertheless, you can minimise just how much it costs via selecting the right method of disposing of obsolete inventory. Hopefully this information will have provided you with an insight into the options available, which option is best suited to which product, and what benefits can be reaped.
