Buying a quitting seller's stock: value the lot before you say yes

The message comes in one evening: "I'm stopping, I'll leave you the lot." Six hundred pieces, boxes ready to go, an overall price that looks trivial once you break it down per item. It's tempting, and it's the cheapest sourcing by the kilo you'll ever come across.

It's also where people go wrong the most. A stock that's being wound down is being wound down for a reason, and that reason is often in the boxes. Here's how to weigh up the deal before saying yes, without spending three days counting T-shirts.

Why this stock is for sale

That's the first question, and the answer changes everything. Ask it directly, then check it afterwards.

The end of the activity. Moving house, a new baby, going back to a job, plain weariness. This is the best case: the stock is often representative of what was selling well.

The change of focus. The person is moving from clothing to homeware, from generalist to niche. Here again the stock is healthy, but it matches a positioning that may not be yours.

The clear-out of the unsellable. This is the case to spot at all costs. The person has sold everything that moved and is offering you what's left after months of listing. The price per kilo is low because the value is low, not because you're getting a bargain.

The most reliable signal: ask how long these pieces have been in stock. An old stock that didn't sell for someone who knew how to sell won't sell any better for you, and it weighs on your cash flow as much as it weighed on theirs, as our article on dormant stock points out.

The questions to ask before you travel out

• How many pieces exactly? A round number quoted from memory often turns out to be a third lower than the actual count.
• What's the breakdown by category? Tops, bottoms, outerwear, accessories, shoes. A breakdown too heavy on basic tops is a warning sign.
• What proportion has already been listed? And for how long.
• Are there any pieces on consignment belonging to third parties? A crucial question: a piece left by someone else isn't yours to sell, and you don't want to inherit that confusion.
• How was the stock stored? Cellar, garage, uninsulated attic. Damp and moths do damage that's invisible in a photo.
• Are there photos already taken? A stock that's already photographed and described has real value on top of the pieces themselves.

Sampling, the only workable method

Counting six hundred pieces on the spot is impossible, and trusting a glance at the top box is the surest way to overpay: the top boxes are always the nicest.

The method that works comes down to four moves.

Choose the boxes yourself, at random and from different areas of the pile. Three to five boxes out of a lot of twenty are enough to give a faithful picture.

Empty them completely. No sampling halfway down. The box rule applies inside each box too.

Sort into three stacks: what you'd sell straight away at the normal price, what goes in a bundle or cheaply, what doesn't sell. Count all three.

Apply the proportions to the whole. If a third of your sample is sellable at the normal price, assume a third of the lot is, not half.

What you're looking for isn't the isolated gem: it's the proportion. A lot with two exceptional pieces and 90% unsellable is still a bad lot.

The calculation that decides

Never reason in terms of an average price per piece across the whole lot: that figure means nothing, since part of the lot is worth nothing.

The useful calculation starts from the only stack that counts. Take the number of pieces sellable at the normal price, multiply it by what you actually get for that kind of piece, and subtract the selling fees. Add a token value for the middle stack, which will go out in bundles. Count zero for the third stack: it will even cost you time and transport.

The price you offer sits well below that total, because in between there is your work: sorting, washing, photos, listing, questions and shipping, spread over several months. Our guide on working out your margin explains how to factor in that time.

The second safeguard is cash flow: a lot paid for in cash ties up your money until the pieces sell. An excellent lot bought with all your cash leaves you with nothing to grab next month's good deal.

Negotiating on something other than price

When the price won't budge, several levers stay open, and they're often worth more than a discount.

The partial lot. Take the categories you're interested in and leave the rest. Many sellers agree, especially if they're in a hurry.

Payment in two instalments, on collection then at thirty days. This protects your cash flow at no cost to the seller.

Consignment rather than purchase. You sell for the person and pay them on the sales. They get more in total, you put nothing up front, and the risk of unsold items doesn't fall on you. It's often the best way out when the stock is large and uncertain.

Taking over the photos and descriptions already produced, to build into the value.

The logistics, always forgotten

A stock of several hundred pieces takes up real space. Before you say yes, answer three concrete questions: where you'll put it while it waits to be sorted, how you'll transport it, and in how many weeks you can reasonably process it.

Plan for sorting on arrival too, in a space separate from your current stock. Mixing an unsorted lot with pieces already listed is the surest way to lose track of what's for sale, what's sold and what came from where. Our article on second-hand sourcing places this channel among the others.

Finally, plan the exit of the third stack from the moment you buy: cheap bundles, donation to a charity, textile collection point. An unsellable with no exit plan becomes a box that stays for two years.

The cases where you have to say no

The person refuses to let you open the boxes you choose. There's no good reason for that.

The stock contains pieces entrusted by third parties, without each one's situation being clear. You'd then be buying a potential dispute with people you don't know.

The stock was kept in a damp place. Smells and moths are discovered after the purchase, across the whole lot.

The asking price only makes sense if everything sells. A 100% assumption never comes true in second-hand.

And the most common case: you have neither the space nor the time in the next two months. A good deal you can't process is a bad deal.

After the purchase

Sort in the days that follow, not the months. An unsorted lot isn't stock, it's a pile.

Record each piece with its entry date and its cost, even a rough one, spreading the lot price over the genuinely sellable pieces. Without that, you'll never know whether the deal was one, and you'll make the same purchase again next year without realising it.

Past a few hundred references, this tracking no longer fits in a shared spreadsheet: a management tool like DressKare keeps the entry date, the cost and the time-online of each piece, which is exactly what you need to judge a lot after the fact.

The key takeaways

First ask why the stock is being sold, and how long it's been sitting. That's the question that separates the good deal from the clear-out of the unsellable.

Sample three to five boxes you choose yourself, empty them completely, sort into three stacks and apply the proportions. Calculate only on the stack sellable at the normal price, never on the total number of pieces.

And if the price won't budge, offer consignment rather than purchase: you don't tie up your cash and you don't carry the risk of unsold items.

FAQ

How do you value a lot of clothes?
By sampling. Pick three to five boxes yourself from different areas of the pile, empty them completely, then sort into three stacks: sellable at the normal price, sellable as a bundle or cheaply, unsellable. Then apply those proportions to the whole stock. The calculation is based only on the first stack, counting zero for the third.

What price should you pay for a quitting seller's stock?
Well below what the stack sellable at the normal price will bring in once fees are deducted, because between the purchase and the payout there is your work: sorting, washing, photos, listing, questions and shipping spread over several months. Reasoning in terms of an average price per piece across the whole lot systematically leads you to overpay, since part of the lot is worth nothing.

What are the warning signs on a lot?
A refusal to let you open the boxes you choose, a stock that has been listed for a long time without selling, the presence of pieces left on consignment by third parties whose status is unclear, and storage in a cellar, garage or uninsulated attic. This last point is the most treacherous: smells and moth damage are discovered after the purchase, across the whole lot.

Is it better to buy the stock or take it on consignment?
Consignment is often the best option for a large or uncertain stock: you don't put money up front, you don't carry the risk of unsold items, and the seller usually gets more in total since they earn on the actual sales. An outright purchase makes sense when you know the goods well, the sellable proportion is high and your cash flow allows it.

How long does it take to process a big lot?
Count the sorting, washing, photos, writing and listing, that is several minutes per piece even working fast. Across several hundred pieces, that adds up to weeks of evenings. The right question to ask yourself before buying is not whether the lot is interesting, but whether you have the space and the time slots to process it within two months.

What should you do with the unsellable pieces in a lot?
Plan their exit from the moment you buy, not when the box has been cluttering the place for six months. Cheap bundles absorb part of the volume, donating to a charity finds a taker for what is wearable, and the textile collection point handles the rest. What costs you is not the unsellable itself, it's the unsellable with no exit plan.