I have a question that I hope you can answer. When buying truckloads or one pallet of merchandise at a time, how do I know the pallets have not been picked through? I have been told that all pallets should be sealed at the top and shrink wrapped and come with a manifest attached to the side of the merchandise on each pallet. Is there an industry standard to look for? Thanks for the book and for your time.

Great question…thanks for asking! I remember wondering the same thing when I purchased my first pallet of liquidation merchandise. No, there is no industry standard and you should expect a pallet of merchandise to be shipped and wrapped differently each time. Manifests are provided for some loads, but this is certainly not the norm. The key will be asking the seller what to expect when ordering your pallet or truckload of merchandise.

Wholesale Pallets will arrive in a variety of ways including:

Completely shrink wrapped – Most second party liquidators will tightly wrap your pallet. I always appreciated the fact that pallet contents can be disguised if the shrink wrapping is black as I never want the truck driver who is delivering my pallet to have any idea of its contents. Maybe I worry without cause, but I know that most of my LTL (less than truckload) purchases are sent to a terminal where they sit for sometime before final delivery to my location.

I use the same freight carrier for most of my shipments and have gotten to know the drivers who deliver to my location. Each driver knows about the business I am in and they are fascinated by the idea of buying liquidation merchandise; I worry about that to some degree because I wonder if they get a little “too” curious at times prior to delivering my goods. Having my pallets shrink wrapped in tightly wound black plastic gives me some degree of confidence.

Open gaylord – This is the most unsettling type of pallet to purchase in that your merchandise is stacked in a large pallet-sized cardboard box typically with no lid or wrapping of any kind. Keep in mind that every source for liquidation merchandise will have different shipping and wrapping procedures, but I speak from experience when I say that a lot of loads from Sears arrive unprotected. An unsealed gaylord filled with customer returns is very common. How do you know someone in transit did not help themselves to a tip or gift…..you don’t.

Open Pallet, contents strapped – Large or bulkier items typically will come on a pallet and be strapped down. I have received pallets of bicycles, exercise equipment, appliances and outdoor furniture in this manor.

If you are going to be ordering from different suppliers and liquidators I think you can expect each load to be secured differently. My best advice would be to ask specific questions about how a single pallet or truckload is secured from its point of origin. Remember, if you are going to file a claim for merchandised damaged in transit and/or missing items, you need to do that immediately upon the arrival of your freight.

A freight bill or commonly referred to as a bill of lading, is a document you will sign upon the delivery of your pallets. Once the pallets are off-loaded, the driver will hand you a form to sign stating the correct amount of merchandise has been delivered. Before you sign this document make sure you perform an inventory and look over the pallets insuring no damage has occurred in transit. If you ordered 6 pallets and 5 of them are tightly wrapped, but the 6th one appears opened….you could have a problem. At this point I would put a phone call into your supplier to inquire about the load and how it left their shipping dock.

I have ordered and received hundreds of LTL pallets and probably an equal number of full truckloads of merchandise. In all of my experience I have had to file one freight claim. For the most part, I have rarely experienced a short shipment or load that I thought was compromised in some way.

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