One of the most successful retail sales we have ever held we called a “Liquidation Event”. This was simply a one or two day opportunity for the general public to shop in our warehouse at rock-bottom liquidation pricing.Every time we held one of these events we would bring in a different truckloads of liquidation merchandise. One time we might offer home décor and the next sale might be apparel. Each sale had one thing in common… we made a lot of money.

Liquidation sales are not uncommon throughout the country as major catalog retailers, distributors and manufacturers will open their doors to the public with the intent to downsize stock levels and create immediate cash flow.

During our liquidation event sales it is not uncommon to have lines out our door well before our advertised opening hour. We really build up excitement through advertising early and using specific marketing promotions to drive customers to our location.

We held an apparel liquidation event one Saturday a few years ago where we sold every article of clothing at $5. What a frenzy this caused and to make matters even more interesting we placed a flier insert in our local newspaper asking that only those whose last names begin with a-k attend this 8 hour sale! We had no intention of actually checking Id’s, but this ploy sparked the attention of everyone looking for a good deal.

That one line promotion gave everyone that read our add a feeling of urgency and limited manpower to service the entire public in one eight hour period. It worked and it worked well. Our cash register almost overheated that day!

Another marketing technique we use is simply offer a raffle during our sales where everyone interested fills out a contact sheet offering a name and address. Everyone loves the chance to win something and the contacts we collect are notified by postcard of our next liquidation event!

You can use the Liquidation Sales Event model for any type of liquidation merchandise including shelf pulled items, customer returns and overstock.

Brick and mortar retailers hold event sales often by placing large “view blocking” posters in their windows a few day before a sales event. The window blocking poster often will advertise a critical message like, “Stock Clearing Liquidation Sale Tuesday the 12th!”.
Because onlookers cannot see into the store curious customers get the feeling that the store is preparing for a massive sale….and they plan to attend!

Get creative with your marketing. Do you typically wholesale merchandise or retail online only?

Think about holding an event sale and watch your cash flow go through the roof!