Today I am going to share with you which companies liquidations generally contain the highest amount of damage versus which companies leftovers contain the least damage. Let’s begin!

First let me mention that this is not “written in stone”. This is a generalization. It is always possible that a listing that contains a store with a general high damage level could have no damage whatsoever. Equally it is possible that a listing from a store with a low imperfection rate could have many damaged items. So what I am saying is that this list is to give you an overall idea. You should still read listings before you purchase anything.

Additionally, this list refers to LIQUIDATIONS ONLY. This list is not about Store Returns, Overstocks or Salvage merchandise. With that being said, these are in no specific order, so here you go:

HIGHEST LEVEL OF DAMAGE

Walmart - Learn Why in our blog post called The Liquidator We HATE The Most

Kmart (BUT ONLY SOMETIMES). You never really know. Sometimes it’s 90% junk and other times it’s 90% great. However, it’s too risky and too much time investment for our company to deal with. Either way it’s merchandise that you can’t make much money off of. If I had to take a random

STITCH FIX - Stitch Fix mixes in damages and destroyed merchandise with their liquidations. At LEAST 50% has some form of imperfection (primarily snags, holes and rips). Like literally, you will have to fix it by stitching - I kid you not, this made me chuckle quite a bit…. Stitch Fix.

Sears - Sears and Kmart are the same company. Sears is also “iffy”. We have gotten absolutely phenomenally mind blowing truckloads. I also almost cried the time I spent over $15,000 on literal pallets of trash… single pieces of gloves, single pieces of socks that don’t match with any other single pieces of socks, mens underwear with “skid marks” (not kidding), Hanes tees with pit stains, womens bras with breast milk leakage … it was so bad it was the second time in 16 years of business I was forced to complain because it simply isn’t okay to throw away 15k in investment… then pay for the dumpsters to be emptied multiple times to take it away. Unfortunately when you buy large quantities direct you are forced to pay by bankwire and the store who liquidated it has no motivation to help you. The typical reply you get is “Oh well.”

MID-LEVEL DAMAGE

N*RDSTR*M - People love buying the N*RDSTR*M merchandise because it’s the only way to get higher end pieces at a blowout price. With that being said you should expect damages. Damage can range from an easily-removable stain to a snag in a silk dress to a busted zipper and more.

Costco - This company is overall excellent BUT because Costco doesn’t have a fitting room they get a higher level of returns. The good news is that the majority of the returns are because the customer brought it home then realized it doesn’t fit. So even though it is a return, it’s often new, unworn. However costco also mixes in other returns which can include worn, washed and damaged items. Generally the damage is marginal and the vast majority of the merchandise is saleable without any work.

Hot Topic - Hot Topic mixes store returns into their liquidations.  

LEAST DAMAGE 

QVC - QVC is another company that can be quite different depending on the day. QVC also filters returns into their merchandise but, just like with Costco, the returns are almost always “Didn’t Fit”, therefore unworn and unwashed. On occasion the merchandise has been washed and/or worn. Overall the worst of the “damage” is usually makeup or deodorant from being tried on.

American Eagle

Tommy Bahama

Free People

Miss Me

JCPenney

M*CYS

BL**MINGDALES

Ready to do some wholesale shopping?  Check out our amazing liquidated designer brand merch.