PROBLEM
Have you ever wondered how you can Liquidate inventory, without the mess or distraction of an auction? A small South American sound company was devastated by the impact of lengthy shutdowns in their local markets, and has no other option but to liquidate their complete inventory. They are familiar with “traditional” methods including reaching out through your personal and business network, but due to the limited capacities for potential buyers in a COVID ravished market, they do not feel like this would work. Plus, something like an auction might work when targeting local buyers. In this case, there simply are no local buyers, so it will need to sell outside their country. Other methods, including eBay and Facebook, would certainly generate inquiries, but likely zero serious buyers, and even if they did – what about payment security? Would fraudulent activity and other scams from internet “bad actors” come into play?
IDEA
The company spent considerable time researching the best methods to liquidate their entire inventory and provide capital to sustain their other business. Based on their research and limited prior experience, the company became focused on working with GearSource. Not to mention, much had been learned about the marketplace’s global growth and unique reach to live events technology markets on a global level. But would such a company have the ability to attract a buyer for this large package? Did GearSource have the expertise, specifically in audio, to communicate effectively with prospective buyers? Would GearSource provide much needed security? These and other questions could be answered in time.
SOLUTION
The team in Chile worked to get a list together, and to determine a price that they felt, would provide enough incentive for someone to act – given the severe challenges to the industry, and lack of “capital rich” companies who’d be in a position to make a purchase of this size. The GearSource team guided the seller through the process of listing, providing photos, and even pricing the package.
By March 1st, 2021, the package was made “live” on GearSource.com to be seen Globally.
RESULT
GearSource received several inquiries from all over the world, and eventually, on March 27th, got a confirmed order for the package from a sound company in Canada. It took a couple of weeks to exchange many details and conclude the deal, but in April, the order was paid for, and the process of packing and shipping 3 containers of sound equipment in Chile, for transport to Canada, began. We expect everything to arrive in Vancouver in late May, then to travel from there to its new home in another province. On another note, GearSource received multiple offers and requests from other buyers, who were kept as backups until the order finalized.
CONCLUSION
GearSource managed to liquidate an entire inventory through its platform in less than 1 month – all while ensuring security for both the seller (who was sending containers of gear to another country) and buyer (who was transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars, weeks before seeing or touching a single piece of gear). The GearSource team was able to manage a large flow of requests and deliverables including financial information, serial numbers, photos, videos, transport and more. Both the seller and buyer, who never actually spoke directly, were quite comfortable with the process and were happy with the transaction overall.
