Most resellers have priced items one of two ways: gut feel, or "what the competition is charging." Both approaches fail in different ways. Gut feel ignores your actual cost. Copying competitors ignores your actual margin.
Pricing liquidation inventory correctly starts with one number you control — your cost per unit — and builds from there.
Step 1: Know Your Floor Price
Your floor price is the minimum you can sell an item for without losing money. It's not a target price — it's a hard limit.
Example: your cost per unit is $40 and you need at least 40% margin to cover handling time, platform fees, and the occasional item that doesn't sell:
Floor price = $40 ÷ 0.60 = $66.67
Anything below $66.67 is a money-loser. This number should be locked in before you even look at what competitors are charging.
Step 2: Research Comparable Listings
Once you have your floor, check what the market will actually pay. Search the item on Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, and eBay — looking at completed/sold listings, not active ones. Active listings show what people are asking. Sold listings show what buyers actually paid.
If comparable items are selling for $120–$150 and your floor is $66, you have room to price at $99–$119 and move inventory quickly. If sold prices cluster around $55, you either accept a thin margin or set the item aside for a bundle.
Step 3: Price for Your Channel
The same item should be priced differently depending on where you sell it. Each channel has different buyer expectations, fees, and competition:
- Facebook Marketplace / Kijiji: Local buyers, no platform fees, cash transactions. Prices run 20–35% lower than eBay but you keep everything. Good for bulky items (appliances, furniture) where shipping is impractical.
- eBay: National reach, higher buyer trust, but 13–15% total fees (platform + payment processing). Price 15–20% higher than local to preserve margin.
- In-person (flea market / pop-up): Impulse buyers, cash, no fees. Prices can be slightly lower because there's zero selling friction.
Step 4: Use the 3× Rule as a Starting Point
Experienced liquidation resellers often start with a 3× target: list items at three times their cost per unit. At a 33% cost ratio, that leaves room for platform fees, time, and some items not selling at full price.
The 3× rule is a starting point — not a guarantee. Electronics often command 4–6×. Clothing in competitive categories might only support 2×. Know your category before applying the multiplier blindly.
Step 5: Age Your Inventory Strategically
Items that don't sell in 30 days need a pricing review. Don't wait for 90 days of dead stock — reduce earlier and redeploy that capital into a better lot.
- Day 1–14: Full target price
- Day 15–30: 10–15% reduction
- Day 31–60: 20–30% reduction, or bundle with faster-moving items
- Day 60+: Sell at floor price to recover capital, or donate for tax credit
The goal is not to maximize the price of every item — it's to maximize the return on the full lot over time.
The Red-Line Rule
No matter how much pressure you feel to move inventory, never sell below cost unless you've deliberately decided to cut a loss. A sale that generates negative margin is worse than no sale at all — it costs you the item and leaves you with less cash than you started with.
See your margin before every sale
StockDrive Pro shows your real margin — including lot cost — the moment you enter a selling price. Red means below cost.
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