How to Buy and Sell Wholesale Lots on eBay

Most know eBay as a marketplace to purchase collectible items, gently used items, and even vintage designer items. But less known, perhaps, is the fact that 80 percent of the merchandise on eBay is new. Many eBay sellers spend a good portion of their time searching for items to sell, but ironically, one of the best places to find items to sell on eBay is on eBay itself—either by purchasing inventory to sell or selling bulk lots of inventory.

Sources of Wholesale and Bulk Lots

Wholesale lots come from a variety of sources including liquidators, manufacturers, retail stores, estate auctions, and other eBay sellers. Be careful purchasing lots labeled with the keywords ​liquidator or liquidation because these items may be damaged or in inferior condition.

Sometimes items are liquidated from businesses due to a court order or because the business folded. If the seller (the liquidator) is in a hurry to sell off assets to pay off debt, the items may not be in pristine condition or may be damaged. Therefore, always read the description carefully, study the photos, and read the return policy. You don't want to get stuck with a bunch of goods you can't sell.

Pay Attention to the Composition of a Bulk Lot

Some wholesale lots are technically listed by manufacturers or suppliers, and some are bulk lots of items put together by eBay sellers. For example, a mother may create a lot of 100 pieces of baby clothing with a variety of styles, sizes, and brands.

Unfortunately, eBay does not monitor the keywords of wholesale lots to verify that the lots are indeed actual wholesale. Many sellers do not understand it may be misleading to use the word wholesale. The correct title in this situation would be clothing lot or bulk lot.

If you are shopping for lots of inventory to resell, make sure you are aware of the misuse of the word wholesale on eBay. And be sure to contact the seller via eBay messaging with questions about the origin of the items in the lot or to confirm if the items are actually wholesale.

Wholesale Lots Categories

Notably, eBay used to have one category for all wholesale lots. Over the years, the category structure has evolved into a wholesale lot category as a subcategory under clothing, jewelry, crafts, supplies, etc. For example, to find wholesale jewelry lots to sell, navigate to the Jewelry and Watches category and choose the wholesale lots subcategory. This subcategory shows more than 75,000 items for sale ranging in price from $1 auctions to $50,000 Harry Winston diamond watches.

Another category packed with wholesale lots is the Craft category, which shows more than 50,000 listings for bulk lots of craft supplies. The Clothing, Shoes and Accessories category also shows more than 50,000 items in the wholesale lot subcategory.

The Health and Beauty category shows more than 10,000 items in the wholesale lot subcategory.

Consider Buying Lots to Part Out

For sellers with challenges obtaining inventory to sell, buying lots on eBay is a good way to procure inventory. Many eBay sellers create an eBay selling career (or hobby) for themselves because an illness, disability, or caregiving situation prevents them from having a job outside of the home.

For those with physical challenges—or those who live in rural areas where inventory is unavailable—buying lots on eBay creates an opportunity for income. Also known as virtual picking, purchasing low-hanging fruit on eBay to resell is a viable strategy. Bulk lots of inventory, junk drawer lots, and estate sale leftovers can be easily purchased, parted out, and the individual pieces or parts resold at a good profit. Estate sale buy-out companies often don't have the time to sell each item individually—while other sellers who are homebound have the time and motivation to sort through the lots and part them out.