CNN Money has posted an informative article about what happens at liquidation sales. Some of the people quoted are fairly critical, but even the liquidation company execs that are quoted admit that a liquidation sale doesn’t exist for the benefit of the consumer. Here are the highlights.

• “Consumers think this is the time for bargains. That’s not true.”
• The CEO of one of the Circuit City liquidators says they’ll need a “fairly sizeable” profit to help Circuit City repay its creditors. He says, “We want to make sure everything is fairly priced. Do we get it right every time? No.”
• Deeper discounts usually appear as the sale continues. (One tipster told us we can expect approximately 10% discounts each Wednesday in the Circuit City liquidation.)
• “You’ll get the absolute best prices a week before [a retailer’s] liquidation sale start.”
• Many liquidators will do everything they can to hide the fact that an item is refurbished, returned, or a floor model. Some will even fold other merchandise into the store’s inventory to try to sell.
• “In truth, consumers dictate the discounts. If products aren’t selling, we’ll go deeper.”

Read the full article here.

“Little secrets of ‘out-of-business’ sales” [CNN Money] (Thanks to John!)
(Photo: joelogon)

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