Surplus apparel is a great way to make money and become a reseller, but this does not mean you won’t face challenges. In fact, the first one is ensuring product quality and sizing consistency.
Without those two, you won’t have a business. You will doom yourself in no time and have difficulties in building a clientele.
With liquidation lots and overstock, you get a lot for the price, but it comes with its own disadvantages. You have to work hard on identifying anything that is mislabeled, defective, or missing tags.
If there are, fix them and make sure you categorize them accordingly.
If they are missing elements like tags, then there isn’t much you can do as a whole.
This is why implementing robust surplus apparel quality control processes is not an option but rather a mandatory step. You need it for your reputation, your items, and to reduce returns from your clients.
At Coastal Surplus Solutions, we know well how this works due to all the steps involved in surplus sourcing.
Nothing is as simple as it looks, making it challenging to handle liquidation lots and trying to maximize profits.
What we do is help you work on sourcing and handling quality assurance.
What happens if you are handling sizing and quality control alone? Then, make sure to read below.
Common Issues: Sizing Inconsistencies, Defects, and Missing Tags
These are the most recurring because of how clothing has been handled.
Manifests and people working on organizing the pieces have a lot at hand. Hence, lots are not particularly… organized as a whole.
You will need to review every part with care:
- Sizing inconsistencies is common when you have goods from multiple brands, regions, and production areas. Not all sizes are the same for your country, meaning the labeled size may be off by one or two sizes.
- Defects include anything from stains, holes, missing buttons, broken zippers, and signs of excessive wear. You need to identify these issues before resale or a complaint will arrive not long after.
- Missing tags or labels are common due to the lack of original pieces and how they were handled through sorting. It is hard to verify authenticity without them, but it depends on the other signs of the clothes and how they have been branded.
Quality Standards: Establishing Grades
The inspection is what helps you have clear apparel quality standards for resellers.
More than being a way to classify everything, it is a way to streamline your sales process. People will know what they are looking for and how they are looking for it.
- New: Always include any unworn and original items with tags and packaging. This is a rare surplus find, but highly desirable.
- Like-New: It looks unworn, but it has minimal signs or close to none of wear. However, the key aspect is how many of them may have missing tags.
- Good: Anything with light wear and minor flaws is included here. For instance, faint stains or small snags enter all this category. But each piece is fully functional and presentable.
- Acceptable/Fair: Noticeable wear or defects or anything that screams “used” must go here.
Experts like ZAGUMI highlight the important of quality control in the used clothing industry. You want to go over proper sorting and grading to maximize your sales. This clothing grading for liquidation ensures transparency and keeps buyers informed.
Return Policies: Protecting Buyers and Maintaining Reputation
Careful inspection eliminates most of the “threat” of facing returns. However, many issues may go unnoticed on your clothes.
A clear, fair return policy is crucial for protecting buyers and your business. You want to make sure that any complaint is addressed following a standard and with proper foundation behind it.
Hence, establish a similar policy as the one below:
- Offer returns or exchanges for items with undisclosed defects or problems in major sizing discrepancies.
- Communicate policies clearly in your listings. Yes, all of them, and before order confirmations.
- Work with suppliers who offer return options for significant quality issues. This is the first recommendation among industry experts.
A strong return policy builds trust and encourages more sales. It is worth the time and investment you give it.
Best Practices: Detailed Descriptions and Accurate Photos
How can you minimize disputes? Maximize sales? Or build your clientele?
We have been in this industry for a long time and understand that selling is harder than it seems once you are on board.
Our recommendations and best practices will give you an advantage and leverage your project:
- Provide detailed descriptions: List actual measurements of the clothing pieces you have. Everything from chest and length to waist and inseam. Always focus on giving the details and not general size or standard number when listing them.
- Be clear about defects, missing tags, and unique features of your merchandise.
- Use clear, high-resolution photos so that buyers can evaluate the piece before confirming their purchase.
- Be transparent about the process. Always go over the conditions, returns, and how you can reduce costly returns and problems for the clients.
Take the time to work on your brand and reputation when going over the process. An effective surplus clothing inspection process is always the first and most important step for this.
By addressing clothing liquidation sizing issues and adhering to high-quality standard, you will succeed in any market.
Feel free to contact Coastal Surplus Solutions for help in sourcing your surplus items and getting everything organized and on point.
