Liquidating Closed Hardware Store

November 26, 2019 4:03 AM

What options can we consider to liquidate the inventory (hinges, locks, drawer slides, screws, etc) of a closed hardware store?

I have some family members who own a hardware store. The retail location is closed, and now all of the old inventory (thousands of drawer slides, hinges, locks, screws of varying sizes, etc) is stored in a warehouse taking up a ton of space. We have tried listing everything in an eBay store and there is a consistent flow of orders, but at the rate we're going it will take about 50 years to sell everything, and it barely covers the warehouse rent itself. What other options could we consider? The inventory is old - lots of discontinued items - but would seemingly have a lot of value to people doing repairs, etc. And we'd take a small fraction of retail value.

posted by redondo77 to Work & Money (14 answers total)

Not that it will bring you any income (perhaps a tax write off?), our Habitat for Humanity runs a Re-Store, which sells all kinds of miscellaneous hardware.
posted by sarajane at 4:06 AM on November 26, 2019 [13 favorites]

Might another hardware store in the area be interested?
posted by davcoo at 4:30 AM on November 26, 2019

You could try contacting a local auction house. That’s still pretty common for estates. If it’s advertised well, that could bring in interested people.
posted by FencingGal at 4:46 AM on November 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

I've seen vintage hardware on Etsy, and I think I've even bought some -- but it has to look somewhat cool, I think.

I'd look for another entity selling vintage/discontinued hardware and try to sell a lot to them.
posted by amtho at 4:56 AM on November 26, 2019

An auction would get rid of it all in one day; you won't get top dollar, but it'll all be gone, even if it's "who'll give me $1 for all this unwanted stuff over here?". The auctioneer should be able to do the auction on-site so you don't need to haul everything to the auctioneer's building, but it will require some work organizing for sale. Expect things to be sold by the box, like a banker's box full of hinges sold as one unit; all items must be removed that day unless other arrangements are made. Expect the auctioneer's fee to be somewhere around 30% (+-10%), and don't skimp on advertising because you want as many people there as possible.

Note that auctioneers are usually scheduled out a couple months, so plan accordingly.
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:57 AM on November 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Most areas have stores that sell salvage goods - flooded, smoke-damaged, close to(over) expiration date, store closed inventory. In Maine, it's Mardens; lots of hardware, give them a call.
posted by theora55 at 5:10 AM on November 26, 2019

Locate an auctioneer that has experience in industrial or commercial liquidations. If you are in the US or Canada, I'd point you to the auctioneers directory at bidspotters.com as a first step in locating a firm that operates in your geographic region.
posted by Glomar response at 6:41 AM on November 26, 2019

For what it's worth, I came here to say "Re-Store" too. You can get a tax write-off at the very least.
posted by Alterscape at 6:52 AM on November 26, 2019

I often see posts about vintage "deadstock" hardware and fixtures on Retro Renovation. The folks who run the site might have some leads.

I once went to an estate sale of a former hardware store owner.My ex-husbamd brought home buckets and buckets of hardware for free. We eventually gave most of it (less some goodies we could use... eventually) to an existing hardware store who was going to parcel it out for school projects. I suspect those cool 50s era screen door hinges are still in his basement though. So keep this stuff out of your own basement!
posted by vespabelle at 7:27 AM on November 26, 2019

There are people, liquidators, who will buy store closings lock, stock and barrel. Where (approximately) is the store located?

I ran the warehouse for a short time of a company that does liquidations. The issue will be shipping cost. How much inventory? Can it be boxed, labeled and packed on say 24 pallets? Depending on how well you have inventoried it so they know what they are bidding on, shipping and some other costs, the price bid may be a wide range from almost zero to in the 20s in terms of cents on the dollar.
posted by AugustWest at 7:29 AM on November 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Original poster here, thanks very much for the responses! I'll probably research some auctioneers.

AugustWest - the store is on Long Island (NY), inventory is labeled extremely clearly and sorted by size, type, etc. Most of it could probably be boxed, labeled, and packed on that many pallets, though it would be a big job.
posted by redondo77 at 7:54 AM on November 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

I think the terms I would look for are "liquidate retail stock" with some added local modifier. I am unsure that there would be a lot of income from this, but it would certainly prevent the future expenses (warehouse rent, time to list product, cost & time to ship & pack, etc.).
posted by wenestvedt at 8:03 AM on November 26, 2019

Honestly I would try to find one or more people who do "fulfilled by amazon" selling. These are guys who package and ship stuff to amazon for amazon to sell. I know a few and they find a lot of their stock from situations just like yours, i.e. closing stores or people who are liquidating stuff. They will probably take big chunks of it off your hands. They'll want good prices since they're reselling it but you might do better than an auction etc.
posted by RustyBrooks at 8:36 AM on November 26, 2019

If you feel interested in that I can probably point you in the right direction - there are message forums and google groups etc dedicated to FBA selling.
posted by RustyBrooks at 8:37 AM on November 26, 2019