Closing down my shop....excess inventory!?

Status
Not open for further replies.

gk351

Senior Member
Location
IL
Decided to close shop after 4 years. Seems bittersweeet, but kind of a reilef. Winter was harsh on me, but I have some things coming in the future as of employment, so Ill survive! I live about 45 min from any supply house, so I have always carried an inventory. So now than Im closed up, what the heck do I do with it now? I dont owe the supply house any money, so I cant return it (even if they would accept it) I have a good bit of SQD bolt on breakers (QO), receptacles, switches, EMT stuff, PVC LBs, pipe, etc. Has anyone had any success selling inventory? Had a guy call me last week from St Louis, but never showed up. My quickbooks shows I got about $25k worth of stuff. Be lucky if I get 1/5th of that....Any thoughts or interest.? Thanks again
 

LEO2854

Esteemed Member
Location
Ma
Decided to close shop after 4 years. Seems bittersweeet, but kind of a reilef. Winter was harsh on me, but I have some things coming in the future as of employment, so Ill survive! I live about 45 min from any supply house, so I have always carried an inventory. So now than Im closed up, what the heck do I do with it now? I dont owe the supply house any money, so I cant return it (even if they would accept it) I have a good bit of SQD bolt on breakers (QO), receptacles, switches, EMT stuff, PVC LBs, pipe, etc. Has anyone had any success selling inventory? Had a guy call me last week from St Louis, but never showed up. My quickbooks shows I got about $25k worth of stuff. Be lucky if I get 1/5th of that....Any thoughts or interest.? Thanks again


Save it for a rainy day.

What happens if you lose that job?:blink:

Then you will have nothing to back yourself up in-case that job does not work out.

You can always use that stuff up doing a few call per week. Good luck...:)
 
There's always places like Habitat for Humanity or a church that's rebuilding storm-damaged housing. OTOH, I'd hold on to the higher-value things for a couple of years unless you're really sure you'll never do a job that might need it.
 

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
Try selling it on craiglist in your area or find a local ec who will buy it from you. If you get a job with another contractor perhaps he will take it off your hands
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
E-Bay is another place to get rid of it.

sometimes you can get more than you paid for it on ebay, sometimes you can't sell it at all, sometimes you get 10 cents on the dollar. it is a crap shoot, but if you look at completed auctions for items similar to what you might want to sell you should be able to determine what is worth trying to sell there and what is not.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
sometimes you can get more than you paid for it on ebay, sometimes you can't sell it at all, sometimes you get 10 cents on the dollar. it is a crap shoot, but if you look at completed auctions for items similar to what you might want to sell you should be able to determine what is worth trying to sell there and what is not.


10 cents on the dollar is better then nothing, and is still a net loss for the business and can be written off.

If the idea is to profit that is one thing, if the idea is to liquidate then you usually take what you can and be happy it is done.

Holding on to this inventory isn't necessarily making any money either, at some point it is worth it to take a loss or it will cost just as much to store it anyway.
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
10 cents on the dollar is better then nothing, and is still a net loss for the business and can be written off.

If the idea is to profit that is one thing, if the idea is to liquidate then you usually take what you can and be happy it is done.

Holding on to this inventory isn't necessarily making any money either, at some point it is worth it to take a loss or it will cost just as much to store it anyway.

If there is no profit to write it off against it does you no good.

I agree he should just get out. Give or throw away what he can't sell.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
If there is no profit to write it off against it does you no good.

I agree he should just get out. Give or throw away what he can't sell.
No profit to write it off against is called a net loss, just because he has stopped actively operating his business doesn't mean his business is entirely finished with operations if he still has the business assets, sometime they need to be sold or put back into use and either is business activity. If he took a net loss on his last business activities and then considered them personal property then he took a business loss but personally took a capital gain at the same time leaving a net zero between business and personal expense of those items at that time

They would still be subject to capital gains taxes if he sells them, but he could still declare a net loss on them if they sell for less then he paid for them.
 

mgookin

Senior Member
Location
Fort Myers, FL
During the boom we were #2 in the nation.
During the crash we were (are?) #2 in the nation!

Many, many companies folded, either voluntarily or otherwise. I know some guys who went around swooping up inventory. I don't think they even paid anything for it. Supply houses had prepaid special order equipment for companies that went under, and plenty of companies had to get rid of inventory or the foreclosing bank/ realtor had it removed. I got some real nice surge arrestors for the services at my factory. They're Cutler-Hammer and retail for around $800 each. I paid $200 to a guy who paid $0 (he installed them).

So on a large scale that's my recent experience. You can find someone to take it but they're taking a crap shoot as to what they'll be able to use. What's in your favor is a more stable local economy.

I suggest go on Craigslist starting at $15k and drop it $2500 per week and see when you get a taker. If they ask you go cut it up sell at 50% below cost to make it worth their while to come get it.

Good luck!
 

ATSman

ATSman
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Occupation
Electrical Engineer/ Electrical Testing & Controls
E-Bay is another place to get rid of it.

I have sold control parts from transfer switches that I had accumulated over the years on eBay.
Also have bought a lot of parts, new and used. Great place. You would be supprised what you can find on the biggest "fencing" operation in the world. ;)
 

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
No liquidators out there? That's what they do for a living. Breakers are especially desired, in fact most of the national breaker brokers will buy them in a heartbeat. It will be cents on the dollar, but again, better than the trash can. This is a national organization of them, you could contact them to see how you can sell / auction off your inventory.

http://www.pearl1.org/
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
A bit OT but one of those brokers called the office wondering if we had XXX breaker. Office help thought it was a customer looking for XXX breaker. So she tracked one down & called him back. Poor girl, another learning experience.
Was she lucky enough to find same broker selling that was trying to purchase from her:cool:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top