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An expert guide to buying raw retail returns from pallet sales with William George, the UK's leading online auction house.
Guide
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Buyer's Guide: Pallet Sales

Jacob Margiotta
Jacob Margiotta

It’s undoubtedly a challenging time and with whole industries under immense strain, you might be one of the unfortunate but growing group of people looking for alternative ways to generate funds and navigate your way through the uncertainty.

Online sales have gone up significantly during the pandemic and we want to share those benefits with our fantastic customers, new and old, by giving our guidance on how to profit by buying in bulk in one of our pallet auctions!

You may have seen them, coming thick and fast over the last 6 months – and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Our pallet auctions are a fantastic way to access quality brands at reduced prices.

Whether you are simply looking for a smarter way to buy Christmas gifts, furnish your kitchen with some superb appliances, or to make a profit reselling some of the UK’s most popular products, then you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s how to get the most from the opportunity...

Do your homework

We always seek to provide you with as much information as we can (including right here) so that you can make informed choices about bidding and your budget.

We believe in building lasting and meaningful connections with our customers and that means we’re not looking for quick wins.

We would much rather share our knowledge with you to make sure you know the risks and rewards and benefit from the transparency we are bringing to the auction industry, setting new standards as we go.

What’s on offer?

We bring you pallets from major retailers containing some very desirable brands such as Dyson, Smeg, Phillips, Bosch, Samsung and many more.

These items are raw returns and within each lot in auction you will see the various possible reasons these items were returned to the retailer. These include a full spectrum of reasons. Worst-case, the item is broken, damaged or faulty. In the best case it’s an unwanted gift or an item that was exchanged for a different model in perfect working condition. 

How can we offer these goods at no reserve?

The phrase raw returns simply means we have chosen not to sort through and test each item to grade its current standard. 

The reason for this is very simple – to do so would require time, space, and money. What does that mean for the you? If we invested in the grading process then these items would simply cost you more to buy. We want to stick to what we are good at, so you can do what you’re good at!

We can sell these pallets on quickly at strictly no reserve, so you can make the most value back on the items that are in good condition, make small repairs to any items that you can, and make the best of the items in worse condition, such as taking working parts to help repair others or sell separately. 

Risk vs Reward

There is no doubt that some pallets represent better value than others, based on the competition from other bidders, and the contents. We don’t know any better than you which pallets will return the most joy, but we like to think that’s part of the fun.

There will be highs and lows on the journey, with some items worth more than you paid for the whole pallet on their own, and on other occasions you may have to work harder to earn a profit.

On balance there is money to be made, with 94% of buyers coming back to bid and purchase again and again from William George’s pallet auctions.

Can we guarantee that you’ll get a certain amount of perfect items within each pallet? 

No

Will other auction houses tell you that? 

No

If we sorted and graded these returns for you could we sell at no reserve? 

No

The reserve prices would have to reflect the additional costs incurred for us to do that, and then you wouldn’t have the exciting opportunity to generate your own income by shopping smart!

We respect our customers and we know how much you value honesty – so we lay out the facts for you to make the decisions you’re comfortable with.

So, what’s our advice?

Clear some space in your garage, free up some time at 11:00am every Tuesday and 6:30pm on Sundays and read the listings in detail.

Weigh up the risks and rewards, set a budget, stick to it, and dive in...

Find out more here. Good luck and happy shopping!