Buy Backs & Shelf Pulls

Shelf pulls and buy-back’s are products that were once on the shelves of retail stores, and have later been pulled from the retailer’s stores and distribution centers. These products are either bought back by their original manufacturers (usually for branding or packaging changes), or by competitors who agree to purchase the inventory to take over the shelf space from the retailer from competitors.

1. Sorting & Processing
   Buy-Back’s are typically shipped from the retailer in unsorted “gaylords.” This means that there will be a variety of styles that are all thrown together into these large bins. Upon receiving the gaylords, the receiver will have to sort, count, inspect, and case pack (in most instances) the merchandise before the goods can be resold to a retailer. Not only is this a time consuming and challenging process for most manufacturers, but it can be tremendously expensive. The process requires a significant amount of warehouse space and labor.
2. Damaged Packaging
   Due to the multiple steps of handling that these products have undertaken (including being pulled by store employees and shipped back to Distribution Centers without their master cases), the products will almost always arrive with worn packaging. As you would expect, some packaging will be re-sellable, and some will be too damaged for traditional brick & mortar resale. Additionally, the packaging may have labeling which was added by stores for markdowns and product-pulling instruction.
3. Sales Channel Conflicts
   If you’re a manufacturer that has agreed to buy back a competitor’s product, a buy-back presents an interesting scenario for you. Even if you decide to handle the processing steps involved in a buy-back yourself, do you really want to sell your competitor’s products to your normal customers? Not only would you be selling your loyal customers someone else’s product, but it may come at the expense of your normal sales to these customers.

1. Efficient Processing
   We’ve set up our warehouse with a dedicated 35,000 sq ft processing center for special project such as buy-backs. This allows us the space to efficiently sort, inspect, case pack, and label all types of inventory. Our warehouse team has seen it all when it comes to shelf pull shipments, and their experience and efficiency is what allows us to maximize what we can pay for the product. Although manufacturers will not have to pay for processing, these estimated costs are taken into consideration for what we can offer to pay for the product. The more efficiently we can process the goods, the more we can offer to pay.
2. Non-Conflicting Sales Channels
   We understand that as a manufacturer, you don’t want to be selling a competitor’s products to your current channels of distribution, and therefore sacrificing future sales. MAC Wholesale specializes in moving the inventory outside your normal channels of distribution, and making the goods move through the market quickly and discreetly. We are happy to work with a “Do Not Sell” list to avoid confusion.
3. Ship the Products Only Once
   When you work with MAC Wholesale on a buy-back, we’re able to receive the shipments directly into our warehouse from the retailer’s distribution centers or stores. Why is this a BIG DEAL? Freight costs are extremely expensive these days. If you decide to bring the products into your own warehouse before reselling them, the products have to ship twice. Once to your warehouse, and then again to the purchaser’s warehouse. Because buy-backs are always freight intensive, all buyers will factor their incoming freight costs into their offers. By shipping directly from the retailer to our warehouse, we can offer you more money for the inventory, and the freight is only being paid once. It’s a win-win scenario for both of us – you get more money for the product, and we buy the product for less!
4. Trust & Credibility
   We understand the importance of your buy-back’s going smoothly for your relationships with retailers. Not only do we want to make you happy, but you need a partner you can trust that has experience with buy-back’s and will make the process easy. We want to make you look GREAT! Many of the largest retailers in the world know the MAC Wholesale name from previous buy-backs and will be comforted to know you’re partnering with us on your next buy-back.

1. Before You Make the Deal
   Any offers you send to MAC Wholesale are confidential. If you’re trying to run the numbers in bidding your business to a retailer, which involves the cost of buying-back in inventory – we’d be happy to make you an itemized offer. This way you can quote the retailer with a full understanding of the costs to acquire the business. We understand how buy-back’s work, and that the initial quantities you send us are likely to not be exact. If you win the bid, you’ve got a partner ready to take immediate delivery of the inventory.
2. When You Own the Goods
   If you’ve already committed to buying back inventory from a retailer – you may need to start shipping immediately, or you may have several months before the products are pulled. We’ll make you an itemized offer for the inventory, and we can be flexible as far as when we can start receiving the shipments.