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Is Target selling its excess inventory on eBay and Poshmark?
- terribleperson 2y agoI'm reasonably sure a local target is dumping excess inventory at a nearby Goodwill. The amount of target store brand clothing, tags still on, at that Goodwill is pretty inexplicable otherwise.
- daveguy 2y ago> A Target spokesperson confirmed to Modern Retail that the company that runs the Bullseye Deals account does buy salvage merchandise from Target and sells it.
- antiterra 2y agoYou can buy Target return/overstock pallets at auction, and a deals account likely just resells that. Target doesn’t have to deal with it on an item level at that point.
- dawnerd 2y agoTarget does have some really restrictive rules on those pallets however that Bullseye deals doesn't seem to follow so they have either some form of an agreement in place where they don't have to or they're just a spinoff totally-not-target corp.
- pavel_lishin 2y agoWhat are those rules?
- dawnerd 2y agoTarget requires delabeling on most items in pallets that are Target branded and at least when I last looked they said no exporting. I went down the path of trying to apply to purchase pallets myself but opted against it even if a lot of other resellers ignore the rules. Not worth it - plus good chance of getting stuck with school supplies like reams of paper which you really can't do anything with when selling online. https://www.liquidation.com/c/Target-Defacing-and-Delabeling-Guidelines.pdf https://www.liquidation.com/c/Target-Defacing-and-Delabeling...
- astura 2y agoNo they don't, I bought a box of Target returns from American Liquidations and I didn't have to agree to any rules, just bought the box. Target can't enforce any rules on me, as I have no relationship with Target whatsoever. The absolute worst thing Target can do is stop selling to American Liquidations.
- dawnerd 2y agoThat’s a bit different buying sorted boxes, it’s not the same thing as buying pallets right from them.
- astura 2y agoIt's exactly the same - they aren't buying directly from target, they are buying thorough Liquidity Services, Inc. "Sources tell Modern Retail that all the listings are salvage merchandise from Target that’s been purchased by the reverse supply chain services company Liquidity Services, Inc."
- dawnerd 2y agoNot really? I said they likely have a different agreement with Target. What I was saying is from my experience trying to buy pallets from Target. I linked to one of the requirement documents in another comment.
- yeswecatan 2y agoHow does one find these auctions?
- rootusrootus 2y agoHeck, calling it "Bullseye Deals" is a big giveaway by itself.
- sphars 2y agoCan confirm, bought a pair of jeans from Bullseye Deals on eBay for under $9. It was the same as the in-store Target brand (Goodfellow & Co.), same tags and everything. One of the most comfortable jeans I own.
- metadat 2y agoLol, post-return is "salvage" by default. Brutal.
- datadrivenangel 2y agoPer Betteridge's law, no.
- umeshunni 2y agoA rare exception here: > A Target spokesperson confirmed to Modern Retail that the company that runs the Bullseye Deals account does buy salvage merchandise from Target and sells it. > Target doesn’t control this Bullseye Deals inventory, but it is aware that its reverse logistics partner is doing this.
- antiterra 2y agoSo, it’s still no. They sell to a third-party company and forget about it.
- LeifCarrotson 2y agoWhat's the difference between selling exclusively to a third party (against whom they don't enforce their trademark) who buys exclusively from them, and actually answering the headline with "yes"? I understand there's a legal distinction, but there's so little practical difference that you'd be hard pressed to explain the distinction to a layperson. Unless maybe you got hurt by a defective item and tried to sue Target for damages. I assume this scheme is intended to insulate Target from that possibility, their lawyers would argue that you'd have to sue Bullseye Deals, LLC which has negligible assets, not their multi-billion-dollar corporation..
- cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago[flagged]
- s1artibartfast 2y agounless they are owned by the same parent, every possible difference is present. You seem to be assuming that target owns bullseye/liquidity services
- mgaunard 2y agoNo, but people who buy from Target do.
- fuzzfactor 2y agoThe first time I saw a TV ad for Poshmark, I got the impression it was about tailor-made for shoplifters. Not everyone who shops at places like Target buy the merchandise before leaving the store with it.
- nightfly 2y agoGoodwill too
- crazygringo 2y agoTons of big-box and department stores do this. It's not just Target. Where do you think all those "open box" items on eBay come from, from sellers with 50,000 reviews? When a single seller has 18 Logitech mice of the exact same model, and won't show you photos of the one you'll receive, but guarantees that it's functional and has no major cosmetic damage? They buy pallets of returned and excess merchandise for cheap, go to all the work of making listings and setting prices and shipping it all, and (hopefully) turn a profit at the end of the day. There are a lot of product categories -- including things like computer peripherals and accessories, or department store suits -- that are known to be extremely overpriced when bought at retail. While on eBay they can go from reasonably priced to downright cheap.
- shiroiushi 2y agoFrom what I've seen on Ebay in the last couple of years, it seems like this kind of stuff isn't all that cheap any more. Like the sellers saw the inflation going on in the US, and decided that was a good excuse to double or triple their prices for overstock stuff.
- dawnerd 2y agoI've suspected this too. Technically not target but just a spinoff company they can use for tax reasons, of course.
- jimt1234 2y agoAfter my little sister had her first child and realized how expensive baby stuff is, she started a lucrative side-hustle and ran with it for years. Basically, she bought baby stuff from a warehouse that got their inventory from returns at large retailers like Target and Walmart. She focused almost entirely on baby strollers, but also backyard swing sets for kids, and got it all for pennies-on-the-dollar. She became friendly with the customer service repos at the stroller manufacturers and could usually get replacement parts for free (it's a warranty replacement if the service rep says it is). She knew all the stroller model numbers and their associated various part numbers. She got really good at repairing the strollers in her garage, and then flipping them on Craigslist. Her garage looked like a baby stroller showroom. She made decent money doing it, but the best part is her "customers" (other new mothers, most of them poor) were always so happy and appreciative because of the deal they were getting. Everyone was happy. The real secret sauce to her side-hustle was the relationship she had with the lady who managed the warehouse where she bought the baby stuff. The warehouses usually have auctions on large lots or pallets of stuff; you bid on whatever's on the pallet, you've got no choice. The lady used to let my sister come to the warehouse periodically (usually just before a big auction) and cherrypick what she wanted, which was always the baby strollers and swing sets. The side-hustle wouldn't have worked without that. (My sister (and her husband) used to flip houses, too, and I think she sold the warehouse lady a house.)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- phyzome 2y ago[flagged]
- s1artibartfast 2y agoWhy do you say that? Command economies arent exactly known for being free from personal dealing either
- throw10920 2y ago
- Shekelphile 2y agoI worked for target 2021-2022 during their massive inventory crunch and selloff. Most of the excess, damaged/returns and recalled product gets sold off to salvage companies for pennies on the dollar by the truckload.
- WorkerBee28474 2y agoAnecdotally, I bought a hoodie from GOAT offer and had it show up with the tags from a large department store still attached. I don't care, and it's the most comfortable hoodie I've ever owned (Essentials), but there are definitely more liquidation channels in use than we think.
- hilux 2y agoI know that Target sells excess inventory on secondipity. I've got a few extremely good deals there, on kitchen appliances, Gillette razor blades, other stuff. All appeared to be in brand-new condition.
- Spastche 2y agoI've seen their clothes at Goodwill as well, tons of brand new stuff with tags still on them. silly thing is the price was nearly the same
- mtnGoat 2y agoSometime started a fire in a backyard fire pit, IN my local target. Due to smoke damage, they donated almost the entire store inventory to the local goodwill, who in turn (based on my past experience volunteering there) probably threw 90% of it away.
- astura 2y agoNo, not directly. "Sources tell Modern Retail that all the listings are salvage merchandise from Target that’s been purchased by the reverse supply chain services company Liquidity Services, Inc."
- kazinator 2y ago> Retailers are often unable to put returned items back on the shelves if, for example, a box gets opened or a product gets lightly used before being returned. Not so my local Walmart. I returned a jar of peanut butter that turned out to be open (the seal under the lid). That type was sold out; I took the last one without checking. Ten minutes later, I went to that shelf and see that it was still sold out. No wait, there is one, again! OMG, is that the one I just returned? I unscrew the lid: yep, broken seal. Restocking an open food item returned by a customer is gross.
- seabird 2y agoThis isn't even the most interesting deal in this space. There are some people that have established some pretty sweet gigs with some key eBay partners directly. Won't get into details because I'm moderately close to an involved party, but if you've sold a lot on eBay there's a nom-zero chance you know who I'm talking about.
- ValueAddedRS 2y agoVery interesting article. Even more interesting when you consider Target used to sell on eBay directly from ~2012-2018. They gave the expected diplomatic corporate answer at the time as to why they left, saying they were focusing on their own direct digital efforts instead, but I have reasons to suspect Target may have encountered some not insignificant triangulation fraud issues on eBay that could have factored into the decision to stop selling there as well.
- red-iron-pine 2y agowhy do you have to assume fraud? it could just be a big effort / PITA to do the auctions. there is a reason why "channel sales" are a thing, as are VARs, etc. sell to a few middlemen and let them deal with ebay auctions and other petty details