NoBetterBlog.comNoBetterDeal.com takes a look at your wallet.

You changed your mind, a piece was missing or it was the wrong size, wrong color or both – these are just a few of the many reasons consumers return items to the store.  You’ve seen those bins behind the counter that, at times, are overflowing with returned items.  In most cases, the retailer cannot put this product back on their shelves, even if nothing is wrong with it.  So where does it go? The secondary market.

Retailers and manufacturers want to get rid of this merchandise fast because it costs them a ton of cash to store and handle it.  Some of the bigger retailers, like Best Buy, have created their own outlet web sites and stores to sell their customer returned, damaged and liquidated products.  This works for them since they have the resources to manage it.  In most cases, however, the retailer will move their returns and surplus inventory to the secondary market, and they often do so for pennies on the dollar.  Then, wholesalers like GENCO Marketplace, buy the inventory and sell it to discount retailers or other small business owners who in turn sell to consumers.

Most recently, however, GENCO Marketplace has come up with an even better solution.  It was thought, “Why can’t the wholesaler offer these products direct to the consumer?”  Instead of having to travel to Big Lots, TJMaxx, Bob’s sidewalk store or the local flea market, GENCO Marketplace created a web store to offer shoppers some of the high quality returns and excess inventory that they liquidate every day and at prices they won’t find anywhere else.  It is fitting that the web site is called NoBetterDeal.com since consumers can instantly save up to 60% of what he or she would pay for the same item at retail price.  And with categories that span electronics, gaming systems, house wares, furniture, tools, kids and baby, sporting goods and more, who wouldn’t want to rack up the savings and shop NoBetterDeal before heading out to the nearest retail store?

If you’re skeptical about buying secondary market goods, don’t be!  Many of our Nobetterdeal.com customers have saved hundreds, if not thousands of dollars by shopping with us instead of going out to a nearby retail store.  You can get the same high-quality items delivered right to your door without ever having to venture out to a store. 

Take Matt, for example, a new homeowner and loyal buyer of NoBetterDeal.com – his story says it all:

“Buying a house is tough!!  Looking at houses, finding the right one, making an offer, settling on an offer, closing… it’s one big headache!  I just bought my very first house a few months ago and I was glad to be done with the buying end of things, but now I am broke and have all the wonderful things that come with owning a new house:  cleaning, fixing, painting, and furnishing!!  Yikes!  Sounds like another headache, right?  Well luckily for me I furnished a lot of my house with items that I purchased at NoBetterDeal.com!  I was able to get the same things that I could get in the store, online instead and at a great, reduced price!  I saved a load of cash when I needed it the most!  I’ve included some photos of items that I have purchased at NoBetterDeal so you all can see the great stuff that I bought and I get to show off my new house at the same time!   Now if I can only find a NoBetterPainter website!!”

- Matt, the new homeowner

Matt was also kind enough to provide photos of some of the items that he purchased from Nobetterdeal (below).  After doing a little bit of homework and working with Matt, we compared the original retail prices of these items with the deals that Matt got from us.  We think that you will be pleasantly surprised to see how quickly his savings added up!

Microwave Cart - White Retail: $103.99 NOBETTERDEAL: $46.80

Bissell 20Q9 CleanView II Plus Bagless Vacuum Retail: $79.99 NOBETTERDEAL: $36.00

Hamilton Beach Toastation - Gray/Black Retail: $34.99 NOBETTERDEAL: $18.60

White Kitchen Island with Natural Top Retail: $95.99 NOBETTERDEAL: $42.00

Samsung 46" LN46B650 120Hz 1080p LCD HDTV Retail: $1,247.00 NOBETTERDEAL: $799.99

Abby Pub 5 piece Dining Set - Espresso Retail: $989.99 NOBETTERDEAL: $259.50

Hamilton Beach 6-qt. Programmable Slow Cooker Retail: $49.99 NOBETTERDEAL: $18.60

Buying good stuff cheap is really the focus of advice offered on this blog.  But here’s a little secret.  Some folks who buy on NoBetterDeal.com resell the goods on eBay for a profit.  (Don’t worry, it’s legal.)  

Take David. He lives in Detroit and has built a growing eBay business, with customers around the country, selling product he buys on NoBetterDeal.com and other sites.  “I’ve been at it for three or four years.  I buy consumer electronics almost exclusively – mainly digital video cameras, but other products, too.  It’s a nice secondary income.”

 This isn’t new.  People have been buying from liquidators and reselling on eBay for years, but only those who could afford to buy in bulk.  In this tough economy, however, we’re seeing more people experimenting with eBay as a way to earn a few bucks.  They’ll buy a few individual items from NoBetterDeal.com and try their hand at reselling.  So NoBetterDeal.com is not only a place to find bargains, it could help you launch your own business!  Who knew? 

Keep checking back for more updates and advice on the secondary market.  After all, I do know a little something about the subject.

-Professor Jim

Success in the secondary market – finding the best possible deals – takes hard work and lots of patience.  Here’s how to work the Web for maximum savings:

• Find sites you like and trust, and visit frequently – at least 2-3 times per week.  Here’s why.  Liquidators carry what becomes available through retailers.  One week, it might be large-screen TVs, the next week laptop computers, and a week later talking teddy bears.  If you’re shopping for a specific item (a boom box, a camera, an entertainment unit), you need to visit frequently and monitor the sites until such an item appears. 
• Do your research.  Check the flyers in your Sunday paper, and be aware of the retail price of the product you’re hoping to find.  That way, you’ll know instantly if a real bargain appears, or if a deal isn’t really a deal.
• Understand who pays for shipping.  Most secondary market sites require the buyers to pay shipping costs.  Make sure you add the shipping costs to determine a total price.  And when a site offers free shipping deals, jump on it!

Here’s the scoop: We are planning to add video content to nobetterdeal.com to spice things up a bit.  We have all sorts of ideas floating around the office as to what we should shoot and what our shoppers would be most interested in viewing.  Some thoughts have been given to bringing the action of the warehouse straight to your PC so that you can see where we get our products, how they are handled, and the process every item goes through in the stages prior to having it listed for sale on the site.  We have also tossed around the thought of bringing life to the Product Condition that labels each product.  It might be nice to show you the difference between a TV that is listed as “New” versus one that is “Open Box” or “As-is.”  Then again, we don’t want to bore anyone to death with uninteresting educational material; that’s what school is for.  So of course, we would add a humorous spin to it.

I think what we are trying to say is that WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! Please let us know what kind of videos you would like to see on Nobetterdeal.com.

Whether it will help in your decision to purchase a product or whether it is purely for entertainment, we are anxiously awaiting your suggestions!