NoBetterBlog

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!

In a recent post we told you that products sold in “as is” condition carry the biggest discounts, but they might be scratched, missing a part or even broken.  Here’s the “behind the scenes” story.  When it comes to retail store returns, retailers would go broke inspecting every single item to determine what, if anything, was wrong with it.  So, they get rid of it quickly through the secondary market.  Because the condition is unknown, it gets sold with an “as is” label, even though most times the product works just fine.  If you’re looking for a product that works and don’t demand new and factory-sealed, the best deals are on “As Is” or “Scratch and Dent” listings.  

Some web stores tell you what’s wrong with an “As Is” item and exactly what parts are missing.  If so, this indicates real people spent real time inspecting the product and expect to be paid real money for the effort.  This inspection process hikes the price slightly, but not much.   

Secondary market websites sell products under different category listings.  They indicate the condition of the product and, trust me, they’re important.  Don’t buy unless you know the condition.  Below are the most common. 

New.  Just what you’d find on the store shelf.  Highest priced stuff you’ll find in the secondary market.  Still the lowest price around.   

 New, Box Damaged.  The product is new, but the outter box has definitely seen better days.  The damage to the box should in NO way affect the product inside in terms of appearance or functionality.

Open Box.  The box was opened and re-taped, but the stuff inside works.  Deeper discount than “new” items. 

Refurbished.  It had a problem, but was fixed, tested and is now good as new.  Discounts on refurb items will be similar to open box.  

As Is.  Retail store returns, most of which work just fine.  But they’re not tested, so no way to know for sure.  Could have a scratch or a missing component.  “As Is” products carry the biggest discounts – up to 70% off retail (not kidding!).  Some sites won’t offer refunds on “as is,” so do your research.  NoBetterDeal.com let’s you return items up to 30 DAYS after purchase date. 

If you care less about looks and more about whether or not an item works, then “as is” is a good way to go.  But when appearance matters more (for example, if it’s a piece of furniture), think twice about “as is!”

The secondary market consists of surplus inventory, retail store returns…stuff that didn’t sell the first time around. Keeping it around costs retailers and manufacturers big bucks, so they want to dump it fast — sometimes for as little as five percent of the original price. 

Most times, this inventory is bought up by wholesale liquidators who sell it to Big Lots, flea marketers, eBay power sellers….the businesses that then sell to you at a mark-up.  But some wholesalers have begun to cut out the middleman and sell this product directly to you – on the internet.  (NoBetterDeal.com is a wholesaler!)

Here’s where it gets interesting. 

Secondary market sites like NoBetterDeal.com offer new and like-new items at prices that are anywhere from 10% to 70% below the lowest retail price you’ll find.  (That’s the “Why should you care?” part.)

At NoBetterBlog.com, one of our goals is to simplify secondary market shopping.  We’ll do this with regular posts that tell you how to find great deals without getting burned. 

Secondary market shoppers can save thousands a year on everyday purchases.  Check back often and let’s keep the conversation going.  If you want to save, we want to help.