There are multiple situations where it’s in your best interest to remove some of your items from your Amazon FBA inventory. Here are just a few:

1. To remove dead inventory that seems like it will never sell.
2. To avoid long-term storage fees.
3. Because the item has become restricted and you can no longer sell it.
4. To lower your monthly storage fees on larger items.

Liquidation and clearance websites can look very profitable. On the face of it, you can purchase goods at huge discounts. But it’s risky too. Sometimes you are given very little information about the goods – or their condition – and you could end up with a truckload of items with little or zero resale value.

When it comes to liquidating Amazon inventory, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. That’s mainly because there’s no one-size-fits-all reason for a seller to liquidate.

Maybe you overstocked for the holiday shopping season. Maybe your product is slow-selling and you need to free up some capital. Or maybe it’s the right time to move on to a new product or business venture entirely.

But, whatever the reason, there are multiple liquidation solutions.

Top solutions when liquidating Amazon inventory

Even though there are other ways to sell off inventory, the following eight, curated alternatives were the best options.

So, before we give away the goods, here are some key points to keep in mind.

1. From the start, keep an eagle-eye on your inventory; understand how your inventory levels fluctuate over time.
2. Identify potential overstock, dead inventory, or long-tail (seasonal) inventory, and have an out in place for each scenario.
3. Amazon makes money from long-term storage fees, so they won’t be asking you to remove dead stock.
4. Liquidating stock doesn’t always result in a loss; the right solution could enable you to remain profitable.
5. The right clearance choice for you depends on the amount of stock to be offloaded, and the money you’re willing to lose.
6. Set a goal to make back your original investment if you can; it means no profit, but no loss either!

Now let’s dig into your liquidation options.

1. Drop your prices

Perhaps the most obvious way to clean out your inventory is to deeply discount your retail price.

You can choose to gradually reduce your price without immediately taking a nosedive. Plus, you can manage the pricing directly in Seller Central.

Or, you can choose to match your competitors’ lowest price, match the buy box price, or manually set the price yourself.

2. Increase your PPC budget

Try increasing your advertising budget to drive more traffic to your listing. You can stick with traditional keyword-targeted PPC campaigns, or go for Sponsored Products or Headline Search Ads.

This option comes at a cost, though. And if there are significant flaws with your product and/or listing these efforts might not give you the ROI (return on investment) you’re expecting.

3. Run a giveaway

If you’re going to be liquidating your Amazon inventory anyway, why not try a final giveaway?

And even if your goal is to get rid of products instead of boosting your product ranking, this method could boost awareness of your brand.

In addition, if you’re planning to sell a new product under the same brand name, this solution could provide it with some immediate credibility.

4. Sell on deal sites

If your product isn’t selling on Amazon, that doesn’t mean it won’t sell on another platform!

However, to sell your product elsewhere, you’ll have to create a removal order within Seller Central. This will officially move your stock from Amazon’s warehouse to its next destination.

5. Sell to your competitors

Not many think of this scenario, but it might just be your saving grace!

Depending on your product–its category, unique features, and branding–you might be able to sell your stock to a competitive brand selling the same product.

The more basic and unmarked your product is, the likelier it is to find a new home with the competition.

You’ll want to sell your stock as close to cost as possible to minimize your loss since you will be responsible (inevitably) for the removal order fees associated with the redistribution of products from the sale.

6. Sell to a liquidator

The biggest perk of selling off your stock to a liquidator is that it requires little to no work on your end.

Liquidators have their own e-commerce network across selling platforms, and they can easily find a new home and new customers for your product.

7. Destroy your inventory

If every other option on the table isn’t worth the effort, your best bet is to send your stock to its final destination.

And while you’ll have to fill out a disposal request (which is similar to a removal request), disposal fees per item are slightly lower than the removal fees.

Destroying your stock means you remain in control of what happens to it, and no one can harm your brand’s reputation.

8. Donate to charity

This feel-good alternative will, at the very least, benefit someone else, if not yourself.

Besides, there are a variety of ways to go about donating stock, depending on your type of product.

Remember, it’s not uncommon for a business to run into a situation where a product is underperforming, and the seller ends up sitting on the excess stock. And when that happens, sometimes the only option is liquidating that Amazon inventory.

So, if you’re navigating this for the first time, it’s not an indicator that your business is failing! It’s simply a learning experience, and an opportunity to move onto your next venture.