How to Sell Your Excess Inventory

Have you ever ordered the material for a large job but ended up with leftovers because the job took less than you planned?

Or what about when you ordered materials for a delayed or canceled project?

Or maybe you purchased supplies from another professional going out of business. You got a great deal, but now you have excess stock you need to move quickly.

No matter how it happens, if you have excess inventory on your shelves, you want to sell it, not waste it.

Selling to your excess inventory boils down to two tips.

Show it and know it.

Show It

The reality is customers buy what you show them.

Don't mislead and recommend solutions that aren't appropriate, but customers will often follow your lead on systems and colors.

Tip #1: Have sample photos in your digital album to show customers.

What you show your potential customer will lead to what they buy from you. So, show them examples of projects using the color or system sitting on your shelf.

If it's a system you've never installed before, find sample photos from the manufacturer or seek out another dealer that uses that product and ask if you can use one of their photos until you can get some of your own.

Tip #2: Run social media ads featuring your colors or systems in inventory.

Promoting a particular system or color drives demand, and you can move that inventory off your shelves.

These first two tips work hand in hand. When you show examples of the system to your customers, they purchase it. You then install that system.

Once you install the system, you post before and after photos of the job on your social media. Then boost that post on Facebook, and future customers see your ad, are attracted to that system, and contact you to install the same thing for them.

This will boost your bottom line profit because it's a product you already have in inventory. That product won't have future inflation or surcharges from shipping. It's sitting on your shelf.

Tip #3: Create sample boards.

Sample boards offer a tactile demonstration of the installed system's appearance in person.

When your customer can touch and feel the system and see it in real life, it makes it easier for them to picture it installed at their home or business.

Look for the bonus section at the end of this article, where I will share the best way to make sample boards of your excess inventory systems.

Know It

You can't sell what you don't know you have. You should be reviewing your stock at least quarterly to make physical or mental notes of what you have in inventory.

Pro tip: You don't want inventory sitting around too long because it will either get damaged or exceed its shelf life.

When you review your inventory, note excess supplies over your max and show those systems to potential customers.

This is the perfect opportunity to reset and organize your shelves. Group like items together and make sure the oldest things are in front.

Use this review time to reset your inventory AND make a note of excess inventory over your min/max system.

Pro tip: Avoid too many special orders. Special orders lead to excess inventory outside your primary systems and may be harder to move off your shelves.

The solution is -- don't show the brochure with 62 options.

Unless I can't sell them what I have in stock because it absolutely won't go with what they need, I don't even let them know we can do unlimited custom items.

With your quarterly inventory review, you'll know what you have so you can show what you have.

BONUS: Tips for making sample boards you'll use in the inventory liquidation process

Using sample boards to show how a system will look in real life is an effective sales tool. Here are some bonus tips to make your own sample boards.

Tip #1 - Use precut boards

I purchase precut 2x2 sheets of masonite plywood from Home Depot for my sample boards.

Tip #2 - Use identical products and techniques

I use the same products I use in the job installation. I won't use a different sealer or application because I want the sample board to be true.

Tip #3 - Create a sample board during installation

Following this tip will mean you follow tip #2. Let me explain how.

When you roll the base coat on the garage, roll the base coat on the board.

When you spray the chips on the garage, spray the chips on the board.

When you roll the top coat on the garage, roll the top coat on the board.

This way, you will end up with sample boards of your projects exactly as you install them with little extra effort or material.

So there you have it.

How do you sell the excess inventory cluttering your shelves? Know it and show it. Know what excess systems you have in stock, and then show these systems to potential customers through photos, ads, and sample boards.