A hundred billion reasons we like sporting goods closeouts.

The sporting goods industry has been growing every year and projections are for wholesale sales of U.S. sports products to be worth more than 100 billion dollars in 2021. As of 2019, the entire market size for wholesale sporting goods was 95 billion dollars. This includes sporting goods figures for both current inline regular imports as well as closeouts. Needless to say, the market is huge and a byproduct of its size is that there will always be deals for buying excess inventory and the need for sporting goods closeout buyers to work with importers on clearing out old inventory. It may be merchandise where the rate of sales has slowed or it may be inventory that is being completely discontinued and eliminated. Whatever the case may be, due to the sheer size of this industry there will always be sporting goods closeouts for sale.

There are many reasons a sporting goods company may need to sell overstock and require the services of a liquidator. For starters, the industry is big and there are many companies operating in this space. That means the competition is fierce and there will always be a need to liquidate excess inventory. Keep in mind today’s consumer is motivated to buy new and innovative products on the market, and this results in wholesale sporting goods companies having to discontinue slow selling merchandise and offer their out of season products and discontinued inventory to closeout buyers. Everyone wants what’s new, so this means getting rid of old merchandise. Basically, it forces companies to regularly evaluate their inventory and discount merchandise that is no longer in high demand.

The sporting goods industry has done particularly well during the pandemic. Although its retail segment was already challenged per-Covid, lock downs and stay at home trends benefited sporting goods sales and consumer demand for many products remained strong. Examples would be everything an individual could purchase to further their workout from home. Treadmills, stationery bikes, workout apparel, weights, bands, yoga mats and accessories, Pilates products, running gear, etc were all popular sellers. So while many retail segments suffered through this past year, sporting goods did rather well through 2020 and there appears to be strong demand for 2021.

But we like the sporting goods category because there will always be excess inventory available. Even though sales may be strong there will be a need to change packaging, discontinue styles, and always offer closeouts of older models in place of newer merchandise. Some of the largest name brand sporting goods companies will still have closeouts in spite of strong sales. This is a normal and healthy aspect of the wholesale distribution process. Selling discontinued merchandise helps companies keep their inventory current without building up excess inventory in the warehouse.

Merchandise USA buys and sells closeouts in many different categories, but in particular we liquidate sporting goods. The size of this market is huge and there are always opportunities for closeout buyers.