Do Your Christmas Shopping Early. Closeouts Won’t Last Long.

It's only October, but it's already time to start your holiday shopping. There is no point in waiting for sales and closeouts that will likely never happen. For years Thanksgiving and Black Friday have marked the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season and the time of year when shoppers get focused on holiday spending. Last year, retailers and closeout websites pushed a longer shopping season with more online sales amid the pandemic. There was little need to sell excess inventory because retail sales set records and liquidators were not as busy as past years dealing with closeouts and excess merchandise.

This year, the third week of November is too late to get started looking for deals. With widespread supply chain issues and massive labor shortages, procrastinating on purchasing gifts – especially toys and electronics – isn't a good idea. There won't be closeouts and sales this year, nor will closeout brokers, liquidators and brick and mortar stores be offering markdowns. Closeout websites are experiencing difficulty keeping inventory in stock and currently they don't have to sell excess inventory by having flash sales. Prices also are rising and product inventory will be more limited because of consumer demand and availability.

If you’ve received an email from one of your favorite closeout websites or deal sites warning you of likely shipping delays this holiday season, pay attention. They’re not exaggerating. FedEx is dealing with staffing shortages at some of its shipping hubs, to the point where it has had to divert packages onto other routes that may take longer. And a UPS executive warned that if you don’t purchase Christmas gifts now, they may not arrive until the Spring. Closeout websites and other e-commerce sellers rely heavily on both of these shipping giants, so you should heed these warnings.

Among the survivors of the pandemic, the shipping industry seems the one to have trouble breathing as a shortage of workers and shipping tools are behind schedule. Despite an increasing demand for consumer goods and closeouts such as electronics, clothing, and toys companies cannot keep up with hundreds of ships carrying thousands of containers on standby in ports and even adrift areas around the globe. Executive director of the Port of Long Beach, Mario Cordero told Business Insider that “the supply chain is definitely disrupted and has been for some time,” revealing some of the weak links that set off the current shipping crisis. Liquidators will be very busy after the Holidays with all the containers or late merchandise, and there will be a lot of companies ready to sell excess inventory that didn't arrive in time.

As the Christmas holiday approaches, shipping companies are afraid gifts may not arrive until early 2022. In early October, Golden Week takes place in China, which includes days off for millions of supply chain workers, and sets the deadline to get shipments out of the nation that still runs about a third of the manufacturing of the world, as reported by Bloomberg Business. With America’s retail manufacturing centers largely based in China, it is almost impossible that companies will be able to get their goods out of the nation on time for distribution in American ports and later warehouses. What is more likely is that goods will be in short supply this Holiday season, and there won't be a real surplus of inventory until 2022. Next year there will likely be liquidation sales and overstock sales due to all the containers arriving too late.

There are currently more than 60 container ships waiting in the waters off Southern California. These ships carry the equivalent of 100,000 40 foot containers. Each filled with housewares. Sporting goods, toys, home accessories, lawn and garden and all kinds of other things we are all waiting for. Much of this will become excess inventory that will have to be sold at auction or liquidated because it is arriving too late. There are liquidators and closeout buyers in every major City who will all benefit from these late containers.

Merchandise USA specializes in buying closeouts, selling excess inventory and liquidating inventory. We handle all obsolete inventory and liquidations of 3PL warehouses, closeout websites and more.