Overview - Reseller Risks

NOTE: Please review our tutorial on Removals, Disposals & liquidations for more context.

Whenever your inventory is no longer in your control, you open yourself up to reseller risks. By this is meant that a reseller that gets his hands on your product has the opportunity to list that product against you.

Since he has your actual branded product, he is legally within his rights to sell your product on your listing on Amazon.

There are several ways you can expose yourself to such risks through forfeiture of product, including (1) liquidation, (2) donation, or (3) disposal.

Liquidation holds the highest risk of a reseller listing against you since a liquidator is in the business of turning a profit with the liquidated stock he has purchased. It is not, by any means, a guarantee that you will see liquidated product surface on your listing, but the risk is certainly there.

Donation also poses a risk though to a lesser degree. Donated product is usually given to a charity that can benefit from the goods you provide, such as donated toys going to children’s homes. However just because your products are donated, does not mean that they won’t end up on your listing later.

Disposal, interestingly enough, also holds risk as well, though it doesn’t seem that this would be the case. Just because Amazon claims to have disposed of the product does not always mean that they tossed it in the trash. Sellers have found, at times, that when they requested a disposal, the products actually found their way onto their listings anyway, so it can’t be relied upon that Amazon is disposing of your stock.

The potential consequences of these methods, while having varying degrees of risk, should all be weighed when making the right decision on how to handle your excess inventory. 

If you do not plan to continue to sell the product on Amazon, the risks may not bother you, but if you do plan to keep selling, you should be prepared for this.
Remember, a liquidator or other reseller likely got your stock at a significantly reduced rate so many be prepared to list against you at a greatly reduced price, further hindering your ability to profitably sell through what stock you still have.