6 Closeout Buyers and CMP’s Inventory Planning Tool

A closeout buyer purchases excess or discontinued inventory outright, takes title, and resells it through its own channels. This comparison covers six closeout buyers and CMP’s separate inventory-planning tool, with the minimums, payment terms, and intake requirements a store owner needs before making the call.

Disclosure: Cash Margin Partners publishes this site. We rank ourselves first and we state plainly in our own entry that we don't buy inventory, which is the one thing every other company here does.

Six Closeout Buyers and a Planning Tool at a Glance

How We Evaluated These Closeout Buyers

We fetched every company's live site, sell-to-us page, and intake form in September 2026, and we verified each one is currently operating before including it. Four well-known names failed that check and appear in a section below rather than in the ranking.

Four criteria, weighted in this order:

• Do they buy, or do they broker? A broker introduces you to someone else and takes a cut. A buyer writes the check.
• Is there a published minimum? One company names a dollar figure. The rest leave it to the conversation.
• When does the money arrive? On pickup, on warehouse arrival, or on terms nobody publishes.
• Is the site maintained? A stale copyright footer or a 404 on a company's own submission form tells you something about the operation behind it.

Minimums, payment terms, and categories verified September 13, 2026. None of these companies publishes what it pays as a share of cost, so every number in a quote comes from the conversation.

Four Names That Come Up and Shouldn't

Search results for closeout buyers are full of companies that don't buy anything. Verifying each one takes a few minutes and saves a wasted week.

Closeout Central is a supplier directory operated by Sumner Communications, listing third-party suppliers with their own phone numbers. Its listings were observed dated only through October 2024.

DollarDays sells wholesale goods to nonprofits and schools. It's a supplier, with no sell-to-us page anywhere on the site.

TDW Closeouts resells department store returns and truckloads it sources from more than 100 retailers. It resells rather than buys.

National Closeouts and Bargain Wholesale both appear to be gone. nationalcloseouts.com returns no DNS record at all, and Bargain Wholesale was the wholesale arm of 99 Cents Only Stores, which filed Chapter 11 in April 2024 and liquidated all 371 of its stores by June of that year.

Key insight

The word "closeout" appears on directory sites, wholesaler sites, and buyer sites without distinction, and the three are opposite businesses. Before a call, look for the phrase "we buy" or "sell to us" with a submission form behind it. A page that lists other companies' phone numbers is a directory.

1. Cash Margin Partners: Inventory Cash Analysis for Independent Retailers

Cash Margin Partners publishes this comparison and includes its own product. It is free inventory analysis software for independent retailers, with no credit card or time limit. It is not a replacement for purchasing, accounting, manufacturing, or workforce software.

After a successful import with sufficient evidence, the workspace identifies eligible recovery candidates, shows inventory cost basis, and suggests markdowns, same-category bundles, and liquidation review. Healthy, newly arrived, and data-incomplete items remain protected from recovery actions.

Connections and data

Cash Margin Partners offers read-only Shopify, Square, and Lightspeed Retail X-Series connections where production launch status and workspace eligibility permit. Lightspeed is a capacity-managed X-Series custom application, excluding R-Series, eCom, and Restaurant. Compatible item-level uploads remain available after column review; Clover uses that export path, not a native connection.

Shopify supplies unit cost when available; Square and Lightspeed analyses add costs through CMP's prefilled template.

Planning and recovery

Directional 30-, 60-, and 90-day inventory-risk estimates and confidence signals require a recent successful supported live connection with sufficient usable history and cost evidence. They support decisions and do not guarantee future sales or recovery prices.

The proposed CMP Exchange publishes a 20% fee on a completed marketplace transaction, with no software subscription. Live listings, Stripe checkout, payouts, and buyer availability remain subject to production acceptance and workspace eligibility; no sale or payout timing is guaranteed.

Start with the right analysis

The free five-step calculator provides a directional trapped-cash estimate from questionnaire answers. A separate free workspace supports SKU-level analysis after a supported store connection or compatible item-level upload.

Limitations

CMP does not buy inventory or guarantee buyers. Recommendations require owner review; pricing guidance uses heuristics and confidence signals, not a validated market-clearing price model.

2. Merchandise USA: Best for Housewares, Gift, Toy, and Seasonal at Any Volume

Merchandise USA has bought overstock and closeouts since 1984 from a Chicago facility of roughly 100,000 square feet, describing itself as a true bulk buyer with the financial strength to make immediate cash offers on large lots.

Merchandise USA is the most accessible verified buyer here for a single-store lot. Its sell-your-closeouts page states the company is "comfortable working at any volume level," covering everything "from pallets of slow-moving merchandise to a full warehouse liquidation."

Its category focus is squarely independent retail: housewares, home décor, giftware, novelties, juvenile, toys, pet, lawn and garden, seasonal, party, and school supplies.

One line in its copy answers a question most owners hesitate to ask. Merchandise USA says inventory "moves quickly and quietly through our distribution channels, protecting your brand and your relationships with retail partners," which addresses the channel-conflict worry directly.

Key features

• Forty-plus years in business, buying since 1984
• No published minimum, with lots accepted from a pallet to a warehouse
• Purchase orders issued, pickups scheduled, and payment arranged within days
• Roughly 100,000 square feet of Chicago distribution space
• Three intake routes: phone, email, and a web form
• Stated discretion about where the merchandise resurfaces

Pricing

No seller fees, because Merchandise USA buys outright. Offers are quoted per lot, and the intake asks for "detailed item descriptions, quantities, asking prices, and photos."

Who should choose Merchandise USA

• Gift, housewares, toy, and seasonal retailers clearing a category
• Stores comparing lot-specific purchase terms
• Owners worried about discounted stock appearing next to their own storefront

Limitations

Merchandise USA publishes no minimum and no maximum, which means a small lot may still be declined without a stated rule to check against. Its categories skew toward general merchandise, so apparel, electronics, and food sellers will find a better fit elsewhere on this page.

Merchandise USA vs Cash Margin Partners

Merchandise USA writes a check and takes the goods, which Cash Margin Partners will never do. Cash Margin Partners tells an owner which pallets to offer and what they cost, so the conversation with Merchandise USA starts from a number rather than a guess.

3. WeBuyExcess: Best for a Quoted Offer Inside 48 Hours

WeBuyExcess buys excess and problem inventory outright, quotes within 48 hours of reviewing a submission, and pays by wire, ACH, check, or credit card once the product arrives at its warehouse.

WeBuyExcess publishes the clearest turnaround commitment of any buyer here. Its positioning line is "An immediate solution to excess and problem inventory," and it states an offer comes "within 48 hours of reviewing your inventory."

Its stated range is unusually wide, running from "a single pallet one-time deal" through multi-year contracts, which makes it worth a call regardless of lot size.

Note where payment lands in the sequence. WeBuyExcess pays "once the product arrives to our warehouse," so freight and transit sit between the handshake and the deposit.

Key features

• An offer inside 48 hours of reviewing the submission
• Lots accepted from a single pallet through multi-year supply contracts
• Payment by wire, ACH, check, or credit card
• Warehouses in California, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, New Jersey, and South Carolina
• Categories covering apparel, beverages, cosmetics, food, footwear, housewares, and health and beauty

Pricing

No seller fees. WeBuyExcess buys outright and quotes per lot, with its intake form asking for wholesale value, inventory description, and location.

Who should choose WeBuyExcess

• Retailers who need an answer this week rather than a negotiation
• Sellers with consumable, beauty, or grocery-adjacent stock
• Businesses testing a one-time pallet before committing to more

Limitations

Payment lands on warehouse arrival rather than on pickup, so the seller carries the gap. Its "over one-hundred years of experience combined" and "billions of dollars of products" claims carry no supporting detail, and its footer copyright reads 2022 to 2025, a year behind.

WeBuyExcess vs Cash Margin Partners

WeBuyExcess gives a store owner a number in two days, which is faster than any auction or marketplace process can move. Cash Margin Partners gives the owner the cost basis and the priority order first, so the 48-hour offer can be judged against something.

4. AAA Closeout Liquidators: Best for Whole-Lot Clean-Outs and Store Closures

AAA Closeout Liquidators buys closeouts, customer returns, and surplus outright, and states that it buys complete lots. Confirm seller intake, price, payment, and collection terms directly for the proposed lot.

AAA Closeout Liquidators takes the most direct position of any buyer here: "We are closeout buyers and NOT brokers," and "We buy the entire lot 'clean out' with no cherry-picking."

That clean-out policy is the reason to call them. A marketplace sells the desirable half of a lot and leaves the rest; a clean-out buyer takes both, which matters when the goal is an empty room.

AAA describes warehouse access in several US states. Its published location counts are inconsistent, so confirm which facility will receive your lot and the associated freight terms.

Key features

• Whole-lot purchase with no cherry-picking, stated as policy
• Seller-specific lot minimums to confirm directly
• Warehouse access across several US states
• More than 40 categories including apparel, automotive, food and grocery, tools, and PPE
• Payment by bank transfer, described as immediate
• Forty-six years in business, since 1979

Pricing

AAA buys outright and quotes the purchase price per lot. Its site footer lists a $7,500 minimum without clearly distinguishing purchase orders from seller intake. Ask for seller-specific minimums and any deductions in a written offer.

Who should choose AAA Closeout Liquidators

• Retailers closing a location or exiting a category entirely
• Sellers seeking a written whole-lot purchase offer
• Businesses that need the unsellable portion gone too

Limitations

Ask AAA to confirm the minimum it applies to seller intake. The site footer alone does not establish that every small seller lot is ineligible. Confirm the correct submission route and freight deductions before preparing a manifest.

AAA Closeout Liquidators vs Cash Margin Partners

AAA describes whole-lot purchases. CMP instead helps owners identify inventory for recovery and prepare marketplace listings; buyer interest and sale outcomes are not guaranteed. Compare written offers and net proceeds for your specific lot.

5. 888 Lots: Best for Branded Goods With Catalog Identifiers

888 Lots buys excess inventory outright from three New Jersey warehouses, publishes the list of what it's currently buying, and charges no listing fees because it takes title.

888 Lots is the most transparent buyer here about what it wants. Its sell-to-us page says "We publish what we're actively buying," and sellers search that list by ASIN, brand, or description before submitting.

That mechanism is both its strength and its filter. A seller holding branded goods with recognizable catalog identifiers gets a fast yes or no, and a boutique holding unbranded or private-label stock won't find a match.

Its stated seller terms are short and clear: "There are no listing fees, no waiting for buyers, and no middlemen." A buyer reviews each submission and responds into the seller's account.

Key features

• A published, searchable list of what the company is actively buying
• Submission by ASIN, brand, or description with quantity and price
• No listing fees and no auction wait, because 888 Lots takes title
• Three New Jersey warehouses in Linden, Ocean Township, and Avenel
• Categories covering electronics, power tools, appliances, branded toys, apparel, and beauty

Pricing

No seller fees. The margin sits in the offer price, and no minimum lot size or payment timeline is published anywhere on the site.

Who should choose 888 Lots

• Sellers holding recognizable branded goods
• US-based retailers, since 888 Lots serves the US market only
• Owners who want to check demand before writing a full submission

Limitations

Minimums, payment timing, and the spread are all unpublished, so a seller learns the economics only by submitting. The ASIN-keyed intake is a poor fit for unbranded or boutique inventory, it's US-only, and several of its own URLs including /about-us and /how-it-works return 404.

888 Lots vs Cash Margin Partners

888 Lots tells a seller in advance whether it wants a given product, which no marketplace can promise. Cash Margin Partners analyzes eligible SKUs with sufficient source evidence, branded or not, which covers the private-label and one-off stock that fills most independent stockrooms.

6. RKS Sales Group: Best for Close-Dated Food and Overruns

RKS Sales Group buys slow-moving inventory, close-dated food products, packaging changes, overruns, and discontinued products outright, with warehouses in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and California.

RKS Sales Group states the buy-versus-broker distinction more bluntly than anyone else in this category: "We Buy, We Don't Broker."

Its specialty is the inventory most buyers avoid. Close-dated food, packaging changes, and production overruns are hard to place, and a buyer who names them explicitly is worth knowing about before the date matters.

It has bought closeouts for more than 30 years and describes coast-to-coast warehouses in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and California.

Key features

• Outright purchase, with brokering explicitly ruled out
• Named specialty in close-dated food and packaging changes
• Categories including toys and games, pet supplies, health and beauty, housewares, and electronics
• More than 30 years buying closeout inventory
• Warehouses in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and California

Pricing

No seller fees. RKS buys outright and quotes per lot, asking sellers to "share your bulk inventory list with quantities and descriptions for consideration."

Who should choose RKS Sales Group

• Grocery, specialty food, and consumables retailers with dated stock
• Brands holding overruns or superseded packaging
• Sellers whose category other buyers have declined

Limitations

RKS publishes no minimum, no payment terms, and no warehouse detail beyond three state names. Its contact address runs through an outlook.com account, which reads small for a company describing 30 years of operation, and its footer carries no year at all.

RKS Sales Group vs Cash Margin Partners

RKS takes categories most buyers refuse, and for a grocer holding close-dated stock that specialty is worth more than any diagnostic. Cash Margin Partners covers the general-merchandise store and produces the cost figure and the priority order before the call.

7. H&J Liquidators and Closeouts: Worth a Call, With Caveats

H&J Liquidators and Closeouts buys surplus and closeout merchandise of all qualities outright, with more than 30 years in business and payment described as upfront.

H&J ranks last here on disclosure rather than on conduct. Its process is stated in one line: "we purchase, pick up, pay you for your surplus inventory upfront."

Its category language is broad to the point of being unhelpful, covering "excess inventory, general merchandise, liquidation merchandise and closeout product of all qualities." That breadth is a reason to call when other buyers have passed on a mixed lot.

It's a phone-and-form operation. Submission runs through a form plus photos, or a direct phone line.

Key features

• Outright purchase with pickup included
• Categories described as all qualities of general and closeout merchandise
• More than 30 years in business
• Submission by web form with photos, or by phone

Pricing

No seller fees, with the offer quoted per lot. No minimum, payment method, or timing is published anywhere on the site.

Who should choose H&J Liquidators

• Sellers with mixed-quality lots other buyers declined
• Retailers who want pickup handled by the buyer
• Owners calling several buyers and comparing offers

Limitations

H&J publishes no minimum, no payment mechanics, no warehouse locations, and no category specifics, which is the thinnest disclosure of the seven. Its footer reads 2024, and there's no way to compare its terms against another buyer's before a conversation.

H&J Liquidators vs Cash Margin Partners

H&J will look at a mixed lot that a category specialist would decline, and pickup is included. Cash Margin Partners gives the seller the cost figures and the ranked list that make an unpublished offer possible to evaluate.

Master Comparison: Six Buyers and a Planning Tool

How to Choose a Closeout Buyer

1. Match the category first. A gift buyer and a close-dated food buyer are different businesses, and calling the wrong one wastes a week.
2. Check the minimum before the offer. Only AAA publishes one, so ask the others directly on the first call.
3. Ask exactly when payment lands. On pickup, on warehouse arrival, and on terms are three different cash positions.
4. Get two offers. None of these companies publishes what it pays as a share of cost, so a second quote is the only benchmark available.
5. Decide whether you need the unsellable part gone. A clean-out buyer takes it and pays less. A selective buyer pays more and leaves you the remainder.

Plan a 90-Day Inventory Review

This is a suggested workflow, not a promise of recovered revenue.

Week 1: review the evidence

Cash Margin Partners offers read-only Shopify, Square, and Lightspeed Retail X-Series connections where production launch status and workspace eligibility permit. Lightspeed is a capacity-managed X-Series custom application, excluding R-Series, eCom, and Restaurant. Compatible item-level uploads remain available after column review; Clover uses that export path, not a native connection.

Shopify supplies unit cost when available; Square and Lightspeed analyses add costs through CMP's prefilled template. Confirm the observation window, cost completeness, returns, and any sales outside the source before judging individual SKUs.

Weeks 2 to 4: choose actions

Review eligible SKU-level markdown and recovery recommendations, same-category bundle suggestions, margin floors, and liquidation candidates. The owner approves and executes each action through the store's existing systems. A failed markdown alone does not prove that an item should be liquidated.

Weeks 5 to 12: measure again

Refresh the source data and compare what sold, what remains, and actual net proceeds after costs. Directional 30-, 60-, and 90-day inventory-risk estimates and confidence signals require a recent successful supported live connection with sufficient usable history and cost evidence. They support decisions and do not guarantee future sales or recovery prices.

The proposed CMP Exchange publishes a 20% fee on a completed marketplace transaction, with no software subscription. Live listings, Stripe checkout, payouts, and buyer availability remain subject to production acceptance and workspace eligibility; no sale or payout timing is guaranteed.

How to Vet a Closeout Buyer

Do they buy, or do they place?

Ask directly, in the first message. RKS Sales Group and AAA Closeout Liquidators both state the answer on their own sites, and a company that avoids the question is usually placing the goods with someone else.

What's the minimum, and is it stated anywhere?

Ask each buyer for its seller-intake minimum before preparing a full submission. AAA lists a $7,500 minimum in its footer, but the published wording does not establish which side of a transaction it applies to.

When does the money move?

WeBuyExcess pays on warehouse arrival, Merchandise USA within days of a purchase order, AAA describes immediate bank transfer, and three of the seven publish nothing. Get it in writing.

Who pays freight, and who picks up?

H&J includes pickup. Others quote FOB from your location, which puts freight on the seller and changes the net recovery on a heavy lot.

Is the website maintained?

A 2020 copyright footer, a 404 on the company's own submission form, and a missing About page are all present among the verified buyers here. They still operate, and the sloppiness is worth knowing about before you rely on a published term.

Key data point

Of the seven verified buyers on this page, exactly one publishes a minimum lot value and none publishes what it pays as a share of cost, verified across their live sites in September 2026. The seller who arrives with a cost figure and a floor price is the only one negotiating with information.

Start Here: Four Steps Before You Email a Buyer

1. Pull 12 months of sales and sort ascending by units sold. The zero-movement group is your closeout lot, and it's already in your system.
2. Price that group at wholesale cost and total it. Every buyer asks for this figure, and the seller who doesn't have it takes whatever is offered.
3. The free five-step calculator provides a directional trapped-cash estimate from questionnaire answers. A separate free workspace supports SKU-level analysis after a supported store connection or compatible item-level upload.
4. Write the submission once and send it to three buyers. Description, quantities by size and color, packing, wholesale cost, MSRP, FOB location, photos, and your floor price.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a closeout buyer?

A closeout buyer purchases excess, discontinued, or slow-moving inventory outright from a retailer or brand, takes title to it, and resells it through its own channels. The seller gets cash and the goods leave the building, usually in a single transaction.

Which closeout buyer is best for a small independent retailer?

Merchandise USA publishes no minimum and states it's comfortable working at any volume level, which makes it the most accessible verified buyer for a single-store lot. Confirm AAA Closeout Liquidators' seller-intake minimum directly; its $7,500 site-footer minimum does not clearly state its scope.

How do closeout buyers pay?

Terms vary and several buyers publish none. Merchandise USA says it arranges payment within days of issuing a purchase order, WeBuyExcess pays by wire, ACH, check, or credit card once the product arrives at its warehouse, and AAA Closeout Liquidators describes payment as immediate by bank transfer.

What do closeout buyers ask for when quoting?

Expect to supply item descriptions, quantities by size and color, packing method, wholesale cost, MSRP, the FOB location, photos, and the lowest price you'll accept. AAA Closeout Liquidators also asks which chain stores sell the product and the date of manufacture.

Is Closeout Central a closeout buyer?

No. Closeout Central is a supplier directory operated by Sumner Communications, listing third-party suppliers with their own contact details rather than buying inventory itself. Its listings were observed dated only through October 2024.

How much will a closeout buyer pay?

None of the verified buyers publishes a percentage of cost or a formula. Offers are quoted per lot against category, condition, brand, and how quickly the buyer can resell it, which is why arriving with your own cost figure and a floor price matters.

Should I sell to a closeout buyer or run a markdown?

Mark down anything still selling at any rate, because retail margin beats wholesale recovery. A closeout buyer suits inventory with verified historical sales but no recent sales across a sufficiently observed window, and suits a store closure or a category exit where speed matters more than price.

Get the cost figure before you get the offer. It's the only number in the conversation that's yours.