If you’re a brand looking to sell excess inventory, chances are you’ve explored most of the traditional options: selling to discount retailers, working with off-price chains, exporting to international markets, or donating your product for tax credits.
These strategies can all be effective in the right situation, and we’ve covered them in depth across our blog. If you missed it, take a look at:
- When to Use Off-Price Retailers for Excess Inventory
- Donating Surplus Inventory: Pros, Cons, and Tax Considerations
- Exporting Your Overstock: What Brands Need to Know
But when it comes to selling excess inventory without compromising brand value, a new channel is outperforming them all: Resellers.
Resellers are small business owners, online sellers, and community-based entrepreneurs who buy branded excess inventory and resell it through online marketplaces, live-streaming apps, or curated shops. What started as a niche segment has exploded into the largest and fastest-growing outlet for surplus product. In fact, the resale market is now projected to reach $276 billion by 2028, surpassing the combined annual revenue of TJX Companies, Ross, Burlington, and other off-price giants.
In this article, we’ll break down why more brands are partnering with resellers, what makes them different from traditional liquidation buyers, and how to tap into this powerful sales channel without hurting your brand.
Who Are Resellers?
Resellers are independent buyers who purchase inventory from brands, manufacturers, or distributors and sell it through secondary channels. They are not retailers in the traditional sense, they don’t typically have brick-and-mortar stores or national shelf space, but they operate in the resale economy, where product is sold directly to end consumers in creative, often community-driven ways.
What separates resellers from typical discount channels is how they work:
- They often buy in smaller quantities and mixed lots.
- They prefer variety, different sizes, colors, SKUs, not just pallets of the same item.
- They resell in online ecosystems where trust, curation, and authenticity matter.
- They can move product discreetly without undercutting your MSRP or flooding marketplaces.
It’s important to understand that resellers are not a monolith. Some operate full-time eCommerce businesses. Others are hobbyists, influencers, or collectors. Some run storefronts on eBay or Poshmark; others focus entirely on live sales via Whatnot or Instagram. But all of them are looking for high-quality branded inventory they can resell for a profit.
Where Do Resellers Sell?
The landscape for resellers has grown far beyond Craigslist or local flea markets. Today’s resellers operate across professional platforms with millions of active users and built-in commerce tools. Here are the top channels where resellers are selling product in 2025:
1. Online Marketplaces
Resellers use these to sell across large, searchable platforms:
- eBay: Still one of the largest platforms for everything from apparel and electronics to home goods and collectibles.
- Poshmark: Focuses on fashion and lifestyle goods. Strong U.S. female user base and social-commerce features.
- Mercari: Popular with Gen Z and mobile-first users. Allows for quick listing and easy shipping.
- Depop: Known for trend-driven resale, especially among younger shoppers.
These platforms give resellers national reach and a built-in buyer audience without needing to run their own website.
2. Live Selling Apps
The biggest growth channel for resellers is live selling, which are real-time sales via video:
- Whatnot: Now a dominant force in resale. Known for fast-paced, category-based streams for fashion, footwear, beauty, and collectibles.
- Popshop Live and TalkShopLive: Cater to curated sellers with small audiences. Some brands even use them for exclusive drops or community events.
These apps allow resellers to build buyer relationships, move inventory quickly, and showcase your product with energy and excitement.
3. Private Channels and DTC
Many experienced resellers build email lists, text groups, or Discord servers where they run exclusive sales. Others build Shopify stores or even subscription boxes with mixed branded products.
This private-seller model is especially appealing to brands who want their inventory moved quietly, without mass discounts showing up in Google Shopping results or triggering MAP violations.
Why Brands Are Partnering With Resellers
More brands are working directly or indirectly with resellers as part of their excess inventory strategy. Here’s why.
1. Higher Recovery Value Than Traditional Liquidators
Resellers aren’t buying by the truckload,but they also don’t need 10% discounts to make a margin. They’re often comfortable buying at 40–60% off wholesale because they sell with context: curated listings, live storytelling, and niche audiences that value the product.
That means higher prices per unit for you, especially when compared to bulk liquidators, exporters, or off-price chains that demand steep markdowns. As we covered in our post Maximizing Recovery Value for Surplus Inventory, every percentage point matters and resellers consistently outperform in blended margin.
2. They Work With Smaller, Mixed Lots
Traditional buyers want uniformity. A truckload of the same SKU in the same size, color, and packaging. But most brands don’t have that when it comes to surplus. Instead, you have:
- A mix of returns or canceled orders
- Out-of-season styles
- Discontinued products
- Packaging changes or promo variations
- Broken size runs
Resellers love this kind of inventory. They’ll take 300 units of 20 different SKUs and make it work. This flexibility gives you more ways to move the long tail of your overstock without sitting on it quarter after quarter.
3. They Sell Into Your Brand’s Community
Many resellers are already fans of your brand. They sell into communities that already know and love your product, whether it’s Lululemon fans on Poshmark or sneakerheads on Whatnot.
You’re not just pushing product into clearance. You’re reactivating customer interest, giving buyers another way to engage with your brand, and keeping product in the hands of people who value it.
This is especially important for brand managers looking to maintain image and goodwill. Resellers become unofficial ambassadors, giving your product second life, without undermining your retail relationships.
4. More Control and Less Risk
One of the biggest concerns with liquidation is public visibility. Will your markdowns show up on Google Shopping? Will your partners complain about channel conflict?
Resellers sidestep this by selling in semi-private environments with less price scraping and more discretion. You can:
- Enforce MAP pricing when applicable
- Request non-disclosure on sourcing
- Track who’s buying and where it’s going
Compare that to dumping inventory into a public auction or off-price chain where you lose control of where and how your product appears. We explain this further in How to Protect Your Brand When Liquidating Inventory.
The Resale Market Is Now Bigger Than Off-Price Retail
This isn’t a side trend, it’s now the dominant secondary market. The U.S. resale market is projected to hit $276 billion by 2028, according to GlobalData. That’s bigger than the combined revenue of TJX Companies ($54B), Ross Stores ($20B), Burlington ($9B), and Big Lots ($4.7B). And it’s growing faster.
Why does this matter? Because resellers are now more than a fringe solution, they’re the new backbone of inventory recovery. And most brands haven’t even scratched the surface of what this channel can do.
How to Find the Right Resellers
There are two ways to access the reseller channel:
1. Direct Outreach
Some brands prefer to build their own private list of resellers by reaching out to small business owners, online resellers, or niche buyers already familiar with their category. This approach allows for full control over pricing, presentation, and buyer vetting. It also opens the door to long-term relationships with trusted resellers who can handle ongoing inventory needs. However, it takes time, effort, and internal resources to identify, screen, and manage these partnerships at scale. Because resellers can only handle so much inventory, it takes a lot of work building up that platform.
2. Use a Curated Platform
Services like The Reseller Source help brands tap into pre-vetted reseller networks across different verticals. They focus on discretion, brand alignment, and long-term relationships rather than one-off bulk sales. Whether you’re moving beauty products, apparel, footwear, or home goods, a curated network like this can match your inventory with resellers who already specialize in your category, and know how to sell it. If you’re looking for a discreet, high-return option for surplus inventory, Platforms like The Reseller Source are worth a look.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Overlook the Reseller Channel
If your top excess inventory options are discount retail, off-price, or liquidation exporters, you’re leaving money, and more importantly, control, on the table. Resellers offer a fresh, flexible, and often more profitable outlet for your excess inventory. They want what you have: branded, authentic product with a story. And they’ll often pay more, sell better, and protect your brand while doing it. The reseller economy is no longer emerging. It’s here, and it’s redefining what it means to liquidate smart.