I get emails, lots of emails, from business people looking for wholesalers and liquidators they can trust and who will provide them with the merchandise they need with a minimum of trouble. As a result I keep an eye open for new or lesser-known wholesalers that fulfill these needs.

I was fortunate enough to recently come across a very good wholesale auction liquidation company called United Auctions of Saddle Brook, New Jersey. I was impressed by the variety of merchandise they provide and, compared to many case lot wholesalers, the abundant information on the products available.

Their listings are very clear and specific, complete with good images, suggested retail prices, and all other vital information. A separate product page contains even more images of the goods offered that show the stitching, the cut, and perhaps most importantly the tags. These images amount to a promise of what exactly you are ordering and showing the tags will help assure retailers that they are getting the real goods. The fact they also provide their Dunn and Bradstreet number and rating is just one sign of company proud of their reputation for quality.

While they specialize in apparel and footwear they also offer domestic supplies and health and beauty aids. Presently on their homepage they are even offering high-end Persian rugs, this kind of merchandise in an absolute rarity among wholesale auctioneers. For example a quick visit to United Auction’s most recent arrivals shows they’ve just gotten in an excellent collection of winter coats, including 24,000 poly-fill women’s coats in four colors and over 11,000 pairs of name brand women’s designer jeans.

The minimum order depends on the item but is generally 100 units, a pallet load, or truckload. The individual minimum is clearly stated in the product information as the FOB information.

After locating the merchandise you want to bid on you simply contact the company either by phone or email. They will inform you as to where the bidding stands at present. You provide United Auctions with two simple pieces of information, your contact information and how much you are willing to pay for the merchandise offered. Unlike many wholesalers they do not require that provide a tax id number. If you don’t like hassles this is one of the simplest bidding methods I have come across.

“It’s our goal to make the product selection, bidding, and shipping processes as simple as possible for our customers,” said Lawrence Manus, the head of customer service at United Auctions. “While getting quality merchandise is a very important part of a retailers business it shouldn’t be a distraction to what they really do, sell their wares.”

They provide an emailing service to keep customers up to date on the latest merchandise coming in. I’ve seen a lot of wholesalers that have services like this but at United Auction you can choose to receive email alerts that pertain only to the categories of merchandise you want. For example, you can get emails about footwear, groceries, or apparel.

During the auction the bids move upwards at a rate of $.25 until all bidders have reached the highest amount they are willing to pay or time runs out. There is an auction page showing the progress on particular auctions but you are probably better off staying on top of the developing auction by email or phone as the auction page is not terribly up to date.

Overseas businesses are something of a specialty of United Auctions and they can arrange shipping to Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa. These are all areas of the world were discount retailing is booming and retailers there will be glad to find a wholesaler so familiar with the particular difficulties associated with getting merchandise to these parts of the world. The website is even available translated into Spanish.

If your online or home-based business needs a wholesale supplier you can be confident isn’t a fly-by-night scam or operating out of a “back room” you should take a long look at United Auctions. A simple to use system, a reputation for honesty, and high quality merchandise are the factors that make an online supplier stand out and they have it all.
Art micklewraith is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Top Ten Wholesale. He can be reached at Content and Solutions or by email at artmicklewraith@gmail.com.