How do you get rid of surplus inventory?
Henry Morales
Published Mar 25, 2026
Here are 10 ways that might help you reduce your excess inventory.
- Return for a refund or credit.
- Divert the inventory to new products.
- Trade with industry partners.
- Sell to customers.
- Consign your product.
- Liquidate excess inventory.
- Auction it yourself.
- Scrap it.
How do you calculate inventory surplus?
How to calculate excess inventory
- FORMULA. Inventory Turnover Ratio= Cost of Goods Sold/ Average Inventory.
- Example. In the first 6 months of 2018, I sold different brands of diapers in my store.
- [18,500+11,300]/2= $14,900.
- Inventory turnover ratio= $48,000/$14,900=3.22.
What is extra inventory called?
Safety stock is the extra inventory a company buys and stores to cover unexpected events. Safety stock has carrying costs, but it supports customer satisfaction. Similarly, anticipation stock comprises raw materials or finished items a business purchases based on sales and production trends.
How do I get rid of inventory quickly?
If you’re looking at a surplus of merchandise in your store, there are several steps you can take to liquidate them:
- Refresh, re-merchandise, or remarket.
- Double or even triple-expose your slow-movers to sell old inventory.
- Discount those items (but be strategic about it)
- Bundle items.
- Offer them as freebies or incentives.
How do you sell a surplus inventory?
10 strategies to sell excess inventory
- Sell online.
- Offer sales.
- Bulk discounts.
- Give products extra exposure.
- Product bundling.
- Remarketing.
- Liquidation.
- Donate for a tax write-off.
How do you determine inventory?
Find the ending balance of raw-materials inventory from the previous period. Add the value of any raw-materials purchases made during the period. Then subtract the value of raw materials used during the period to determine the value of raw materials on hand.
How do I know if I have overstock inventory?
Overstock can be determined by looking at historical sales trends, and comparing these to current stock on hand. This concept is closely related to that of inventory turns, or inventory turnover, but is represented as a more actionable form of data.
Where can I get rid of inventory?
Aside from liquidation companies there are B2B sites where you can sell excess stock at no cost to you. Two of these sites include liquidation.com and overstock.com. You can also try eBay (a popular and well-known e-commerce site) where you can create a business sellers account to sell overstock.
What can you do with unsold inventory?
Selling unsold inventory is easy when you know all of your options.
- Liquidation Wholesalers. You can find companies who specialize in liquidating unwanted inventory.
- Discount Pricing. You can offer deep discounts to customers.
- Company Yard Sales for Charity.
- The Competition.
How do you manage stock out situations?
How To Reduce Stock Levels And Avoid Stock Outs.
- Master your lead times.
- Automate tasks with inventory management software.
- Calculate reorder points.
- Use accurate demand forecasting.
- Try vendor managed inventory.
- Implement a Just in Time (JIT) inventory system.
- Use consignment inventory.
- Make use of safety stock.
Is high inventory good?
The primary benefit of excess inventory is an increase in customer satisfaction. Having excess inventory means you can get products to your customers quickly. As EazyStock points out, holding excess inventory often indicates cost savings, since it’s often evidence of having purchased supplies in bulk at reduced prices.