Liquidators sell excess inventory

Time to buy stuff you want! Stores will have to clear this out to make space for the coming holiday season goods.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/glut-of-goods-at-target-walmart…

**Glut of Goods at Target, Walmart Is a Boon for Liquidators**
**Off-price chains are awash in appliances, apparel and outdoor furniture that never made it to stores**

**By Suzanne Kapner, The Wall Street Journal, July 4, 2022**

**The excess inventory piling up at large retailers such as Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. is proving a boon for liquidators and other companies that help dispose of the oversupply.**

**Liquidity Services Inc., Xcess Limited, B-Stock LLC and other companies said they are seeing a glut of kitchen appliances, televisions, outdoor furniture and apparel that major chains are trying to clear out. In many cases, the liquidators are picking up pallets at the ports or from a warehouse without the goods ever hitting store shelves and are selling the items to smaller retailers and individuals who resell them online....**

**Larger discount chains like TJX Cos.’ T.J. Maxx and Ross Stores Inc. also are benefiting from the oversupply. They often buy overruns directly from manufacturers, whereas the liquidators scoop up excess supply from the largest retailers and resell the goods to smaller chains, mom-and-pop shops, online-auction sites and individuals, who resell them at flea markets and websites such as [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) Inc., eBay Inc. and Craigslist, industry executives said. ...** [end quote]

These are first-quality goods that were never sent to stores.

Out-of-season winter clothing sales are always good, but this year there is a glut of last winter’s clothes that sat in supply chain bottlenecks.

The same is probably true of electronics which have been superseded by this year’s models.

Hmmm…our 2009 Panasonic plasma TV has lost its lowest 3" of pixels, hiding subtitles of foreign movies. This may be a good opportunity to replace it.

I’m not sure whether to replace our 1987 Westinghouse washer, dryer, dishwasher and refrigerator since they are workhorses and still chugging along. I’ve read that the latest versions are inferior in quality.

Wendy

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I’m not sure whether to replace our 1987 Westinghouse washer, dryer, dishwasher and refrigerator since they are workhorses and still chugging along. I’ve read that the latest versions are inferior in quality.

About 15 years ago, I snagged a high efficiency fridge on sale. Cashed in on a bounty the local utility company is paying on old fridges and dehumidifiers. Then compared electric bills with a year earlier in September and October, when neither the a/c or furnace is running a lot. The payback in lower utility bills vs the cost of the fridge was about 3 years.

As far as I am concerned, only furnace and fridge are mission critical. Everything else can run until it dies.

Pump motor on the 15ish year old washer quit last year. Ordered a new motor on Amazon. Took the clothes to the laundromat for a couple weeks. Stuffed the new motor in, when it arrived, and back in business.

1982 dish washer ran until it didn’t. Noticed the timer knob was rotating, but no wash action. Washed dishes by hand for a couple weeks, while I shopped. Snagged the new dischwasher I wanted, on sale.

Be careful of the media talking “retailers desperate to get rid of overstock, HUGE DEALS TO BE HAD”. I have been seeing ads like that on MSN and Yahoo for new cars, while the media is screaming “SHORTAGE SHORTAGE” car price inflation hysteria.

Steve

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I’m not sure whether to replace our 1987 Westinghouse washer, dryer, dishwasher and refrigerator since they are workhorses and still chugging along. I’ve read that the latest versions are inferior in quality.

The answer is “depends.” Newer refrigerators use vastly less energy the older refrigerators. This guy created database of refrigerators and their energy consumption. Plug in your old fridge’s model number and get an estimate:

http://www.homeenergy.org/show/article/nav/refrigerators/id/…

But I suspect your 1987 fridge uses about four times the energy of a new model. Plus many utilities have rebates for buying a new fridge, so it might be cost effective to ditch the old one.

Similarly, new front loading washers use much less water and energy than the old top loaders. They also dry your clothes better so your drying time goes down. Easier on your clothes as well. My Korean built front loader washer crapped out after about 12 years. The repair guy said he only recommends U.S. manufactured washers and dryers because they are more durable.

New dishwashers use vastly less water and energy than old dishwashers. As a bonus, they get your dishes cleaner too. Most (maybe all) manufacturers don’t recommend rising your dishes prior to loading because it is unnecessary. New dishwashers use about 4.5 gallons of water per load. By comparison, a typical kitchen faucet uses 1.5 gallons per minute. So from a water/energy standpoint, you are better off doing your dishes in a new dishwasher than doing them by hand.

What new dishwashers don’t do well is dry. If you want a dishwasher that gets things both clean and dry you’ll have to drop some coin.

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The repair guy said he only recommends U.S. manufactured washers and dryers because they are more durable.

Keep in mind, some guy imposed a protectionist tariff on Korean washers, to juice Whirlpool’s profits, a few years ago. That tariff expires somewhere around next January or February.

In 2010, my front load Samsung cost $480. Last summer, when the pump motor failed in the Samsung, I stopped at Lowe’s. A top load Whirlpool would have cost me $720. I bought a new pump motor for the Samsung.

Steve

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i prefer speed queen myself

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i prefer speed queen myself

Our experience also. No mold issues to deal with. The one we bought a few years ago has no electronics to fail, and metal gears instead of plastic ones. Cleans much better - and faster - than the front loaders our daughter pays much more for. Can even use your hot water if you wish instead of now mandated temps. Understand you can still fill the tub full and use it unlike the cut-offs of the front loaders. Front loaders advertise larger tubs but you can actually wash more in a Speed Queen.

We actually rushed to get the old model before some new ones governed by restrictions came out. I understand the latest ones have gone to electronic controls, but the moving parts are still industrial grade.

Made in USA. A quality statement, not a political one.

Fair warning. We are now officially “Pluggers” for anyone who still reads the comics. So we go on results - not bling and advertising. Don’t think we can save the world by using less water for poorer results.

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Be careful of the media talking “retailers desperate to get rid of overstock, HUGE DEALS TO BE HAD”.

I’m in the market for a new fridge. I’d like to know where to find these deals at a physical store in my area. I am NOT going to be buying a fridge off of some rando on eBay. Been burned there once. Will not do so again.

–Peter

What new dishwashers don’t do well is dry.

Mine is one of those, and I can’t figure out why. How hard would it have been to put a micro size computer fan or similar on the back vent and let it run for an hour or two after a cycle? What would that add, $10 to the price? Less?

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What new dishwashers don’t do well is dry.

Mine is one of those, and I can’t figure out why. How hard would it have been to put a micro size computer fan or similar on the back vent and let it run for an hour or two after a cycle? What would that add, $10 to the price? Less?

I just open the door a couple of inches when they are done to let them air dry?

My washer and dryer set (Samsung) bought at Costco special deal with C$250 off if I bought them together). I particularly love the washer as it doesn’t have one of those stupid agitators in the middle of the tub taking up space and tangling the clothes but rather the huge tub has agitator action around the edges of the inside of the tub. What used to require two loads often gets done in one.

Tim

OT - Amazon delivery today dropped off in from of fifth floor condo door. Went to check the mail a few minutes later and the delivery lady (mid-30s) was hanging out in our hall … we have AC her truck doesn’t and it was hot and very humid today.

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i prefer speed queen myself

For the halibut, I checked. Local stores offer top load Speed Queens for $1,000, double what I paid for my front load Samsung. Front load Speed Queens run $2,000.

And, all it takes is for an MBA to get his mitts on Speed Queen, and he’ll be charging $1,000 for washers made worse than the $500 ones.

Steve

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I’m not sure whether to replace our 1987 Westinghouse washer, dryer, dishwasher and refrigerator since they are workhorses and still chugging along. I’ve read that the latest versions are inferior in quality.

They’re probably horrifically inefficient and “killing the planet” to use the vernacular. But, it is indeed true that most (all?) of the newer stuff is of much lower quality and will not last anywhere near as long.

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Y’all probably know this but go to the local appliance guys who charge $20 to $50 more for a similar model to what you see at the big box stores.

The local guys will have the catalogs and pretty much know which machines are reliable.

The box stores demand cheaper out of the manufactures not just $20 to $50 cheaper. The machines they are pitching are much less reliable.

<<What new dishwashers don’t do well is dry.>>

Mine is one of those, and I can’t figure out why. How hard would it have been to put a micro size computer fan or similar on the back vent and let it run for an hour or two after a cycle? What would that add, $10 to the price? Less?

I think the issue is twofold:

  1. In order for a fan to be able to get the water out, the water would have to be in the air (because fans blow air). And it would have to be in the air for quite a while (enough time to blow it all out). The way to get the water into the air is to heat up the dishes. Heating stuff up, in general, costs a lot of energy.
  2. The fan would have to blow the wet air OUT. Obviously. If it blew it inside, the water would all still be there. So, the machine would need “holes” for all the airflow. It would need holes to bring [dry] air in, and holes to blow [wet] air out. BUT the machine also has to be waterproof so the washing part works properly. So it would need complex mechanisms to open/close for airflow/waterproofness. It’s an engineering nightmare … and engineering nightmares are VERY expensive, and often very unreliable. And it would blow humid air into your kitchen.

Maybe a gigantic high speed fan could blow all the water off the dishes somehow, but then every item in the dishwasher would have to be well separated and strongly clipped in so they don’t smash against each other and break. And that gigantic fan would also require a bunch of extra energy. And the dishwasher would perhaps be 3 times the current size. :joy:

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1. In order for a fan to be able to get the water out,

I just open the door a crack when the cycle is done. Did that on the 1982 machine. Do it on the 2020 machine.

Steve

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I just open the door a crack when the cycle is done. Did that on the 1982 machine. Do it on the 2020 machine.

We just leave the dishes in the dishwasher for a longer time, like till the next day. Usually someone opens the door at some point to take something out anyway. I’m guessing that most people are less patient than you or I am, and they want their dishes dry RIGHT at the end of the cycle so they can put them away immediately.

Anyway, with all dishwashers, the mugs always have a pool of water on top of their bottoms. And we use a lot of mugs since almost everyone has a coffee or two each day. And that pool is never going to dry on its own. I keep trying to convince everyone to empty the bottom rack (plates, cutlery, etc) first, and then reverse all the mugs so they can drip down and actually eventually get dry. :rofl:

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I keep trying to convince everyone to empty the bottom rack (plates, cutlery, etc) first, and then reverse all the mugs so they can drip down and actually eventually get dry.

When the cycle is done, I pull out the top rack, tip the mugs over onto their sides to let the excess water spill onto the inside of the dishwasher door, then close everything back up leaving the door cracked open an inch or two.

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LOVEd this thread as it shows one of METAR’s strongest uniting cultural traits – LBYM as a pleasurable lifetime skill uniting analysis and wry humor.

As a side note the laundromat industry has gone through a big revolution recently, with the European laundromats I have used while traveling in Spain (Madrid, Malaga, Granada, Mallorca) featuring much tougher, faster, energy efficient units built into the walls stacked two rows high and connecte4 to a centralized control cum pay point cum security monitoring panel that also manages the injection of detergent and softener. You arrive, stick your clothes in, shut door, walk three meters or so on average to the pay point where you select heat, speed, and soaping options (yes, no more need to buy stupid little soap boxes!), pay, and your machine locks and starts to run loading soap etc and tells you when to return. You leave, if you wish, and return when done and move stuff to a dryer, and leave again. I was all done in less than an hour usually spent in some lovely park or sidewalk cafe.

Worked so well that if I lived in a city anymore I would seriously consider not owning a washer/dryer.

david fb

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The repair guy said he only recommends U.S. manufactured washers and dryers because they are more durable.

I bought a Venezuelan made GE washer and dryer. 25 years later, after three or four minor repairs, it was still working fine.

The Captain

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MarkR: Anyway, with all dishwashers, the mugs always have a pool of water on top of their bottoms. And we use a lot of mugs since almost everyone has a coffee or two each day. And that pool is never going to dry on its own. I keep trying to convince everyone to empty the bottom rack (plates, cutlery, etc) first, and then reverse all the mugs so they can drip down and actually eventually get dry. :rofl:

We have been using what started out as identical mugs for many years, my coffee is black no sugar so a quick rinse with only an occasional trip to the dishwasher does it. }};-D

Wife yucks hers up with milk and sweetener so there is little chance of mixing them up.

Meanwhile we have acquired lots of mugs that rarely get used unless company shows up. I would love to purge a bunch of them for the cupboard space as they don’t pay rent. Many don’t fit in our “Cup-at-a-time Coffee Maker” (not pods).

Oh I still have my Black and Gold Trump Mug that daughter bought me for babysitting her stupid mutt while she was stuck in Vegas at one of her husband’s trade shows. I used it to hold my tooth brush. We each have our own full bathroom in the condo … we don’t share well. }};-D

Tim

Worked so well that if I lived in a city anymore I would seriously consider not owning a washer/dryer.

The lady who owns the local laundromat loves rainy days. Even if people wash at home they need the laundromat to dry. BTW, she has washers of three sizes, the big ones for items people can’t wash at home.

The Captain

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