Via Trading Wholesale Clothing Lot Review

I recently purchased a clothing liquidation lot from Via Trading to sell in my Poshmark closet. As thrift stores have been closed in recent months, many sellers have turned to online sourcing including buying wholesale or liquidations lots.

In this post, I share what I received in my lot, my impression of the items, and how I think they will sell.

Update 12/6/20: You can read by 6-month update to find out how the items actually sold!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means that I may receive compensation when you click on a product link or purchase an item linked on this site. Click here for details.

** If you don’t have a Poshmark account, you can receive a free $10 bonus when you sign up with my code SFGIRL2015.

** On Mercari, you can get $10 when you sign up with the code JENMHM. The amount may vary by promotion.

What’s a liquidation lot?

Companies like Macy’s and Target liquidate or sell off their goods typically at a discount to recoup their cash. The items are often things that didn’t sell in their stores, returned items, damaged items, and overstock items.

Companies like Via Trading buy those goods deeply discounted and then resell them to people like you and me. Sometimes they buy huge lots of thousands of pieces of clothing and then break them down into smaller lots of 50-100 pieces and sell them at a higher price. That’s how they make their profit.

Many, many liquidation companies exist out there. It pays to be cautious about which one you purchase from because it’s easy to lose money on a bad lot.

I heard about Via Trading from another reseller. She had tried it and made a profit from her lot. So I decided to give it a chance. Anyway, the thrift stores in my area were closed and not likely to open again soon. I need to restock my dwindling Poshmark closet.

By the way, I use the terms liquidation lot and wholesale lot interchangeably in this post.

What I purchased

I purchased the Via Trading HE Department Store Assorted Everyday & Casual Women’s Mostly Fall/Winter Clothing Lot.

HE is their internal abbreviation for the department store. I know it’s Macy’s because I recognize the brands in the lot.

The lot cost $299.25 for 75 items. It’s a little cheaper if you buy more than one lot at a time. Shipping would’ve been about $50, and sales tax would’ve been $20+.

I used a coupon code for first-time buyers that covered most of the cost of shipping. Sales tax was removed because I have a CA reseller license.

Cost: $312.01

No. of items: 75

Cost per item: $4.16

Why I purchased this lot

First off, I love Macy’s! I’ve been shopping there since I was a child. I like some of their brands like Style & Co. and INC for work wear or casual everyday wear. I knew I’d probably find a few things in the lot that I’d want to keep for myself.

My mom and aunts like shopping at Macy’s too. After I sold as many of the items as I could, I could give them items that didn’t sell. At $4.16 an item, it wouldn’t be too much of a loss.

What I received

Watch the video below to see everything I received:

Brands

Style & Co (29)

Karen Scott (12)

Charter Club (11)

INC International Concepts (3)

JM Collection (7)

Alfani (5)

Alfred Dunner (2)

Maison Jules (2)

R&M Richards (1)

Thalia Sodi (1)

Vince Camuto (1)

William Rast (1)

Clothing Type

Sweater (29)

Tops (25) – blouses, shirts, tanks

Pants & jeans (12)

Dress (6)

Skirt (2)

Jacket (1)

Four items came still sealed in their original plastic packaging. They’d never been out on the floor for sale, so I could list them as boutique items on Poshmark and I knew they’d be in new condition.

These are some of my favorites:

Impressions

Macy’s brands. You can probably tell that most of the items I got are Macy’s brands. That’s typical of this lot. I don’t mind that as I knew what I was getting. Some people may get an item or two from outside brands like Nike or Patagonia.
Good variety of sizes. There’s a variety of sizes in this lot from petite and regular sizes to woman’s sizes.
Plus-size items are good sellers. I got plenty of them. For example, I got pants that were size 14, 16, and 20 and a skirt that was size 32.
Petite sizes tend to be harder to sell. I got 24 items that were petite size, but they spanned Petite Petite (like PXS) to Petite XL.

Good variety of clothing types. I got plenty of sweaters and a decent amount of pants and jeans, which is great because this is marketed as a fall/winter lot. Those tend to sell for more than simple summer basics like tank tops and leggings. I only got one tank top and one pair of leggings in this lot.
New items. These items are new with tag, which is worth more when it comes to resale. I was happy that 74 out of 75 items had price tags on them. The one that didn’t hav a price tag looked new.
Damaged items. Every liquidation lot will come with some items with damage. That may be why the item didn’t sell in the first place.
I counted 11 items with some sort of flaw in them. Some had black marks from a hanger or handling that I washed out. Those could be sold. There were only 3 items I thought were too damaged to sell.

How will this lot sell?

Macy’s brands aren’t the hottest sellers. They’re not the trendiest clothes, so they’re not going to fly off the shelves like the trendier brands you see on IG influencers or fashion bloggers. But there are people who like these brands and will buy them like me.

It will take some time to sell off most of these clothes. I posted the clothing in the spring and this lot is fall and winter heavy. I’ve sold a few of the items between when I received this lot and posted this review.

I’m okay with waiting for sales. Thrift stores in my area are closed as I write this. I have few other ways to source new clothes for a few dollars each. And most importantly, I do think I’ll make a profit on this box in time.

My predictions:

Sales will likely take time. Check with me in 6 months!
I guesstimate I’ll average around $5-10 profit per item when all is said and done.
I think these brands will move better on eBay versus Poshmark.

Is this box right for you?

Finally, I want to share some thoughts if you’re thinking about purchasing this liquidation lot or any liquidation lot for yourself.

Can you afford the upfront cost? This lot cost about $300 plus shipping and tax, which can be a lot to invest in inventory knowing that you may not make that money back right away. Sales can take time depending on what you’re selling.
Are you comfortable with mystery boxes? The lot listings have pictures of what you’ll get and some even have unboxing videos, but you don’t know exactly what you’ll get until you open it. It’s like a mystery box. Some may be worth it and others not.
I’ve documented my disappointment at previous purchases of different liquidation lots and mystery boxes from other companies and individual resellers in the past. This is the best lot that I’ve gotten so far in terms of items and value.
Does the lot fit with your closet and brand? Some people have a tailored closet where they sell only vintage, only trendy brands, or only luxury items. Selling Macy’s clothes might not fit your aesthetic. I’m not too concerned with that. I sell all clothes and accessories as long as I think it’s profitable, which I think these items are.
Do you have alternative sources of inventory? Liquidation lots have become more appealing to me because thrift stores in my area are closed right now. If your inventory hot spots are open and giving you great items with high net profit, maybe you don’t need to look elsewhere right now. Just note this in the back of your mind as an option in the future.

Have you purchased from Via Trading or other liquidation companies? What has been your experience?