What happens to things like vehicles and appliances when a new model comes out and they haven’t sold out of the previous model?
In: Technology
Depends on the specific item, but in general the older ones get discounted, first at same point of sale (ie. stores putting it on sale or clearance, offering additional discounts/incentives, putting out during tent/sidewalk sales/Prime Day). Cars might be bought by the dealer as service loaners or sold to fleet customers. Other items can also be sold to liquidators, where they might end up at retailers like NewEgg, Fingerhut, warehouse clubs, rent-to-own spots, etc.
A LONG time ago, I worked for a dot com auction site that often got these types of products… Say a new 2005 Sony TV comes out, and we buy a shipping container worth of the 2004 model for way less than Best Buy would have paid wholesale a few months earlier.
One of our merchandisers once got 1000’s of Rio MP3 players for 3 cents each — these were like the first MP3 players, and they only held about 10-12 songs. Originally retailed for $199, I think. By the time the company bought them, they were 2 years old and modern ones held 100 songs or something. But people still bought them for $30 or $40. Of course, the CEO made the mistake of telling what a great price the merchandiser got them for right after they gave us each one as a holiday gift to “thank us for our hard work” after laying off 50% of the company… glad to know doing 2-3 people’s jobs through a holiday season was worth less than a nickel to them.
Latest Answers