Liquidation Dot Com (lcom) is an online-auction site for surplus goods. One of the best features of lcom is that you have high visibility with any of your auctions. Unlike eBay, where there are thousands of listings per category, lcom categories generally have 2-3 pages of listings. You will definitely get eyeballs viewing your product.

The lcom process works as follows: you submit your product information to lcom, including the description, pictures, weight, etc. The staff will then put up an ad for you. I have found them to be both helpful and friendly. After the auction has closed, a third-party shipping company will contact you to arrange the pickup. You can view all of this progress at the lcom Web site. The customer and seller have no direct contact - questions are answered online, but are filtered through lcom.

All lcom auctions start at $100 with no reserve. Normally I can sell a whole pallet of product and receive a price equivalent of what I would receive selling them on eBay one at a time. The fees for your auction are 15% of the winning auction price with a minimum of $150. The $150 minimum may seem high, but the exposure and ability to move a large load of product at eBay-type pricing makes it very attractive. Payment usually takes 7 - 10 days after the auction closes, depending on the shipping times, etc.

The main negative experience occurs when a closed auction goes into dispute. This doesn't happen often, but it can be very costly when it does. The customer has 2 days to review the product after the load has been received. If he disputes the purchase, the seller is notified and the lcom team makes a decision as to whether the reason is valid. If the load is returned, the seller pays shipping both ways, from your site to the bidder's and back, plus the full 15% commission.

I have sold many lots of product on lcom; and the biggest lesson I learned is to select the right category. There are various categories to describe your product such as new, shelf-pull, used and salvage. I have found that it's best to put your product in one category below what it actually is to save any disputes; for example, if you have used computers, list them under salvage.

I have found virtually no price difference in the final sale by putting goods in a lower category, and it limits customer disputes. It may sound strange, but the ended auction price is almost the same. As I wrote earlier, if an auction is disputed, you not only lose your time, but the full 15% commission and shipping costs. Believe me - this is something you want to avoid!

If you have slow movers on eBay or overstock items, consider using lcom as a good venue to sell bulk product.