Sell excess luggage and travel goods

What travel goods can I get an offer on?

• Suitcases: hardside (polycarbonate, ABS, aluminum) and softside (nylon, polyester), carry-on through large checked sizes
• Luggage sets: two-, three- and four-piece sets
• Duffels and weekenders
• Backpacks: school, laptop, travel and hiking daypacks
• Business cases: laptop bags, rolling briefcases
• Travel accessories: packing cubes, toiletry bags, neck pillows, locks, tags, scales, adapters

Surplus comes from brand color drops, retailer resets, canceled orders, e-commerce returns, and travel-retail store closures.

Why freight and packing are central

Luggage is one of the lightest categories per cubic foot. That makes how goods are packed a big part of value.

A trailer of single-carton large suitcases holds far fewer units than one of nested sets. Before quoting, we work out units per trailer. To work it out yourself, take the carton dimensions from your packing list, check how many cartons fit on a pallet footprint at a safe stack height, and multiply by the pallet positions in a trailer. A 53-ft dry van takes 26 standard pallets single-stacked on the floor. Nested sets often fit several times as many units in that space as single-boxed large cases.

Sets, sizes and airline rules

Luggage resellers think in sets and sizes. A complete three-piece set is a natural shelf item. If the carry-ons have all sold, leaving only mediums and larges, the set is broken and each piece is sold alone, usually for less.

Carry-on size matters because airlines publish maximum carry-on dimensions. A "carry-on" that is a little over common airline limits is less attractive. List actual dimensions, including wheels and handles, per SKU.

Condition grading for luggage

Wheels, telescoping handles and zippers are the most common faults. Hardside shells show scuffs and pressure cracks. Write down which faults you see so we do not have to assume the worst.

Color, material and brand

• Colors. Black, navy and gray are the most liquid. Bright and seasonal colors sell to specific buyers, often export markets or discount stores, at a lower price.
• Material. Polycarbonate hardside is widely used and flexes under impact; ABS hardside is usually cheaper and more prone to cracking; softside is versatile and dense to ship.
• Brand. Known brands hold value and some restrict online resale and resale near their own outlet stores. Tell us of any such limits.

Travel accessory details

Locks with TSA-recognized mechanisms are a selling point; mention it if your locks carry the mark. Electrical travel adapters and converters need their safety listing marks and fit the plug standards on the package. Neck pillows and packing cubes are bulky but light, like luggage.

Who buys closeout luggage

Luggage is a steady closeout line with a few distinct outlets:

• Off-price chains buy branded sets and singles in neutral colors, usually in quantity and ticket-ready.
• Discount and variety stores take value brands and broken sets priced as singles.
• Online resellers want branded, new-in-box pieces, where the brand permits online sales.
• Export buyers take sets and large checked sizes for markets where travelers buy luggage for long trips and migration; brighter colors often do well there.
• Bin stores take accessories, small bags and returns.

Demand rises ahead of the summer travel season and the year-end holidays. Selling before those peaks helps.

Restrictions luggage brands ask for

Luggage brands often run their own outlet stores and protect them. The usual requests are no resale online with the brand's photos, no resale within a set distance of the brand's outlets, and removal of hang tags that show the original price. We agree these before pricing, and buyer-facing listings never show the seller's company name. Be specific about any restriction you need, such as which channels, which countries or which areas, because a vague condition is hard for anyone to follow, and each condition you add narrows the pool of buyers.

Luggage offer checklist

• Brand, model or style, description and UPC per line
• Piece sizes and dimensions (with wheels and handle)
• Set composition, number of full sets and any loose pieces
• Material and color per line
• Packing method: nested, single carton, bulk
• Condition per line; returns graded
• Retail price per piece or per set
• Photos: product front and back, wheels and handle, an open carton, pallets
• Carton count, pallet count, location, dock access
• Channel restrictions you need, such as no resale near your outlets

Mistakes luggage sellers make

• Unnesting sets during returns processing and shipping pieces loose
• Not listing dimensions, so buyers cannot judge carry-on sizes
• Stacking unboxed hardside cases, which cracks shells
• Selling broken sets as sets
• Mixing returned pieces with faults into new stock
• Forgetting the lock codes: TSA-lock cases returned with an unknown combination need resetting, and buyers want to know before they open the carton
• Leaving plastic protective film and desiccant out of hardside cases, which invites scuffs and musty odor in storage
• Quoting carry-on sizes from the catalog rather than measuring a sample, when wheel and handle designs changed between production runs

A worked example

For illustration only, not market data: a luggage brand drops two colors from its range. It has a few hundred three-piece hardside sets in those colors, nested one set per carton, plus some loose carry-ons and a small group of returned pieces.

The brand asks that the sets not be sold online under its name or within its outlet stores' areas. Nested packing means the whole lot ships on far fewer trailers than the same units boxed singly.

Off-price chains are steady luggage buyers; read how off-price retailers buy. To see the buying side, visit wholesale closeout luggage. Send your line list through the offer form on this page.