Wholesale apparel closeouts and clothing lots
Skyline Dealz Marketplace offers closeout clothing to approved resellers in three main forms: new-with-tags overstock by the piece, shelf pulls and returns by the pallet, and mixed apparel by the pound. Size scale, tag status and season decide what a clothing load is worth to you far more than the brand list on the manifest.
Reviewed by Tyler Kober · Updated
Key takeaways
- Ask for the size scale per style; a closeout heavy in extra-small and 3XL sells very differently from one centered on medium and large.
- New-with-tags, tags-cut and no-tags goods suit different channels; check which you are buying before you price.
- Clothing priced per pound only makes sense if you know the mix of categories and the share that is resaleable.
- Off-season apparel is cheap for a reason; it pays if you can hold it or ship it to a market in the opposite season.
Three ways clothing closeouts are sold
By the piece. New overstock and closeouts from brands, importers and retailers. You get a manifest with style, color, size, units and retail. Packaging is either flat-packed in cartons (cheaper to ship, needs steaming or folding) or on hangers in garment-on-hanger cartons or wardrobe boxes.
By the pallet. Shelf pulls and customer returns, usually summarized by department: womens, mens, kids, intimates and sleepwear, activewear, accessories. Item-level manifests are less common here.
By the pound. Mixed apparel in gaylords or bales, new, returned or used. You pay by weight and take what is inside. Our apparel by the pound page covers the format in detail.
What should you check on a clothing manifest?
Start with the size scale, the tag status and the season. Then look at the department mix and whether the retail values look like real selling prices or inflated compare-at prices. For piece-priced goods, the fields that matter:
- Style and color count. Thousands of units across five styles is easy to merchandise. The same units across eight hundred styles is a sorting job.
- Size scale per style. Look for whether the sizes cluster in the middle or the extremes.
- Plus, petite, tall and kids sizing. Valuable to the right store, slow elsewhere.
- Tag status. Tags on, tags cut, private-label tags, or no tags.
- Fiber content and origin labels. US rules require them on most garments; missing labels can block a store from selling them.
- Hanging or flat. Hanging stock costs more to ship but is floor-ready.
Red flags: a "designer" lot with no photos of labels; a manifest where most retail value sits in a few outerwear styles; returns loads described as "like new" with no grading method; and loads with mixed sizes in a single polybag.
Who sells which kind of apparel best
| Reseller | Best-fit clothing load | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Off-price chains | New-with-tags, current or one season old, recognizable names | Customers shop by brand and season |
| Discount and dollar stores | Basics, kids wear, socks, underwear in packs | Price point and repeat purchases |
| Bin stores | Returns and mixed pallets | Volume and surprise |
| Live sellers | New-with-tags brand names in small, varied runs | Auctions reward variety |
| Exporters | Graded mixes matched to climate and size preferences | One container, one market |
| Jobbers | Single-style or single-brand lots they can split | Resell to many stores |
For live and marketplace selling, read selling closeouts on eBay, Walmart, TikTok and Whatnot before you buy a single-brand lot.
The apparel calendar
Fashion runs on seasons, and closeouts arrive after each one closes. Spring and summer goods come loose late in the summer; fall and winter goods come loose after the winter holidays. Swimwear and outerwear are the most extreme. Basics, kids school wear, scrubs and workwear are steadier.
Two ways to make off-season clothing pay: hold it for the next season if your cash allows, or ship it now to a market where the season is just starting. Southern-hemisphere markets run the opposite calendar, and much of the Caribbean and West Africa never needs heavy coats at all, so match the goods to the place.
Condition grades for clothing
| Grade | Meaning |
|---|---|
| NWT (new with tags) | Never worn, retail tags attached |
| New, tags cut or marked | Never worn, tag removed or defaced |
| New, no tags | Never worn, never tagged or tags lost |
| Return, A | Tried on, clean, no defects |
| Return, B | Minor flaws: loose thread, small mark, missing button |
| Used / credential | Previously worn, sold by grade and weight |
Intimates and sleepwear have extra rules: many stores and some countries will not accept returned or used underwear. Check before you buy a returns pallet heavy in intimates.
Landed cost per sellable garment
Weight-priced and piece-priced lots need different math.
Piece-priced:
Cost per sellable piece = (load price + freight) ÷ (pieces × share sellable at your price)
Pound-priced:
Cost per sellable piece = (price per pound × pounds + freight) ÷ (pounds × pieces per pound × share sellable)
| Line | Where the number comes from (pound-priced) |
|---|---|
| Price per pound | From the listing or your accepted offer |
| Pounds in the lot | Scale weight of each gaylord or bale, net of the box and pallet |
| Pieces per pound | Count it from your sample; denim and coats give far fewer pieces per pound than tees |
| Share sellable | From your sample sort: "sell today" plus "sell cheap", never the rag pile |
| Freight | An LTL quote for the actual weight, pallet count and dock type at your end |
For illustration only: a 1,000-pound lot at $1.00 a pound with $200 freight, averaging 3 pieces per pound with 60% sellable, works out to $1,200 ÷ (1,000 × 3 × 0.6), or about $0.67 per sellable piece. Those are round placeholder numbers, not market prices; put your own in before you offer.
Exporters add ocean freight, duties and any used-clothing levy. Several countries restrict or tax used-clothing imports differently from new; check before you ship. The landed cost guide shows how to add duties.
Packing clothing for an export container
Exporters who do well with apparel decide the mix before they buy, not after. A container is a single bet on one market, so the questions are practical: what sizes do people wear there, what fabrics suit the climate, and which price band do your customers shop in?
- Compress where you can. Flat-packed new goods and pressed bales take far less space than hanging stock or loose gaylords. Re-packing costs labor but can lower freight per piece.
- Grade before you load. Sending unsellable pieces across an ocean means paying freight and duty on goods you will throw away.
- Separate new from used. Customs treatment can differ, and mixing them can cause delays or reclassification.
- Keep a packing list by department and count. Your customer and the destination customs office will both ask.
For container sizes and loading, see container loads and FCL vs LCL for export.
Questions worth asking the seller
- Is this one retailer's or brand's stock, or several consolidated?
- What is the split between womens, mens and kids, by units and by retail?
- Are labels and tags intact on the samples you photographed?
- Was the returns stock graded, and by whom?
- Is any of it private label for a named retailer, with restrictions on where it can be sold?
How to buy clothing on Skyline Dealz Marketplace
Apply for access, then tell us which apparel you buy: departments, tag status, piece or pound, and the size ranges your customers want. Once approved, you receive alerts for loads that fit that profile, with the manifest or department summary, photos of labels and garments, and the member price. Offer the listed price or your own, by the piece or on the whole load. An accepted offer puts the load on hold for you; payment and pickup follow the terms shown on the deal, and the load is then marked sold. Have surplus garments of your own? Send us the load details and we'll come back with an offer: sell excess apparel inventory.
Frequently asked questions
What does "tags cut" or "label cut" mean on closeout clothing?
The retail price tag or the brand label has been cut or marked so the goods cannot be returned to the original store for a refund. It is common on department store closeouts. The garments are still new, but they suit discount stores, markets and exporters better than online sellers who list by brand.
Is apparel by the pound worth buying?
It can be, if you know what is inside. Ask whether it is new, returns or used; whether it has been graded; and the rough split between tops, bottoms, outerwear and kids. An ungraded mix carries a lot of unsellable weight. Bin stores and exporters who grade their own stock tend to do best with it.
Can I sell closeout clothing on Whatnot or TikTok Shop?
Many live sellers do, and new-with-tags brand names suit live auctions well. Check each platform's rules for the brands in your lot, keep your invoices, and avoid listing goods with cut labels as if they were full-price retail stock. Some brands also put channel limits on their closeouts, which we disclose on the listing.
What is a size scale?
The planned spread of sizes a retailer orders for each style, such as one small, two medium, two large and one extra-large. Closeouts usually come with a broken scale because the core sizes sold through. The size scale per style tells you how easy the goods will be to sell.
Which clothing sells best in export markets?
It depends on the country and its climate. Light tops, denim, kids wear and workwear travel well to the Caribbean, Central America and West Africa, while heavy outerwear needs a cold market. Ask your customers for a wish list before you fill a container; a mix that sold well in one port can stall in the next.
Related
Sources
Approved buyers see live loads, prices and manifests. Or call +1 215 278 4122.