Transport and logistics
E-way Bill for Stock Lots: When You Need One and How It Works
The ₹50,000 rule, who generates the e-way bill, Part A and Part B, how long it stays valid, and the mistakes that get stock lots...
Selling guides
How to Price a Surplus Stock Lot So It Actually Sells
Most surplus lots that sit unsold for months are not bad stock. They are priced from the wrong end. The seller starts from the purchase invoice and asks for a small discount on it. The buyer starts from what the goods will fetch after they have paid for transport, sorting, storage and their own margin. If those two numbers are far apart, nobody calls.
This guide walks through pricing from the buyer's side, which is the side that decides whether the lot moves.
Start with the buyer's resale price
Ask one question first: who buys this lot, and what can they sell it for?
A stock-lot buyer is rarely the end user. It is a trader, a wholesaler, a retailer with an outlet store, or a factory that can use your material as input. Each of them has a resale or use value in mind. For finished goods, look at the current wholesale price of the same or a comparable product in the market where the buyer sells. For raw material, look at what the buyer would pay for fresh material from a regular supplier.
That number is the ceiling. Your lot will sell below it, never above it.
Take off the buyer's costs
From the resale price, subtract what it costs the buyer to turn your lot into money:
- Freight from your godown to theirs. Heavy or bulky goods can lose a large share of their value here.
- Sorting and repacking. Mixed sizes, broken cartons, missing labels or loose pieces all mean labour.
- Waste. If some pieces will be rejected, the buyer prices the whole lot for the usable part only.
- Time. Slow-moving goods tie up the buyer's cash and space. The longer they expect to hold the stock, the less they will pay.
- Their margin. A trader buying a lot to resell needs a margin that is worth the risk.
What is left is roughly the most a sensible buyer will pay. Pricing near that number gets serious enquiries. Pricing well above it gets silence.
A simple example
Say you hold 2,000 units of a household product that wholesales at ₹100 a unit in the buyer's market. Freight and handling come to about ₹8 a unit, around 5% of the pieces have damaged packing and will sell for half, and a trader would want roughly 20% for buying, holding and reselling. Working back, the trader's offer is likely to land somewhere around ₹65 to ₹70 a unit. If your listing says ₹90 because you paid ₹95, you will wait a long time.
The figures here are only for illustration. Do the same sum with the real numbers for your product and your buyer's city.
Decide: piece price or lot price
There are two ways to quote, and buyers read them differently.
| Quote | Works best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Price per piece, kg or metre | Uniform goods, buyers may take part of the lot | Buyers pick the best part and leave the rest |
| One price for the whole lot | Mixed lots, odd sizes, clearing everything at once | Fewer buyers can afford the full lot |
If you quote per piece, state the minimum order quantity so you are not left with the slow sizes. If you quote for the whole lot, say clearly what is included: number of cartons, sizes, condition, and whether packing material comes with it.
Price on request or a number?
A listing with a price gets more enquiries than one that says "price on request". Buyers use the price to decide whether a lot is worth a call. If you do not want to show the final price, show a starting price or a price range and say the rate is negotiable for the full lot. On Bikwao you can also let buyers send an offer, which tells you quickly where the market is.
When to drop the price
Set a review date when you list. If the lot has had views but no enquiries after two to three weeks, the price is the most likely problem. If it has had enquiries that went nowhere, look at the offers you received: three offers clustered around the same number tell you the market rate better than any calculation.
Holding stock is not free either. Rent, insurance, the risk of damage and the money locked in the goods all cost something every month. A slightly lower price now often beats a higher price that never comes.
Make the price easy to trust
Buyers pay closer to your asking price when the listing removes doubt:
- Clear photos of the actual stock, including cartons and labels.
- Exact quantity and unit, not "approximately".
- Honest condition: new in box, open box, minor damage, or mixed.
- Where the stock is and who pays for loading.
- Whether you can give a GST invoice.
Every unanswered question is a reason for the buyer to knock a little more off the price.
Questions
Should I price surplus stock below my purchase cost?
Often, yes. What you paid is a sunk cost; the market only cares about what the goods are worth today. Selling below cost can still be the right decision when holding the stock costs you rent, space and cash every month.
Is it better to sell the whole lot to one buyer?
It is faster and saves handling, but fewer buyers can take a full lot. If the lot is large, splitting it into a few logical parts (by size, colour or grade) usually widens the field without leaving you with leftovers.
Do I need to show GST in the price?
Say clearly whether the price includes GST or is plus GST. Business buyers compare prices before tax, so "₹70 + GST" is clearer than a single rounded figure.
When you are ready, list your stock with a clear price and condition, or check what buyers are asking for on the buy requirements board.
