Stocklear

Stocklear is a French liquidation marketplace in Villeneuve d'Ascq near Lille, selling surplus stock and customer returns for the retailers stuck with them. Named sellers include Carrefour, Boulanger, Coolblue, Fnac Darty, Leroy Merlin, Gifi, Bol.com, vidaXL, Vente-unique, Grover and Grenke Location, so goods come straight from store chains and e-commerce warehouses. It reports 12,500 qualified professional buyers and 12,000+ pallets sold, and says transactions usually land at 5-20% of retail price. The buyers it courts are discount, clearance and second-hand stores and wholesalers; consumers cannot buy. Lots move as pallets, half loads and full truckloads - joblots - out of warehouses in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, and the site runs in French, Spanish, Dutch, German and English.

What you can buy

• Household appliances: washing machines, dryers, fridges and small kitchen appliances, mostly customer returns, refurbished or transport-damaged units from Boulanger, Coolblue and Fnac Darty.
• Consumer electronics and computers: laptops, monitors, TVs, Bluetooth speakers and headphones in mixed-brand pallets carrying names such as Apple, Dyson and JBL.
• Smartphones: graded returns and used handsets, sold in counted batches rather than single units.
• Furniture, home and garden: furniture, decor, lighting and garden goods in lots running to several hundred pieces.
• Tools and DIY: hand tools, power tools and hardware from Stanley and Bosch, with DIY chains such as Leroy Merlin and Trafic among the sellers.
• Clothing, toys and hobby stock: end-of-line apparel, shoes and accessories, toys, games and leisure items, usually mixed pallets.
• Car parts and tyres: car accessories, parts and tyre batches listed as their own category.

How the bidding works

Registration is free but strictly business-to-business. You upload proof your company legally exists - a Kbis extract in France, a Handelsregister entry in Germany, the local equivalent elsewhere - and each account is tied to one SIRET and VAT number. Staff phone you to validate the account within about 48 hours; if they cannot reach you it stays inactive. Most lots are auctioned, with the odd immediate-purchase listing at a fixed price. Auctions last three to five days on average and close at 5pm on the last day, over a reserve price buyers are never shown: miss it and no winner is declared, however many bids came in. Bids move in fixed steps - 50 EUR up to 300 EUR, 100 EUR between 301 and 2,000 EUR, 200 EUR above that - placed as a quick bid, a fixed amount, or automatic bidding up to a maximum you set. A bid in the last five minutes pushes the close back another five, so sniping does not work. Winners have 48 hours to pay by bank transfer in euros - no cards - into a Stripe escrow account, and the seller is only paid once you confirm receipt. Collection is by appointment after payment, or Stocklear quotes you for transport.

What to check before you bid

Each listing gives the lot size, the unit count and a condition grade, and the full product listing - item description, quantity, model, EAN and retail price - downloads as a Microsoft Excel file, so you can cost the pallet line by line before bidding. Grades are new with or without packaging, functional customer return, transport damaged, refurbished A or B, functional used, not tested, or non-functional. Blind boxes and mix pallets tell you far less and are cheap for a reason, and there is no platform guarantee - problems go through a dispute form within 48 hours of delivery, then on to the seller. Check the fee line on each lot: some sellers add a bidding fee, others do not. VAT follows where your company is registered, and exporting outside the EU means EXA customs paperwork to reclaim it. Freight is on you unless you take Stocklear's quote, and a full truckload out of northern France can wipe out a thin margin. Walking away from a won lot costs 120 EUR excl. VAT and blocks the account.