Excess Inventory

Many retail stores have a problem if they have excess inventory in stock at a
certain time of year. When either their fiscal or calendar year ends, they must
pay taxes on these unsold items. If you can sell this merchandise for them, you
are providing an appreciated service.

Off-price retailers (those that sell at discount rates) sell clothing and accessories from major-label brands at a significant discount. These companies take advantage of overruns, canceled orders, and forecasting mistakes made by their counter-parts in the full-price retail sector. When a major designer produces more clothing than it can sell through specialty retailers or department stores, or a store can't move all of the items in a particular line, the excess inventory is sold at a 20%-60% discount to an off-price retailer. The company passes these savings onto consumers, marking up goods by a lower percentage than full-price stores and instead building their operating margins by moving a high volume of inventory quickly, at rock-bottom prices.
Off-price companies serve a special niche in the retail industry, capitalizing on volatility in consumer demand and mistakes made by designers and full-price retail outlets to keep their stores stocked with new low-price products. It is the unpredictability of the market, and the inability of designers and retail stores to perfectly predict consumer demand, that create excess inventories for off-price consumption. While a specialty retail or department store must rely on fashion trends and innovative product designs to drive profits, an off-price retailer depends instead on its ability to move high volumes of goods quickly, and on its relationships with designers and distributors who provide the low-cost inventory on which its stores depend. Off-price companies rely on extremely lean cost structures, using their scale along with sophisticated systems and distribution infrastructure to maximize productivity while maintaining the lowest possible prices for consumers.
Merchandise bought at less than regular wholesale prices & sold at less than retail; often-leftover goods, overruns and irregulars obtained at reduced prices from manufacturers or other retailers. Factory outlets are owned and operated by manufacturers and normally carry the manufacturer's surplus, discontinued or irregular goods.
Example: Mikasa(dinnerware), Dexter (shoes). Independent off-price retailers are owned & run by entrepreneurs or by divisions of larger retail corporations.
Example: T.J.Maxx, Filene's Basement. Warehouse clubs (or wholesale clubs) sell a limited selection of brand name grocery items, appliances, clothing and other goods sold at deep discounts to members who pay an annual membership fees. Warehouse clubs serve small businesses & group members from government agencies, nonprofit organizations and some large corporations. They operate in huge, low-overhead, warehouse like facilities & offer few frills.They offer rock bottom prices- typically 20% to 40% below super market and discount stores prices but make no home deliveries and accept no credit cards.
Example: Sam's Clubs, Max Clubs.
These are one source of acquiring low cost goods.
Another way to find them is to use the Yellow Pages and send letters to stores that sell merchandise in your niche. You can go directly to the stores and talk with the manager or owner. Or you can put ads in trade magazines and newspapers.

There are online sites for the same as well like:-
http://www.closeoutsavailable.com/
http://www.costplus.com/
http://www.colesmyer.com/