Businesses looking to purchase excess consumer packaged goods in bulk have a new online source from pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

Walgreens this week launched a B2B marketplace, Walgreens Liquidation Auctions, providing business customers with online access to excess merchandise and products returned by customers. The categories include apparel, footwear, cosmetics, personal care, home décor, laundry, kitchen goods and small appliances.

The portal, hosted by B-Stock Solutions, presents online auctions where qualified wholesale buyers worldwide can bid on truckload and less-than-truckload quantities. Auctioned lots of products ship from 15 fulfillment centers throughout the U.S.

Walgreens is joining dozens of big-name companies, including Amazon.com Inc., business and industrial products distributor Essendant Inc. and manufacturer Boise Paper who are using a B-Stock portal to cash in on excess merchandise while freeing up inventory space for new products.

Recent merchandise offered via auction on the Walgreens portal included a truckload of products including holiday, personal care and food-and-beverage items, which showed an average cost per item of 11 cents and a mid-day bid of over $2,700.

In 2018, B-Stock “will process over 150,000 transactions across our marketplace network” and is on track to process sales of 70 million items, a spokeswoman says. That represents an increase of about 90% over 2017 in gross merchandise value, she adds.

B-Stock provides “enterprise” marketplaces for large sellers. “Our fee structure is volume-based and designed to align our interests with our client’s; our revenue is tied to how well we perform for them,” B-Stock says.

For small businesses with limited volume of goods to sell, B-Stock charges a monthly subscription rate of $99.

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