Sell excess health and beauty aids (HBA)

Which health products are in scope?

HBA in the closeout trade means non-prescription health goods sold in drugstores, supermarkets and discount stores. We make offers on:

• OTC medicines: pain relievers, cold and allergy, digestive aids, topical creams, sunscreens
• Vitamins and supplements: multivitamins, single nutrients, protein, herbal products
• First aid: bandages, antiseptics, braces and supports
• Medical supplies and PPE: exam gloves, masks and respirators, gauze, thermometers, mobility aids
• Personal health: oral care, foot care, incontinence products

We do not make offers on prescription drugs, controlled substances, or anything that requires a pharmacy license to sell. Cosmetics, skincare and fragrance are covered on the beauty page.

Why is dating the whole conversation?

An HBA product that cannot reach a shopper before its expiry date has almost no legitimate market. So we value HBA by the dating that remains when it lands at the next buyer, not when it leaves your dock.

Three dates matter:

A pain reliever with a long remaining date is a straightforward sale. The same item with only a few months left needs a fast-turning buyer and a lower price. Think of it in brackets: long dating suits any buyer, including exporters whose goods spend weeks in transit; medium dating suits domestic discount stores; short dating suits only fast-turning outlets. Quote remaining life as of today for each lot, earliest date first, so the lot can be split by bracket instead of priced at its worst date.

Our guide to expiry dates in food, HBA and OTC closeouts covers how the trade handles each kind of date.

Lot codes, recalls and storage

Lot codes. Every case and unit should show a lot or batch number. We check them against recall notices. If your lot spans several batches, give us a line per batch.

Recalls and withdrawals. Exclude any recalled lot before you send the manifest. If a recall happens after the sale, lot codes are how everyone downstream finds the product.

Storage. Many OTC products say "store at room temperature" on the label, and some say "keep refrigerated" or "avoid excessive heat". Gummies, softgels and liquid products are most sensitive. Tell us where the goods have been: a retail distribution center, a climate-controlled 3PL, or an unconditioned building. Melted or clumped product is salvage regardless of date.

How condition tiers apply to HBA

Tamper-evident seals are the line between saleable and not. A crushed box with an intact inner seal can be resold where allowed; a broken seal cannot.

PPE and medical supplies: proof of what it is

PPE and basic medical supplies became a closeout category of their own after a period of heavy buying left many hospitals, distributors and companies with surplus. These lots sell on documentation more than on brand.

• Gloves. Material (nitrile, latex, vinyl), size split, thickness, powder-free or not, and whether boxes say exam grade or food service. Buyers resell to clinics, restaurants, janitorial distributors and export markets, and each one needs a different grade.
• Masks and respirators. Model number, approval markings and the manufacturer on the box. Unmarked or loose-packed respirators are very hard to resell honestly.
• Gowns, gauze, wound care. Sterile items must have intact sterile packaging and an expiry date. Once the sterile barrier is broken, they are not sterile goods.
• Durable items such as walkers, canes and wheelchairs have no expiry but need all parts and should be new.

Keep the manufacturer's certificates or specification sheets if you have them, and include them with the manifest.

Regulatory notes

• FDA. OTC drugs, dietary supplements and many medical devices (gloves, thermometers, masks) are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Labeling must stay intact: Drug Facts panels on OTC medicine, Supplement Facts on supplements.
• Respirators. Respirators marketed as N95 must carry NIOSH approval markings. Keep the original boxes; buyers check them.
• Export. Many countries register OTC drugs and supplements separately and may not accept US-labeled product without approval. Export buyers handle this, but it narrows who can take a given SKU.
• State rules. Some states regulate resale of certain products, such as those containing pseudoephedrine. Products with sales limits, such as pseudoephedrine, and categories with unsettled or changing rules, such as some supplements and CBD, narrow who can legally resell them. List them on a separate line and ask before shipping.

Your HBA offer checklist

• Product name, brand, size or count, and UPC for each SKU
• Units and cases per SKU
• Lot number and expiry date per lot (one row per lot)
• Product type: OTC drug, supplement, device, PPE, personal care
• Storage history and current location
• Condition tier per line
• Retail price per unit
• Photos showing the lot and expiry on a unit, an open case, the full pallet
• Any certification paperwork for PPE
• Restrictions: domestic only, export only, no online

Mistakes HBA sellers make

• Rounding dates ("all expire next year") instead of listing them per lot
• Mixing expired units into in-date cases
• Selling vitamins out of a hot warehouse without saying so
• Removing outer boxes of PPE to save space, which destroys the proof of certification
• Leaving it until the last few months of dating, when the buyer pool is smallest

A worked example

For illustration only, not market data: a regional pharmacy chain resets its vitamin aisle and pulls several pallets of units across many SKUs. Most lots have comfortable dating left; a few are short. Units carry the chain's price stickers. The goods sat in the chain's own climate-controlled distribution center.

The chain asks that its stickers come off before resale and that nothing is sold within its trading area. Both are written into the deal. Lot-level detail and a known storage history let us make a firm offer rather than one subject to inspection.

To see the buying side, visit wholesale health and beauty aids. Send your lot-level list through the offer form on this page.