Take-all: buying everything, no cherry-picking
A take-all is a closeout deal where the buyer agrees to purchase the entire lot offered, good and bad, with no picking of the best items. Sellers get a complete exit in one sale; buyers usually get a lower overall price in return for taking the weak part of the inventory.
Reviewed by Tyler Kober · Updated
Key takeaways
- Take-all means all of it: no cherry-picking of the best SKUs.
- The buyer's risk is the tail, so price the weakest part at what it will really bring.
- Define all in writing: which SKUs, which locations, damaged goods included or not.
What is a take-all?
A take-all is a deal where the buyer purchases the whole lot the seller is offering, without choosing only the best items. If the seller has a warehouse of mixed closeouts, a take-all buyer takes the fast sellers, the slow sellers, the odd sizes and the damaged cartons together, for one price.
How take-all deals work
Take-alls are common in store closings, warehouse clear-outs, discontinued product lines and 3PL clean-ups. The seller's priority is a full exit, so the seller trades some price for certainty. The buyer's priority is to make the whole lot pay, including the parts that are hard to sell.
Before agreeing, both sides should settle:
- What "all" covers: SKUs, quantities, locations, and whether damaged or expired goods are included.
- The count: manifest, physical count, or estimate, and what happens if numbers are off.
- Pickup: how many trucks, over what window, with what loading help.
- Payment: method, any deposit, and timing relative to pickup.
- Leftovers: what happens to goods the buyer does not remove in time.
Example
A brand discontinues an entire product line and offers everything left in its warehouse: some current colors in full cases, some odd sizes, some cartons damaged in storage. A jobber offers a take-all price, plans to sell the current colors to discount stores, the odd sizes to an exporter and the damaged units by the pallet, and picks up over a week. The brand clears the space in one transaction.
The common confusion
A take-all is not the same as an unmanifested load, although the two often travel together. A take-all can be fully manifested; it just means you cannot leave anything behind. It is also not a promise of a low price: a take-all of good goods can still be expensive. It is a structure, typically used by jobbers and in liquidations, where speed and simplicity are worth something to the seller.
For a full buyer's walk-through, read what is a take-all deal.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Why do sellers prefer take-all offers?
Because the whole problem goes away at once. Selling the best SKUs separately leaves the seller with the slow, damaged and odd items, which are harder to move and still cost storage. One take-all sale means one negotiation, one payment and one pickup, even if the price per unit is lower.
How should a buyer price a take-all?
Split the inventory into the strong part, the middle and the tail. Value each at what it will realistically bring after sorting, freight and storage, including zero for goods you will have to dispose of. Add your margin, and offer on the total. Do not price the tail at the same rate as the best items.
Can a take-all deal include more than one location?
Yes, and that is where disputes start. If inventory sits in several warehouses or stores, the agreement should list each location, the expected quantities and the pickup windows. Agree what happens if counts at a location are short or if extra goods turn up.
Related
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