Getting started · 2026-10-22 · 5 min read
How to read a liquidation manifest
What each column means, which numbers to trust, and how to turn a manifest into a resale estimate.
A manifest is the supplier's itemized list of what is in a lot. Most of our truckloads come with a full UPC manifest. The sample below is a real 4-pallet customer-returns manifest with the seller's identifiers removed. It is not for sale; it is here so you can practise.
The columns
- Item description: the product as the retailer lists it.
- Qty: units of that item in the lot.
- Unit retail: the retailer's selling price for one unit, the MSRP.
- Ext. retail: Qty × Unit retail. The lot's MSRP is the sum of this column.
- UPC: the barcode. Use it to look up the current selling price in your market.
- Category and condition: how the supplier classified the item.
Which numbers to trust
Quantities and descriptions are usually close. Retail values are the retailer's prices, not what the goods will resell for. Customer-return lots also carry units that are incomplete or defective, and the manifest does not say which ones.
From manifest to resale estimate
- Sort by Ext. retail and look at the top 20 lines. They usually carry most of the value.
- Check those UPCs against what they sell for in your market today.
- Discount for condition: new overstock sells near your local price, returns well below it.
- Compare your resale estimate with the CIF estimate on the lot page, plus your duties and local costs.
Every manifest on our lot pages can be searched, sorted and downloaded as a CSV for your own spreadsheet.