Sumner Communications, Inc, with more thirty years’ experience of publishing trade journals, guides and directories, is bringing their quality in the field to bear with the web directory, closeoutcentral.com.

With the company’s reputation firmly established in providing business information, users are reassured that the site, whose stated aim is to “provide access to the latest closeouts and liquidations”, is far from the fly-by-night operation frequently heard about on the internet. Indeed, there is no confusion about how to buy products on closeoutcentral.com.

The site’s home page is divided into columns with the left sidebar organized by category. The breadth of choice is striking: Apparel to Art, Baby Items to Electronics. With more than 50 to choose from, the path to suppliers is quick.

Clicking on Books’ for example, brings forward 90 selections over two pages. A picture is accompanied by the salient information of the title, price, supplier name and their all-important telephone number.

Delve further by clicking on the product title, brings up all the details on the screen. Everything you need to know from the price per unit to minimum order value or quantity. Shipping and packing details are included, along with a profile of the supplier.

Hyperlinks allow you to ask questions via the site-controlled messaging system or offer to purchase the lot; there is no mystery about how to buy products on closeoutcentral.com but plenty of protection against the scammers and flim-flam artists.

For those eyeing the quicker deal, in the middle column of the front page is a ticker which lists the latest deals on the site. Where time is of the essence, a direct link through to the Lot Detail is the type of service you would expect from a seasoned business communications corporation.

Underneath, is a list of featured suppliers; those with a story to tell on a rolling basis.

Completing the page is a columnar photo gallery listing selected products, which link through to the Lot Detail. These are avenues to making deals, designed to help the process along. If you are left scratching your head about how to buy products on closeoutcentral.com, Sumner consider that a failure.

And that’s the point of the site. Everything is geared to taking the mystery out of buying, including in the site search facilities. If you’re looking for Red Sox merchandise, type the phrase Red Sox into the box on the top right of the screen and 12 closeout deals arrive instantaneously.

Even niftier is the keyword search facility, branded Quicklink here. Each supplier is given a unique keyword which brings them to the fore when you’re searching for merchandise. That keyword returns that supplier only which is an incredible asset in this competitive world.

If you need to source products at the best prices, there really is no need to go elsewhere. As Sumner itself states, the whole point of the site is to bring businesses together; consumers aren’t welcome at this point in the procurement chain.

There is cross-selling of the printing giant’s other websites; wholesalers, independent retailers and flea market traders have no difficulty in finding suppliers. The art of the deal is alive and kicking in Sumner’s world.

As they themselves declare, “We connect you with suppliers that do”.

You should check out other wholesale websites before making any purchase, since it is possible that the sellers on CloseoutCentral.com are either brokers, or are reselling another closeout seller's merchandise.

And remember, just because a lot is listed as a bulk closeout, does not mean that the same price per unit is not available elsewhere without a minimum purchase.

Having said that, it is possible that you can find a really great wholesale closeout deal through their search engine.