U.S. companies discarded $163 billion worth of brand-new, obsolete inventory in 2022, highlighting a significant waste issue.
Chase Beranek, Founder of Chase Surplus, is tackling this waste by offering a 50/50 consignment model for surplus inventory.
Chase Surplus is expanding, with plans to grow its inventory to over 100,000 SKUs and form major industry partnerships.
When I realized people were just throwing this stuff away, I thought, why? That was the moment I knew—I might have to sacrifice my whole life to take this problem on. It’s a ridiculous issue, and in 2025, we shouldn’t still be dealing with it.
In 2022, U.S. companies discarded an estimated $163 billion worth of brand-new, obsolete inventory. That’s not a typo. Perfectly good products—often returns or overstocks—ended up in landfills or written off.
For Chase Beranek, Founder of asset recovery solutions provider Chase Surplus, that number isn’t just eye-popping. It’s a call to action.
Life’s calling: “When I realized people were just throwing this stuff away, I thought, why? That was the moment I knew—I might have to sacrifice my whole life to take this problem on. It’s a ridiculous issue, and in 2025, we shouldn’t still be dealing with it,” says Beranek. For him, this mission goes far beyond profit. “I believe I’m doing this the right way,” he says. “I’m providing real value to people—and I’m not doing it for the money. This is way bigger than me.”
Resellers strike gold: He sees waste on one side—and opportunity on the other. “There’s a little light at the end of the tunnel here,” he says. “In 2024, 18 million sellers sold about $74.4 billion worth of goods on eBay. And what’s crazy is that 61% of them considered themselves accidental entrepreneurs. They just stumbled into something that really worked. They’re selling whatever they have—because when the whole world is your market and you have a good product at a decent price, it’s going to sell.”
Learning through experience: Beranek’s own journey starts at the street level—just him and his car, learning how the industry works. “I started driving around Denver, trying to talk to panel shops and electrical suppliers,” he recalls. “I was figuring it out. Companies like Rexel are huge—I knew I probably couldn’t talk to them right away. But I could work with the smaller panel shops.”
What began with driving around Denver and knocking on doors evolved into a mission-driven business tackling inefficiencies in the way companies manage spare and surplus parts. He quickly saw a pattern: across multiple industries—including electrical, plumbing and HVAC—excess inventory was either trashed or sold for pennies on the dollar to large resellers.
There’s a little light at the end of the tunnel here. In 2024, 18 million sellers sold about $74.4 billion worth of goods on eBay. And what’s crazy is that 61% of them considered themselves accidental entrepreneurs. They’re selling whatever they have—because when you tap into the whole world and you have a good product at a decent price, it’s going to sell.
Win-win thinking: Rather than compete with those corporations, Beranek came up with a different model—one that creates shared upside. “I thought, wait a minute—what if I offer a 50/50 split on consignment?” he explains. “Everybody makes more money that way. It was a no-brainer and an easy sell. I ended up getting a few companies on board right away.”
The model is easy to explain, but it isn’t easy on him. “My whole pitch is: 50/50 split—so it’s pretty simple,” he notes. “But most people out there aren’t offering something like that. And it’s a lot of expense and time on my end since a lot comes out of that 50%. But at the end of the day, you’re going to win with this. You’re going to be happy, and you’re going to tell the other people you know in the industry who are dealing with the same problem—because it’s in every industry. It’s not hard to find a company facing supply chain issues.”
Eyeing the big league: As Chase Surplus grows, Beranek is focused on scaling smart. “I’m really excited about the future,” he shares. “I’ve got some major partnerships coming up. I’m getting into some of the big tools that the major players in the industry use. That’s going to help me grow to over 100,000 SKUs on the website. My goal is to reach all the suppliers with surplus parts and say, ‘Hey, don’t go to the big guys—come to me.’”
For now, though, he stays committed to the model that started it all. “In the future, I’ll probably have to start buying inventory outright,” he admits. “But right now, I’m sticking to my guns with the 50/50 consignment model—until I absolutely have to change it. Because it’s really helping people.”
