fire sale
Everything must go
A fire sale is the urgent selling of goods or assets at heavily discounted prices, originally referring to merchandise damaged by fire.
The term now applies broadly to any desperate liquidation: The company held a fire sale of its remaining inventory.
In business contexts, a fire sale often signals financial distress, with assets sold quickly rather than strategically: Creditors forced a fire sale of the startup's patents.
Favorable purchase price
- clearancePermitted passage or approval
- markdownReduction in retail price
- slashedCut with force
- dealAgreement or distribution
savings · cut-rate · steal · rock-bottom · blowout · doorbuster · marked-down · reduced
Legal status when insolvent
- closureSense of emotional resolution
- insolvencyInability to pay debts
- receivershipCourt-ordered asset management
- sell-offRapid mass divestiture
assets · auction · inventory · wind-up · dissolution · distressed · foreclosure · creditors
bargain
Favorable purchase price
deal · savings · cut-rate · steal · rock-bottom · blowout · doorbuster · marked-down · reduced · giveaway
bankruptcy
Legal status when insolvent
- closureSense of emotional resolution
- insolvencyInability to pay debts
- receivershipCourt-ordered asset management
sell-off · assets · auction · inventory · wind-up · dissolution · distressed · foreclosure · creditors · debt
- Famous Failuresflop, bomb, dud, turkey, lemon
- market selloffspanic selling, liquidation, capitulation, dumping, flash crash
- business termsfranchising, revenue stream, board meeting, gross margin, markdown
- closeout salesliquidation, closeout, store closing, going out of business, everything must go
- fire idiomsplay with fire, fight fire with fire, fan the flames, add fuel to fire, on fire
- salesselling, salesperson, salesman, saleswoman, discount
fire salepremium pricing
Charging above competitors deliberately
price gouging · markup · full price · retail price · top dollar
fire salebidding war
Competing offers driving prices up
seller's market · competitive bidding · multiple offers · holding out · bull market
sale, sales, resale, presale, fire department, for sale, fire damage, fire insurance, on sale