MaxX Access vs Restricted Inventory: an honest comparison

If you are searching for an alternative to Restricted Inventory, you are probably close to a decision. So here is a straight comparison, including the places where we lose.

Before you rely on this page: consignment terms change. Everything below reflects each program's publicly stated terms as of August 2026. Verify current terms directly with either provider before shipping anything, including to us.

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The comparison table

Every cell above was taken from each provider's own website in August 2026. Terms change, so check before you decide.

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The four rows that actually decide it

Most of that table is noise. Three things determine which program is right for you.

1. Whether they still take discs

Restricted Inventory has stopped accepting CDs and DVDs entirely. We still take them.

If your stuck inventory is books only, this row does not matter and you should weigh the rest on its merits.

If you are holding discs, it is the whole decision. A books-only program cannot help you, and most of the search results you will find are books-only. We also resurface scratched discs on an ELM Eco Master at our cost, which is the part that makes disc consignment work at all.

2. Who pays inbound shipping

This one is decisive on volume and almost nobody asks about it until the quote lands.

We cover inbound shipping. Restricted Inventory has the customer pay it.

On a small box that is a modest difference. On a pallet of books it is not. Freight on a pallet runs into the hundreds of dollars depending on distance and carrier, and that comes off your return before a single item has sold.

The fair counter, which you should apply to us too: free inbound is sometimes priced into a worse split elsewhere. The way to check is to compare total economics, not individual line items. Ask any program what percentage you get, what comes off before the split, and who pays freight, and then compare the whole picture.

3. What each of us does not do

Both programs run a 50/50 split on net proceeds, so the split itself is not the deciding factor.

If you have a disc collection, this narrows your options sharply, and it is the reason a lot of people end up here. Most services have exited discs because the sorting labor is high and the average unit value is low.

We stayed in partly because we resurface scratched discs on an ELM Eco Master, which recovers inventory most operations discard. That changes the economics enough to make the category work.

If your inventory is books only, this row does not matter to you.

4. When the money reaches you

Restricted Inventory pays in the first week of each month for sales from two months prior. So a January sale is paid in March. That is on their own site.

That lag is not unreasonable. Amazon's settlement cycles and the return window both create real delay, and any honest program has some version of it.

Our position is that reporting is available any time, run off actual settlement data rather than estimates. You can see what has sold and what you have earned without waiting for a monthly statement.

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Where we lose

Restricted Inventory has a mobile app. We do not. If you want to check your inventory from your phone in a checkout line, they have built that and we have not.

They have BBB accreditation and named testimonials on their site. Third-party validation is a legitimate thing to weigh when you are deciding whether to ship strangers your inventory. They have more of it publicly visible than we do.

They supply scanning software and we do not. If you want an app that tells you what to send before you send it, that is a real convenience. Our free item checker does the same job from a browser, but it is not the same as software in your hand.

We are smaller. That cuts both ways. It means more direct contact and more flexibility on unusual inventory. It also means less infrastructure than a larger operation.

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Who each option genuinely suits

Restricted Inventory suits a books-only consignor who values the mobile app and the visible third-party validation, and who is willing to pay inbound shipping to get it.

MaxX Access suits someone with valuable media, particularly discs, who does not want to pay freight to find out how it goes, and who wants to see reporting when they want it rather than monthly.

Neither of us suits someone with a healthy Amazon account, time available, and inventory they could list themselves. Sell it yourself and keep all of it. Every consignment program, ours included, is a worse deal than doing it yourself if doing it yourself is actually an option for you.

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The questions to ask either of us

Including us. If a program dodges these, that is your answer.

Is the split on gross or net, and what does net include? These produce very different numbers.

Exactly what is deducted before the split? Get the list in writing.

Who pays inbound freight?

What happens on a return? Specifically, can a payout you already received be reversed?

What is the acceptance rule? Ours is one line: if there is clear sales history on Keepa in the last 365 days, we can sell it. A program that cannot state its rule that simply may be sorting by feel.

When do you get paid, and what triggers it? Sale, settlement, or schedule.

What happens to items that do not sell? Returned at your cost, disposed, or held.

Can you see the underlying data? Reporting built from actual settlement reports can be checked. Reporting built from someone's spreadsheet cannot.

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The honest summary

There is no single best program here, and any page telling you otherwise is not comparing, it is selling.

If your inventory is common books and you want it gone, take a flat rate. If it is books only and the app matters to you, the app exists elsewhere. If you have discs, or valuable media, or a pallet you do not want to pay freight on, that is where we fit.

And if you can sell it yourself, do that instead of all of us.

Related reading: how the 50/50 split actually works, and what we accept.