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How To Find Good Wholesalers
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New or inexperienced business owners are most often the prey of these so-
NEVER use a search engine to find a wholesaler. I Googled “wholesaler” and came up with over 19 million results, with the 3 sponsored results all being well known scams.
So how do you find a genuine wholesaler?
Here are 5 ways to spot a middleman:
1. They don’t ask for your resale number, or tell you that you don’t need one.
2. They charge a fee for the “priviledge” to buy from them. Real wholesale distributors will never charge you monthly or membership fees.
3. The surest way to spot a middleman is if they’re offering thousands of products for sale. Companies like Doba and Simplx are middlemen.
4. With no exceptions, a true wholesaler will not publish their wholesale prices online for everyone to see. Keeping wholesale prices private is a courtesy to you, the reseller. Do you want your customers to know your profit margin? There are also legal issues preventing them from publishing them to the public. Once you have proven you are a licensed retailer, then the prices are revealed.
5. They approach you. Even worse, they spam you with an offer you can’t refuse. Reputable wholesalers usually have all the business they need, and will never send you spam.
The 4 critical steps to source out genuine wholesalers:
1. Get legal. Be sure to have what you need to retail product in your state. If you’re not sure, myownbusiness.org or sba.gov is a good place to start. Beware of .com sites offering business licenses, they are charging you a fee to do what you can do yourself. No extra work is involved to get what you need, you just need to be on the right site.
2. Establish a need for your product. You will find great prices on bulk lots of things no one wants! Clothing and footwear are very difficult to find outlets for because most of the wholesale distributors for clothing are given strict orders not to work with home businesses. You may want to consider another line. Sony and Nike are two other name brands that do not allow their distributors to sell to home businesses.
3. Find a Product You Want To Sell. Once you’ve established there is a need for the product(s) you want to sell, do a search on which ones are better, or find reviews that give you an idea of what features of your products are important. Find the manufacturer’s phone number online.
4. Call the manufacturer(s) directly. Ask for their wholesale distributor information. Tell them you own a business and you are looking to buy wholesale. Don’t worry about asking whether they sell to small or home businesses, unless they ask. Chances are the person you’re talking to doesn’t know for sure. You will probably get an extensive list of distributors.
5. Start Calling. Here’s the time consuming part-
What About Buying Wholesaler Lists?
As for buying lists of good wholesalers, most are completely bogus. Usually they are a list compiled from the internet of all the middlemen we talked about earlier. There are a few legitimate lists out there, just be sure you are dealing with a reputable company offering your money back if you find it’s not legit. A company like Clickbank will always refund your money if you feel you’ve been cheated, because they are protecting their reputation. If you’re not sure, check them out with the BBB.
Are Source Companies or Individuals Worthwhile?
If you want to save A LOT of time, your best bet to find genuine wholesale distributors is a source company or individual. They look for real wholesale distributors and drop shippers that will work with you, and usually know their stuff. As a result, they do charge a higher fee for their services, because the information is worth the time for most people. Once again, there are many imposters out there, so be sure to check them out on the BBB.
One well known and trusted source company is World Wide Brands, and is the only company Ebay recommends. Started by one of the first to succeed on Ebay, Chris Malta, he knew first hand how difficult it was to find reputable wholesalers. This saves you tons of time doing research looking for wholesale distributors. Be sure to at least check out the many free resources they offer, go to World Wide Brands.com and click on “Free Stuff” to watch videos of business tips, free ebooks, access their audio and article data base of product sourcing tips from experts in the field. You can access all of this without any obligation. It’s a great service.
I hope this all helps you find some good wholesale distributors. Check out any questionable company with the BBB. It’s easy, quick and free and can save you money, time and headaches. Be patient, it takes time to find good wholesalers, but it’s worth it, they’re the lifeline of your business.
Finding good wholesalers can be one of the most important, yet difficult, challenges in starting a retail business. Correction: finding a good wholesaler that will deal with a small business or even a home business is the true challenge. Finding someone that claims they are offering you wholesale prices is simple.
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