What is a wholesaler? Think of a wholesaler as your direct link to purchasing from the manufactures.
If you are not buying from the manufactures directly, then you quite often have to deal with wholesalers.
Usually wholesalers will hold large quantities of stock, and can therefore charge you what is known as a trade price.
Now, I will come onto who can deal with wholesalers in a minute, but more often that not you have to buying from a wholesaler with the intention to then re-sell.
Normally you will have to buy in a big enough quantity to reflect that.
For example it is no good saying to a wholesaler, "I need one of these and two of these, that's it!" because they will not be able to sell to you at a competitive rate, if at all.
"When purchasing from a wholesaler, be prepared to buy in bulk" One thing we have to get straight is, wholesalers are usually very big organisations and therefore hold a lot of stock.
Their money is made by the quantity they sell, rather than the price per unit, therefore many wholesalers may impose a minimum order quantity or a minimum purchase amount.
What you have to understand is that, most, if not all wholesalers will give you a better price per unit when you are buying larger quantities.
When planning your purchasing take this into consideration.
"Remember, wholesalers will give you a better price per unit when you purchase higher quantities" Many new comers to the business world see wholesalers as untouchable suppliers that will only deal with the large retail outfits.
For some this may be the case, but many are just like you and me, they are there to make a living and therefore as long as you meet their criteria in terms of who you are, and how much money you have to spend, they are more than willing to deal with you.
"Wholesalers aren't just organisations that deal with the large retailers!" In terms of who you are, what I mean by that is, many wholesalers only deal with you if you are what they classify as "trade".
Trade can be described as a business entity, sole trader, partnership, ltd company, etc etc.
The tricky classification is that of an eBay trader, some wholesalers do call this trade, but others don't, so again watch out for that when doing your research.
"Identify which category of "trade" you are in early!" Remember that wholesalers are key to the success of your business.
Unless you are going to buy from the manufacturer directly, or find some form of broker deal each time, you are going to have to rely on a wholesaler.
One thing to remember is that they need you, just as much as you need them.
This should be considered when asking wholesalers for extra discount on larger quantity purchases.