Guide To Wholesale Sources
Before the advent of the internet business owners had to spend a lot of time finding wholesale sources by contacting companies directly and looking for wholesalers in the yellow pages, trade publications, and at trade shows. Today the internet has made it easier than ever to find wholesale sources although picking the best source for your business still requires a lot of work. Because it is so easy to find suppliers for a huge range of products, it is even more important to carefully investigate each source you are considering to make sure they have the prices, merchandise, and policies that are best for you. There are many different types of wholesale sources such as manufacturers, wholesale companies and distributors, and drop shippers, Each type of supplier has their pros and cons and you should make sure you understand them all before you choose a supplier for your products.
Dealing directly with the manufacturer has many benefits and is the most cost efficient way to acquire goods for resale. You can always get the best price even on name brand merchandise if you purchase it directly form the manufacturer. However, many manufacturers will not sell directly to small businesses and virtually all of them require you to make very large bulk purchases. If you can afford to make a large initial investment on merchandise and have a place to store it, then buying directly form the manufacturer is a good option for you. Be aware, however, that buying merchandise in large quantities can backfire if the level of demand is not what you anticipated and you cannot sell it all.
Wholesale companies are another source that you can use to get merchandise. Wholesale companies and distributors buy in the required large quantities directly from the manufacturer and then sell the merchandise in smaller quantities to the retailer. Wholesale companies still offer low prices, much lower than retail, but they are marked up from what you can expect pay from the manufacturer. If you cannot afford to buy directly from the manufacturer a wholesaler is the next best thing. They will allow you to buy in smaller quantities although they often give discounts for very large orders which will be closer to manufacturer pricing. You may also be forced to buy from wholesalers if you cannot find a manufacturer that will sell directly to you.
Drop shippers are also a source you can use for merchandise. Drop shippers allow you to sell products to your customers without having to package and ship anything. Drop shippers are only a viable choice for retailers that sell online and through catalogs. While using a drop shipper will save you time by handling packing and shipping of all your products, they are the most expensive way to get merchandise because they have the highest markups. If you have no place to store merchandise drop shippers can be a good option, but you have to be sure to find a reputable one wit quality products that will sell and are not already saturating the market.
Wholesale Directory - http://www.wholesaledir.com - Search for thousands of wholesale merchandise suppliers, distributors and dropshippers. Locate closeouts, liquidators and surplus companies.
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
Added: May 16, 2008
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The Gazette (Montreal) BJ's, TJX outperform retail index Bizjournals.com, NC - Natick-based BJs Wholesale Club Inc. saw the second largest same store sales increase this year among the 28 retailers in the Bloomberg Same-Store Sales ... US September retail sales miss, some forecasts cut Sluggish September For US Retailers Nervous shoppers pull back -