If you want to start your own business selling physical products, you will have to find a reliable supplier who can sell you products at wholesale prices. Without a legitimate wholesale source, you will not be able to purchase products at a low enough price to resell for a substantial profit. The reason why so many people fail at this is because there are so many middlemen and scammers who claim to offer you wholesale pricing. This article should help you spot out these companies and sort out the legitimate wholesale sources from the ones that aren't.
The first thing you should look for when spotting out scammers and fakes is the membership fee. Legitimate wholesale sources will never ask for a membership fee to have access to their products. The most common type of membership you will run into is a wholesale dropshipping membership. Most legitimate wholesale sources are not willing to sell single products nevermind dropshipping directly to your customer. Those that do are not willing to wholesale directly to the public. The first thing you should do is ask the dropshipper for some prices for a few of their products including the cost of shipping and the condition of the products (new or refurbished). Compare those prices to prices you see on various discount retailer websites. Chances are you will find that their prices are lower than the prices the supposed wholesale dropshipper is offering. That's because the so-called wholesaler is actually a discount retailer who targets people who are new to the wholesale trade. A lot of these companies make most of their money by scamming people just like you. The only way you could probably get your money back is to complain to your credit card company.
Another type of scammer that people often run into is somebody trying to sell a wholesale list. You will rarely find a quality wholesale list online because most wholesale lists consist of middlemen or discount retailers who call themselves wholesalers. In fact, a lot of the people who are selling these lists actually purchased the list off online auctions or through another reseller and never looked over it. This is the main reason why so many wholesale lists are disorganized and have companies listed that are no longer in business. Looking over each source individually to see who is still in business and who is legitimate could take a really long time and will not be worth your time. You may even find that all the sources on the list are useless. The few wholesale lists that are legitimate often cost hundreds of dollars to purchase. These lists contain sources that many consider to be secrets of successful online businesses.
If you search for the term "wholesale" in the search engines the top results will probably be wholesale directories. Most of these directories will have a wide selection of supposed wholesale sources for you to choose from. You do, however, have to remember that the main reason why many of these directories exist is to make money from advertisers. They will accept anyone who calls themselves a wholesale source. You will rarely find a directory that has nothing but legitimate sources. I would describe most wholesale directories as a free, low quality wholesale list.
Buying from China and other countries overseas is what many people think of when buying wholesale. There are several marketplaces online that help overseas companies display their goods to sell to buyers in other countries. If you ever try using one of these marketplaces, you will probably find out that it isn't as easy as it seems. A lot of the sellers on these websites are actually scammers who target people from other countries such as the United States. They will often try to sell you counterfeit goods or products in large bulk that aren't even at wholesale prices. While the labor may be cheap in these countries, you also have to consider how far away they are. There's a good chance the products will be broken or bent up by the time they get to you. The cost of shipping will often increase the price per unit and you may be left with products that are at retail price. Chances are you will find that it's cheaper to purchase the products from a wholesale distributor within your own country. Most of the companies that are successful when buying from overseas are larger companies who buy in large bulk. Many of the companies have representatives who actually fly to these countries and live there to monitor the quality of their products.
The true wholesale sources are distributors and manufacturers who require a tax id or resale number. Legitimate sources will often require you to fax your business documents to them and will have a representative call you up to verify your information. Some of these sources require you to have a physical storefront and will ask you to send them a picture of your store for further verfication. These sources will often refer to you as an "authorized dealer" and will supply you with marketing materials with their company logo. Almost all legitimate wholesale sources also have a minimum order requirement which averages about $500. To the average person this is actually quite affordable and the price per unit gets cheaper if you buy more. If you want to buy at true wholesale pricing you will need to apply for a business license, tax id, and resale number with your local, state, and federal government. Most people try to cut corners and avoid this becuase it seems really complicated. This is actually as easy as registering your vehicle with the DMV and you don't need a storefront to acquire a business license. Many successful business owners actually started their business from home and moved to a storefront after their business grew. If you don't know where to apply for a business license you should contact your city informational desk and ask them. The truth is, if you want to be successful in business you will have to do things right and getting legal is your first step toward success.
