Finding Genuine Wholesalers

DonGotti

I'm desparate to set up my own business selling goods (mainly portable electrical items/DVDs/Console games) online. However I have no idea how to go about finding genuine wholesalers.

I've spent ages searching the net, but most tend to be normal retailers in the guise of wholesalers. I also brought 'The Trader' magazine which was a waste of money. Can anyone please help?

Browntoa

I used to get a paper called "worlds Fair" from W.H.Smiths, had a section called Market Trader that had adverts from loads of UK wholesalers , many doing Electrical stuff

Pink.

Hi DonGotti,

I hope that you don't mind, but I am going to move your thread over to the small business board, where you will hopefully get more replies.

Pink


Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [email="andrea@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/email].

gravitytolls

I'd like to do something similar, but it's a minefield trying to find somewhere to get stock.

Good luck.

soolin

This question comes up fairly often on the ebay board. Unfortunately finding a supplier is very difficult and the prolific use of ebay has made it worse. Any wholesalers that are easy to find will already have been found, so your competition amongst other sellers will be very tough.

You really need to contact suppliers yourself, talk to them see if you can make private arrangements that put you in a prime position to outsell and outperform other sellers, wherever they sell.

Some regulars on the ebay board have direct arrangements with shippers in the Far East, the outlay is quite high as unless you are prepared to buy in units of several hundreds even thousands the shipping costs are a problem, you would also need to set up a proper company for importing and VAT/Duty legislation.

If buying wholesale withint the UK then your profit margim will be small already as of course the wholesalers will only be middlemen and will be taking their profits before selling the goods on. At least buying in the UK means that someone else has already had the importing hassle.

The other service you often see is drop shipping, in most cases this is not a good idea as the profits are much less due to the fact that the drop shippers have the warehouse costs. There are also associated problems where items do not arrive with your buyer, and you are left to sort out problems.

My advice would be the same as it would be to a similair question on the ebay board. Find a niche market, do you have a hobby or knowledge of a certain field? If so talk to those suppliers, having an interest in the product means you will know who to approach and what will sell. You can even then market your goods depending on where your buyers are, so either through direct marketing, or for instance if selling baby items then through hospital ante natal classes or mother and toddler groups.

Small electrical items as suggested in the OP is not the best idea as the market is saturated with sellers, consoles and things like that often have restrictions on selling price (yes I know it is supposed to be an open economy) but you would be competing with the big players.

Soo

innovate

You can search the business section of 192.com for wholesalers.

Toon

Hi. Try https://www.wholesale-uk.co.uk. There's a list of wholesalers on there that may be useful for you.

DonGotti

Thank you for taking the time out to reply. It's so difficult especially finding someone who sells console games or mobile phones at wholesale prices, but hopefully I'll find something!

1jim

Im suprised you found the Trader magazine a waste of money, its full of wholesalers

innovate

DonGotti wrote:

Thank you for taking the time out to reply. It's so difficult especially finding someone who sells console games or mobile phones at wholesale prices, but hopefully I'll find something!

DonGotti, I agree with Soolin, finding a wholesaler should only be a tiny part of your business equation.... just about "everybody" is selling console games or mobile phones, so it would be prudent to set your expectations to no higher than 'moderate at best' if you aim for that market.

DonGotti

1jim wrote:

Im suprised you found the Trader magazine a waste of money, its full of wholesalers

Hi 1jim. Yes it is full of 'wholesalers' but most pages were taken up by retailers posing as wholesalers, or for novelty items or 'graded' electrical items which is not what i'm really looking for.