Wholesale enquiries through Madeit

[tillytomdesigns]

Hi,

I have had a shop send me an enquiry through madeit about a few of my products asking me if I wholesale. This is all new to me, so just wondering if anyone else wholesales to shops and what it all involves? Do I sell the shop products in bulk at a lower price so that they can sell at my prices or do I willingly give them some of my products and as they sell they pay me and keep a commission or what happens.

Any help/advice appreciated.

Anna

Blog (http://www.tillytomdesigns.blogspot.com)
Shop (http://www.madeit.com.au/tillytomdesigns)
My Other Blog (http://www.littlepossumdesigns.blogspot.com)

[LoopyLou]

Hi Anna,

I came across an article once - http://qbranchltd.blogspot.com/2008/02/selling-wholesale-part-i.html- and found it informative.

I haven't actually ventured down the wholesale path, so I am sure there are others out there with more valuable info but hope the link might help

[Kylie Robertson]

I too have been contacted by a couple of shops to sell my products which is great.. however after emailing back and forth, for them to make their money, what they are prepared to pay for my product does not really cover my costs and time so I have just left it..


Good luck and keep us posted :):D

[David]

Hi Anna,

Most people who are just selling online and not in stores have set their prices at points that make selling wholesale unfeasible (about a 50% discount for wholesale). If you would like to wholesale you may have to raise your prices on the internet to be inline with the prices in stores (2x wholesale rate). You will have to work out your material costs, labour etc and then work out a price that gives you a good profit per piece but still is competitive enough.

Also if you are doing this as a hobby you may have to fill out a form that states you are a hobbyist, this depends on the person running the store but i believe it is supposed to be a legal requirement. You will also need to invoice them which can be handwritten or done in Word if you only need to do a small amount of invoices.

If they are looking to do consignment instead of wholesale (they take your work and pay you as it sells) then you need to find out how much take (50-50, 60-40 percent cut) and work out your prices so that you still receive your wholesale rate you have worked out.

If you have any more questions just ask.

[Kylie Robertson]

Love your bags David!

[Ollie Rose]

Hi,

As David said, most shops want a 100% mark up on your products, so you need to make sure you are selling them at a price that is viable for you to be able to do this.

Some may also require packaging of your product or display depending what it is.

Most will also want an ABN as well for invoicing etc.

You can also set minimum order amounts as well to make it more viable for you, ie min purchase of $100.

A catalogue is handy for enquiries, in this you have pictures of your goods, descriptions and pricing as well as all your terms and conditions. When you get enquiries you can send this.

It can be hard to get a balance as well when making things yourself. We get 5+ enquiries a week from stores all over the world and it is impossible to supply to everyone so we keep our stockists very low so that the ones we are supplying to we always can and give them the best service rather than spreading too thin.

You will also get heaps of enquiries on people just testing out the waters rather than genuine enquiries, or people who want to open a shop so are getting info together :).

HTH

[thelittleorchard]

I have a general 30% off my prices...sometimes even less than that...If a shop orders from me a lot, I am willing to drop my wholesale by an extra 5% or throw in an extra for free.

Quite frankly if a retailer approaches me and doesnt like my discount I am not offended or worried about it at all, its the way I work. I worked in retail for 4-5 years and did pricing...I think the process shops use is senseless. I try to keep my personal prices lower, as well, so I prob shoot myself in the foot a bit, but its okay, I can deal.

Prob not all that helpful for you, but be aware there are shops who will still buy from you even if you offer less than 50%.

Also look at whether it makes more sense for you to wholesale or retail (so to sell to someone else to sell, or for you to only sell it). Also whether you want to create a wholesale range that is unique.

[David]

Thanks Kylie, they are my partners work.

[tillytomdesigns]

Thankyou everyone for all the advice and information. After all that the store hasn't even got back to me now, prehaps they were sending out emails to lots of different sellers and just picked a few? Who knows, oh well, has definitely given me something to think about.

Cheers,

Anna

Blog (http://www.tillytomdesigns.blogspot.com)
MadeitShop (http://www.madeit.com.au/tillytomdesigns)

[David]

We get that a lot, they may just be getting some information for purchasing later on though.

[ArtbyJenG]

Melinda,

Thanks for the URL link - very interesting reading

Jen :)