Unlike all men, all wholesalers are not created equal. There are thousands of wholesalers that you as a business owner have to choose from and it is best for you and your business that you find the one that best fits your needs.
Money is important in business and it should be the first thing that you consider when you are deciding on a wholesaler. If a wholesaler wants an up front fee before they allow you to look at their merchandise then you need to look for the door and head on out. A wholesaler is in business for the same reason you are. They want to make money, so they aren't going to push you away by charging you an upfront fee.
A good and legitimate wholesaler will not charge you an upfront fee, but they will most likely ask you to sign a disclosure agreement and they may want your Tax ID number. If a wholesaler requests this information, then you should not hesitate to provide it.
A wholesale company may ask that you make a minimum order when you purchase from them. The reason for this is that they want to sell their merchandise in bulk. Some will only require that your first order be a minimum order and others will require a minimum each time you make a purchase from them.
A lot of wholesale companies offer a drop-shipping service. If they do this is great. What this means is that a wholesaler will pack and ship the merchandise for you so that you do not have to hassle with all of the legwork in receiving and shipping merchandise. If you find a wholesale company that offers drop shipping latch onto them as they will save you a lot of time and headache.
Be sure that a wholesaler takes credit cards. For the most part most of them do, but there are still some that are in the Stone Age. It is likely that you will not want to purchase your entire inventory with cash, and this makes it good when you find a wholesale company that will take credit cards.
Building a relationship with a good and legit wholesaler is good for your business. A good wholesale company knows the value of their customers and you should value their service in turn.
