Buying Wholesale

As we all know, your profit on any item you sell is almost always made when you buy it.The cost of inventory must leave a comfortable margin to sell at a competitive price, cover expenses, and still make a reasonable profit for your time and labor. For most Ebay sellers, including many of the more successful, sourcing inventory is the biggest challenge. No one is ever willing to share their sources on bulletin boards, etc., so you are pretty much on your own.


The best option for wholesale sourcing is from a distributor with which you already have a relationship. If you own a retail brick and mortar store or work in a business with contacts in the industry, you job becomes much easier. Another possibility is directly accessing any wholesale distributors who may be located in your town. When neither option is available, acquiring inventory at true wholesale can get tricky.


The next step for most is internet searching. A search for 'wholesale' on Google brings up a mere 13 million plus hits. Narrow that down to "wholesale jewelry" and we are down to just above 7 million. With enough surfing you may be able to locate a few worth exploring further. The big problem now becomes one of exposure and market saturation. If you found them then there is little doubt that a few million other Ebay sellers are also aware of them.

Yet another option is purchasing wholesale distributor lists commercially. There are a number
of companies which market these at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, with one glaring exception, many tend to range from fair to worthless. Some are merely lists compiled from internet searches, while others were probably good when first published by are rarely updated. The exception I mention is SaleHoo Wholesale Resources and Directory.
They seem to have a much better handle on the business that most I've seen. In addition they have a very large database, offer a ton of information on the members site, and a lifetime membership. Worth taking a look at.