You might be looking for a wholesaler for one specific product, for your personal use. Or, you might be looking to source a large array of products from a wholesaler to resell and make a profit. Either way you are in for a steep learning curve.

What you think you are looking for, and what you might find can be two totally different things.

It is important to understand that you must compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. Many companies and individuals who promote themselves as “wholesalers” are just middlemen. They are sometimes called agencies. They buy a product from a wholesaler and then resell it to you at “wholesale” price. The truth is that they are marking up the original wholesale cost, taking their profit, and then sending it to you.

Why would manufacturers sell to these middlemen instead of selling directly to you?

Most of the manufacturers are focused on making things. They aren’t very good at promoting and marketing their products. If they were, they’d open distribution channels to sell their products retail and make all the money.

So, they are more than willing to sell their products to middlemen. These middlemen usually present them with large, recurring orders.

It is hard to know whether you are dealing with an agency, middleman or the true wholesale source. They all advertise themselves as THE wholesaler!