Dropshippers & Wholesalers

We’ve all heard the phrase “Buy Low, Sell High.” When you work with wholesalers, that’s exactly what you’re doing, provided you are actually dealing with a wholesaler who is not a middleman. Remember Step 4’s section on “What Sells? Punt Electronics, Unless….”? Even when dealing with a true wholesaler, you will many times not be able to compete in some areas (such as electronics), unless you can deal in large quantities. Also, many times wholesalers are just people who deal with a Dropshipper to provide you with product; a middleman You’re really not getting the product at wholesale, but rather at some price between wholesale and retail. When choosing a wholesaler, here are a few common guidelines that will help to ferret out the good from the bad:

1. What makes this a good company to deal with? Do they have a good reputation throughout the marketplace? 
2. Are they listed with the Better Business Bureau and if so, do they have a clean record?
3. Do they have a good product line and competitive pricing (i.e. Are you paying Wal-Mart prices or getting a better deal that you can use to actually make money on each sale)?
4. Do I have to stock Inventory or will they drop ship the products for me?
5. How will they help me to achieve success? Will I be assigned an account manager who will assist me with the everyday problems or will I have to figure out most things on my own?