Selling Wholesale

Selling Wholesale can be very fun a profitable. I will never forget the first time I went and seen our candles in a real store! Wow it was so exciting! Here is some information that we learned along the way.

First and Foremost you need to have a policy. A policy will have your product minimums, by the case and by the piece. You will state your prices and let the customer know how long it will take to make the product. You will need your buiness info so that they can reach you if needed. You need to state your terms such as what forms of payment that you will accept such as money order, visa, mastercard, checks. You will need to plan on how you will accept pmt as well. Alot of bigger companies like to do net 30. That gives them 30 days to pay after they recieve the product. I highly suggest you make sure they are an established customer before allowing 30 days net. Another option is COD if you ship UPS. You also need to have a claims policy so that the customer can return damaged goods to be refunded or replaced. Always make sure that you insure all of your packages just in case this happens.

Another thing to take into consideration is custom orders. Will you do them? We require half down (non refundable) when a customer places a custom painted candle order. You do need to cover yourself because you are doing this for your business.

Good customer service is very important. You need to be there to answer questions and let your customers know if you are running behind. Most shoppe owners understand how long it can take to do a handmade wholesale order. They appreciate the time and loving work involved and are more than willing to wait for the goodies!

Ok now that you have your policy, you need to work on pricing. Pricing can be difficult. If you are just starting out and cannot buy things in bulk to save some money then your prices will be a little higher. You need to figure your cost of product, this includes all of the supplies it takes to make the product. You need to figure your time as well. Typically shoppes like to double what you charge them so this needs to be kept in mind as well. If you are selling a doll and want 50.00 for it wholesale you probable won't get many orders for it unless that particular shop sells tons of doll for very good prices.

The next step is making product and putting it out there. Marketing. There are so many great places to advertise. The local newspaper, the internet, Mercantile Gatherings Magazine, Create and Decorate. Country Marketplace. There are so many.

The next step is creating a catalog to send with your orders. This does not have to be a fancy expensive catalog. You can take your own pictures with a digital camera and use a program such as Printmaster 16 to create a small funtional catalog. In the catalog put your product pictures along with pricing and your policies.

Keep in mind that you do not charge taxes for wholesale so you need to keep a copy of your customers info such as name address, phone, email, business name and their resale tax id number. If they do not have a resale tax id or a federal tax id then you must charge them sales tax.

Now you are ready to sell wholesale. I hope we have helped get you started. Please feel free to email us with questions regarding selling wholesale. email

Christie Beach, co-owner of Out of the Barn Primitives

Christie Beach and Ashley Runion started Out of the Barn Primitives out of a desire to create high quality candles that are unique and yet will fill your home with a cozy warm aroma. Their online business has brought the opportunity to open a physical store in their Ohio hometown where they carry primitive furniture, dolls and of course their unique primitive candles.

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