Another key consideration is how many products you carry. Again, because the store is very busy just running the store, he doesn't want to have to talk to 100 people for the 200 products he carries in his store. He'd rather deal with just one or two people, and place all orders with them. In this case, it is important to have a large line of products. 

As an example of this, National Wholesale Company is a good choice of supplier because they carry a complete line of office supplies and equipment--over 5000 different products.  

Myth: Stores will only pay 50% of the retail price on any item. 

Fact: The margin varies from product to product and from store to store. Some products, such as electronics, have much smaller margins, more like 35% of retail. This is just the standard in the industry and you can find out the exact margin from your local stores. Some stores are very happy with a 40% margin in general. Again, this is something you have to find out directly from the store. Of course, you have to be discreet, because they may want to tell you they buy at a 50% discount when in reality they only get a 40% discount on their items. 

Myth: It is not possible to sell brand name items to stores. The stores buy direct from the manufacturer. 

Fact: Smaller stores can not buy brand name merchandise from the manufacturer because there are certain minimum buying requirements. For example, Panasonic may only sell directly to someone who buys $100,000 worth of merchandise in a year. In order for a smaller store to carry a brand name, they must buy from a local dealer who carries Panasonic; they can't go directly to Panasonic. 

This means you can sell brand name items if you work with a dealer who carries them. 

Again, National Wholesale Company is a good example of a company you can work with. They buy direct from Panasonic (and many other manufacturers) because they buy in large volume. They have set up a program where you can represent them in your local area, and offer extremely competitive prices.  

The one advantage to dealing in brand name items, if you can find a dealer that you can work with, is that the demand is already there. These brand name manufacturers spend millions of dollars advertising their products, and everyone knows what the products are. They also offer strong guarantees that give the customer tremendous confidence. 

Finally, and most importantly, the brand name has a solid, long lasting reputation. In other words, if you are selling a Panasonic product, it doesn't matter if you are just starting your business. Everyone knows that Panasonic has been around a long time and will be around for a long time in the future. They won't judge the product on how long you've been in business; it will be judged on Panasonic's reputation. For this reason, it is actually desirable to begin a business with brand names, and then branch out to other products, once you've started to develop your own reputation. 

Myth: It is very difficult to break into the wholesaling business. 

Fact: With the right product line and good customer service, it is easy to get new accounts. Store ownership’s change, new stores are always going up, old stores are always looking for new products and new suppliers. You'll be surprised to find out how quickly you can build up a successful wholesaling business! 

WHAT IS YOUR NEXT STEP? 

Now that you have all the necessary information to begin buying anything you need at wholesale prices, you should start working with a wholesale supplier. The best one to begin with is National Wholesale Company, because they have a huge variety of products available and because they are specifically geared towards helping their dealers get started in a new business.