Starting a retailer business requires having a long-lasting and good relationship with your wholesale clothing suppliers. Following are some points to consider for finding good clothing wholesalers and ways to enter into agreements with them.
1. Wholesale Clothing Business
The clothing wholesale industry is very huge and widely channelized. There is a hierarchy through which these wholesale clothing dealers work. First on the list comes the manufacturers, who sell to wholesalers. Then comes the wholesalers who sell the goods in the local market and then at the end comes the brokers who sell goods to small-sized local stores. Wholesalers sell products to a number of businesses and retailers, sometimes through an agent and sometimes independently.
2. Bulk Purchasing
Wholesale business is very popular due to the volume-related benefits. It means the more products you buy, the higher profit you earn and the lesser cost you incur. Initially, you would be having a small business and your lower sales will not allow you to buy at such a huge level and create relationships with large wholesale dealers. So in the start, smaller wholesale dealers will sell you the products, and eventually, as your business will grow and your sales volume will increase, you will get in touch with large wholesale dealers to negotiate a high volume of goods and lower prices.
3. Verdict & Choosing Wholesale Dealers
Finding good and credible clothing wholesalers is tough from whom you can get products of good quality at cheaper prices but there are certain ways you can achieve this:
- Trade newsletter and magazines
Go through these weekly or monthly magazines to find wholesale dealers which fit the type of your business.
- Brand Distributors or Manufacturers
Usually, brand distributors or manufacturers sell only a large volume of goods if sold directly but you can interact with them so they can help and direct you in finding small level whole dealers for your industry.
- Surf the Internet
Internet is the best place for finding merely anything. You can search wholesalers online relevant to your category by mentioning your zip code or address so it gives you localized wholesale dealers. You can also use Yellow Pages and other directories such as Wholesale Central to search wholesale dealers for your business.
- Ask
The best solution to know about something is by asking around. Obviously, you can’t ask about such information from your competitors but you can find someone in your social circle who is associated with such type of business or consult someone by attending local events at the Chamber of Commerce or local town events.
4. The Agreement with Wholesale Dealers
Once you have found and interacted with your needed wholesale suppliers, it time to work around your suppliers. The more you negotiate, the best you can settle on. Negotiate volume discounts, exchange and return policies, and lead periods. Before signing a contract, read it carefully or get it to vet from your lawyer if needed. Perform your own research for those suppliers along with background checks and obtaining references. Don’t forget to include pricing terms, schedules, delivery details and quantities to be ordered in the agreement terms.