Lets Talk Wholesale!

Wholesale directories are a very useful tool. They allow you to browse through thousands of different listings of various categories. Each category or type of good may have an unlimited number of suppliers listed within it. Not only are wholesale directories useful to find different suppliers and distributors, they are also very helpful to market your own merchandise.

Often in most directories, they all contain various types of listings. First you may find a free listing. This will be an extremely basic, and almost useless, listing as the only information it is likely to provide would be something along the lines of your company name and possibly an address. In free listings you don’t even get your phone number or website in there, and that can sometimes make it hard to find your company so a possible customer may not want to put in the extra effort to search for your company.

Next you may find a simple, general listing. This might contain something like your company name, a phone number, an address, a website link, an e-mail link, and maybe a few more things. This is more useful than the free listing, especially if you have a tight budget.

Next up is likely a mid-level premium listing. A listing like this should be pretty sufficient if you are on a tight budget. It would probably include something like the things stated previously, as well as a possible map of your location, detailed traffic stats, a photo gallery, maybe some coupons or promo codes, detailed descriptions, an image of your logo, and it likely shows up above all searches. This would be a good way of advertising your business because your possible consumers get a detailed description of your company, they can see a map of your location, and they see your logo which allows them to recognize you easily at another time.

Lastly, you are likely to find a top notch featured directory listing. This listing should include everything already stated as well as it being featured in a certain high-traffic location, perhaps the home page. It may also allow you to have your company’s banner displayed around the directory in various locations. This type of listing will obviously be the most expensive, but it will most likely be the most effective as well. You are more likely to draw in more traffic using this method of advertising in wholesale directories. You need not use this type of listing in all the directories you list your company in, but by doing this in a few it’s an easy, quick boost to your traffic.

As you can see wholesale directories are useful for both buyers and sellers. They allow you to easily boost sales and increase profits. Let us know about your experiences with wholesale directories and what kinds of listings you prefer and why. Don’t forget to share us with your friends! If you have any questions, concerns, or you would like to suggest a topic for a future post, please fill out the form on our Get In Touch With Us page.

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With Inauguration Day just having past us last week, many small retailers and store owners are making a good profit on Obama merchandise. I spoke with 2 of my colleagues, one owns a dollar store and one owns a similar type of store, I would call it a general store. Both have made a good bit of money on Obama items such as t-shirts, pins, pictures, pens and so on.

Retailers on one end, wholesalers on the other are also making a good amount of money by quickly providing the goods to the guys that can push it out. This trend is not going to last long, it was at maximum a few months long and has more or less come to an end as things settle down now. However, thinking smart and acting quick, a number of people have made a good amount of money already, so next time make sure you get your piece of the pie.

For wholesalers, when you see a new trend emerging, be quick to move. The items in this trend were small, relatively cheap items. As a wholesaler, you must carefully watch wholesale trends as they can add a quick boost to your bottom line even in the worst of economies like we are in now. Do your research quickly and decide on a few items that you think you can move to your network of retailers. Ask your retailers about the items you are considering and see if they would be interested; suggestions from them is the best thing possible. See if you can get pre-orders as well, as this way your stock is already sold once it arrives to you from your manufacturer. As always stick with low cost, high margin product.

Always keep in mind not to order too much stock when you are dealing with a trend such as this one. As quick as this trend swoops in is just as quick as it will disappear, and ordering too much means you are left over with basically what is obsolete inventory.

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If you are in the wholesale business without your own warehouse or you lack sufficient space to store your goods, carrying your own goods and stock can often be a problem. The main problem would be the obvious lack of space. For people who are running a small wholesale business likely based out of their home, maybe as a part time or side business may find it difficult to keep their own goods with them. The answer is simple – drop shipping. Drop shipping is when you have your supplier ship the goods directly to your customers door. This method is the cheapest and the best shipping method available in the wholesale business.

Recently I was looking into drop shipping and I found this company named Doba. They have really been advertising aggressively and I saw their ads left right and center. Basically what they do is they are like a middle-man company that connects consumers and small wholesale business owners alike with over 200 different drop ship suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers. The way they work is you join their site and then that allows you to browse through thousands of items offered by a countless amount of different suppliers and distributors who provide drop shipping. Once you find some goods you like, you may put them on your website, and once they are purchased, you will have the goods shipped directly to your customer with no hassle of having to re-pack or re-ship any of the items.

Doba offers a free 7 day trial of their services. Once your trial expires, if you would like to continue using Doba, you will need to be paying a monthly fee of either $49.95 which only includes Start Up features, or $59.95 which includes all the Start Up features as well as additional Advanced features.

Drop shipping can really make things easier, especially if you don’t have much room and can’t afford a big storage facility such as a warehouse. Let us know what you guys think about drop shipping as well as the company Doba, and if you have ever used it before let us know about your experiences and provide us with feedback. If you have any questions, or you would just like to suggest a topic for future posts, you can send us an email anytime using the contact form on our Get In Touch With Us page. Don’t forget to share us with your friends and family!

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