If it seems too cheap to be true, it probably is.

In my opinion, the golden rule really applies well to wholesale electronics. I was once taken by a scammer because of not adhering to this rule and acting without thinking. I had found a guy selling Sony Ericsson T68’s (yes I know this was a years ago) at an amazing price. The phone had just came out and was going for $500+ for the unlocked version. It was the newest and hottest phone around at the time, they were selling like hot cakes. So this ’supplier’ I found was offering them at $150 a pop. Without thinking too much I jumped at the opportunity. The only thing that was ringing through my head was the profit margin of $350 x 10 units I was going to buy = $3500. I didn’t even stop for a minute to think about why or how this ’supplier’ was able to offer them at this price. He requested that I mail him a postal money order for $1500 for 10 units plus some odd extra amount for shipping. I agreed, again without thinking, and did just that. Days passed – No phones, but the supplier continued to assure me they were on their way. Weeks passed – No phones and no email replies. Months passed – Of course without any phones and I accepted the fact that I had been taken for a fool.

With the digital age and the ability for con artists to run wholesale scams hiding behind a computer you must be much more careful and vigilant. You cannot just get up and go knock on the door at the guys warehouse, it isn’t that simple.

Tip # 1

The golden rule – If it seems too cheap to be true, it probably is.

If you find an iphone wholesaler selling wholesale iphone 3gs 32gb for $150/pop its probably a scam. If you find the wholesale alpine indash car dvd players for $79/pop when they are going for $999 retail in Best Buy than I am sorry to say it is probably a scam. Do not try to convince yourself with the fact that manufacturers have huge mark ups and than retailers mark up the product even more. When the products are selling in the retail market why would the manufacturer be dishing them out in wholesale for next to nothing? It doesn’t make sense so don’t try to make yourself believe it does.
Tip #2

Believe it or not, these guys today even make fake wholesale electronics. That includes fake tv’s, mp3 players, cellphones. These days anything that has a brand name on it, you better make sure you are absolutely sure you are buying original merchandise if you are buying from some one who gets overruns/refurbished etc products or you better be buying from an authorized distributor of the manufacturer. It is really hard to tell the difference between fake electronics and real ones. Somethings to watch out for:

a. Where is it made? Many manufacturers only make their goods in certain countries or certain products are only made in certain countries. Pull up your products specifications online and see where it is made. Confirm the wholesale pieces you are purchasing are made in the same country

b. Always always always order a sample. Electronics compared to other things are one of the most expensive categories especially when you are purchasing big wholesale quantities. Order a sample of a few pieces and verify yourself that it is legitimate before you buy 100 of them. Losing $300 is much better than losing $30,000.

c. Functionality – Many of these fake electronics do not function the same way as the real ones. If possible, I know this is only good for small items like wholesale cellphones or wholesale ipods, but compare it to a piece from a retail store when you order your samples. See that the menus, colors etc are exactly the same.

Tip #3

Pre-releases. Need I say more?

Manufacturers don’t send out wholesale electronics at dirt cheap prices prior to releasing them to the public.

Think about it, why would they? The whole market is ready to buy them at retail prices, why would they uproot themselves? Seems pretty logical that they wouldn’t, yet so many people get cheated because of this. If a supplier is promising you wholesale apple ipads at a fraction of the retail cost, they are probably going to send you bags of sand. Yet still people think that miraculously this supplier has them because they sent you some phony picture of the thing. Think smart, it does not make sense for Apple to release them like this. The ONLY way you might get offered actual products before they are released is if they have been stolen from the manufacturer. Again, a situation you do not want to be in so please avoid wholesalers who say they have the item in wholesale before it is even in the market.

Hope this helps those getting into the wholesale electronics business and those who are already in it. Stay vigilant, be smart. If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me. Also, if you are thinking about dealing with a supplier and don’t know if he is legitimate or not, I would love to take a look for you for absolutely FREE and give you my opnion!

I should have done this post like 4 posts ago as my first ‘returning’ post but anyways.

After finally completing some of my biggest projects, I am back here to do what I love – blog and share the knowledge.

You will see daily posts, numerous daily posts actually. We will discuss the industry, we will review wholesalers, we will be taking your emails and comments to help you further or start your business. We will expose scammers (list coming soon) we will do product tests, check out wholesalers customer service and be broadcasting live from the best wholesale trade shows. And a whole lot of other great stuff!

Please introduce yourself, please leave a comment, please leave an email, I would love to hear from you!

It is well know that there are a few major players in this space. Three of the big ones in my opinion are TopTenWholesale, WholesaleCentral & GoWholesale. There are a lot of wholesalers spending BIG money, and trust me I mean some are spending thousands of dollars a month to be on these directories. Any of you wholesalers out there? Are you getting qualified traffic from these directories? Are you closing deals from through these leads? If any of you are reading this, please feel free to comment!

On the other hand comes the users or the people looking to buy wholesale products. What is your level of engagement with these wholesale directories? Is it your primary source to find new wholesalers? Have you ever found any good wholesalers through these directories? What is your level of trust with these wholesalers knowing that some of them have spent a ton of money to be in your face? Again, please feel free to comment, I would love to hear your success stories about finding wholesale distributors or wholesale suppliers through these directories.

Two of my main concerns on both sides of the fence.

Wholesale Suppliers listing in these directories

I have come across suppliers that spend hundreds on yearly listings or even hundreds monthly on PPC advertising at TopTenWholesale but many seem to give me answers like “ya there good” or “ya they send a ton of traffic” when really they are not even tracking it.

Are you tracking how many hits you are getting, how many deals you are closing and what your ROI is from your spend in these directories?

Wholesale Buyers sourcing from these directories

You have these humungous directories with thousands of wholesalers listed. They have great products, at great prices and you are excited that you have found so many wholesale distributors or wholesale suppliers with products for your niche. So you jump the gun and begin ordering based on low prices – BIG NO NO. You need to qualify them. Think things through from beginning to end and eventually you will form a set of criteria that you can use when working with wholesalers. A good example:

Are they shipping the goods locally compared to where you are or are you importing them? The wholesaler tells you to import by sea because its 1/10 of the cost – Don’t jump on it, you will surely be spending a good chunk of change to clear the goods and you will be waiting a good 2 months for them. Good wholesalers will give you honest advice, others will try to push the product in your hand. ALWAYS get a second opinion from some one in the industry (send me an email I would be glad to give you my input)

Anyways, thats it for now!

This show is geared towards retail liquidation and close-outs and will feature 30,000 square feet and over 105 booths. If this is your line of business, make sure you get your booth/tickets now.

Oh and by the way, if your not from the West Coast, you better book a few extra days as California is beautiful that time of the year!

More details on the ASD website here

YES, you heard that right, ONLY 3 months remaining to Christmas

If you are new to retailing, I highly suggest you begin thinking about your Christmas stock order’s from now. Let me break it down for you a bit

Deciding what and from whom to order – 2 weeks – That takes us to Oct 7
Receiving your order – 2 weeks – That takes us to Oct 21
Getting your items into inventory, putting price tags on and placing them on the shelves and rack – 1.5 weeks – That takes us to Nov 4

You can see how quickly time can fly by. Personally, I have always suggest to all of my friends and colleagues that the moment your Halloween stock(if any) is gone, November 1st all of your Christmas stock should be placed.

I have seen retailers not be prepared for Black Friday at the end of November. I have seen people ordering stock after they realize it’s almost Halloween.

Make the most of this season, it is probably the time of year in which you will make the most money – Get serious

If you need any assistance in sourcing some type of goods, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am especially involved in wholesale brand name clothing at the current moment.

If you are a small retailer, I suggest strapping the boots and getting your stock in order IF you haven’t already done so

If you need some help with suppliers, of course feel free to e-mail me and I will introduce you to them

Be upbeat and early, have the trendiest costumes and make sure you order enough styles and sizes

I remember last year the Joker was huge, whats it going to be this year, Michael Jackson?

A longer more detailed post to follow shortly…

A great amount of payments you receive are likely to be made by credit card, and there isn’t really an easy way of verifying someone’s legitimacy. If you are payed with a stolen credit card, the victim will eventually find out about it, and you may end up losing the goods sold AND the money you were originally paid.

The first step would be to verify the billing address and mailing address before processing an order. This ensures the goods are being shipped to the right person. If they don’t match, you should look into the order and the size will help to point out if its fraud. Some online merchants won’t even ship if the billing and mailing addresses are the exact same.

If you receive large transactions which are costly you should contact the customer prior to finalizing the order. This will ensure that the transaction is legitimate and that neither you nor the customer will be affected by credit card fraud. Also, usually people don’t ship overnight unless it is urgent, so if you receive a big order, and it is being shipped overnight, that should be a big red flag.

Some countries are generally known for fraud, such as Nigeria, and should be avoided at all costs. By taking these precautions you will save yourself from being scammed by credit card fraud as well as the actual victim.

Thanks for reading and keeping up with us. Don’t forget to share us with your family and friends! If you have any questions, comments, or would like to suggest a topic for a future post, please fill out the form on our Get In Touch With Us page.

Stay tuned as we begin writing full time about the wholesale industry, how to find suppliers, how to make money online and a vast amount of other wholesale related topics!