Okay well I was thinking to my self the other night:

"What would all online traders want to know?"

So I thought that all online traders will want or have to deal with wholesalers so why not write about how to deal with wholesalers.

People often think it will be easy to deal with wholesalers, get the right deals and finding an honest, reliable wholesaler. In some cases it is but in other cases it can be a lot of hassle and in this guide I will show you how to deal with them.

Firstly you need some money to invest, if you don't have a few hundred pounds spare here is a simple way to do it with an eBay account. Firstly go to Fat Fingers and search for an expensive item, what this tool does is it searches for spelling errors sellers have made in their listings and you can find Mobile phones going for about £75 less than usual. Simply put in a bid and sell it with the correct listing name and that is £75 profit - I told you this bit was easy.

Also you can you a tool call HammerSnipe, there are many tools like this but hammersnipe is by far the best. This tool puts in a bid in the last 3 seconds on the auction so you have less chance of being out bid and then therefore the auction price wont be as high. With using both Fat Fingers and Hammersnipe you really do have a powerful tool that can save you a lot on money.

Okay back onto topic with the wholesalers. Firstly find about 3 or 4 wholesalers of the same products that offer good, competitive prices. If they don't show their prices simply contact them nicely asking for a full pricelist. You could say something along these lines:

"Hi, I am interested in the products displayed on your website and was wondering if you could send me a full pricelist of all your products. It would be greatly appreciated and I hope to be putting in an order soon"

This may not all be true as you may not want to put in an order if they are too expensive but if you sound polite and interested they'll provide a better service.

If they provide a pricelist then next we move onto "Minimum Orders". Some wholesalers have minimum orders to try and make normal people not but from them and so only traders are interested. Some of the minimum orders are ludicrous and when first starting out you cannot afford them, but others are okay.

If you find that the minimum order is too expensive then contact them and explain your circumstances, say something like this:

"Hi, I am greatly interested in your products but I am unable to meet your minimum order as I have only just started trading and so I would like to ask for special circumstances. Would you allow me to put in smaller orders so that I can afford it until I can afford the minimum order? It would be a great help as you do offer good quality products. this would be greatly appreciated and please get back to me A.S.A.P"

This shows you are being polite and not forceful. If they do accept your offer then well done! But sometime they will not, if this is the case either keep on saving up or just contact another wholesaler- I did say choose four!

Ways to protect yourself -

If you are buying expensive products then it may be a good idea to visit the wholesalers premises to make sure they are legitimate. Also you could ask for a test order, this means you order one of the products you want to check the quality and then if your satisfied you put in your larger order. Some wholesalers are reluctant to do this though so its still a good idea to visit their premises.

Some people pretend to be wholesalers, wait until you put in a big order and run off with your money. If the wholesaler talks a lot about money then chances are its a fraud. Also DO NOT pay by western union or moneygram. These services offer no protection against fraud, if they are legitimate wholesalers then they should be able to provide alternative payment options. If you do pay by western union or moneygram do so at your own risk.

Also ask for references. Good wholesalers will always have references and its good to see how they've performed in the past. ask probing questions as well, many wholesalers will be happy to answer questions.

You can also check their company registration number and Vat number etc to check they are legitimate and see their financial status.

Once you've placed an order and your goods arrived your ready to sell. Once you've sold all your goods and made a nice profit order again. Build a relationship with your wholesaler and chances are they will give you special offers as a reward for you shopping with them regularly. Just think, a few years down the line you could be an eBay powerseller with 10,000 + feedback, or a successful businessman about to start up a retail outlet. There are endless possibilities of what you can become but you need to put in the work to get the rewards, wholesalers can be a hassle but don't forget that its them that could make you rich.

You can find many wholesalers and Dropshippers on the traders guild subscription service so if you want to get started, there's a good place to find wholesalers.

Thanks for reading my tutorial. Any suggestions are welcome and ideas for future tutorials are also welcome.