It seems that most every small woodshop owner at one time or another has considered the possibility of selling a product wholesale.  This often occurs after an exasperating experience of some sort with a retail customer.  However, it can be a good idea in the right circumstances.

One of the prime advantages of selling wholesale is of course that you no longer have to deal with the often exotic whims of retail customers.  Most clients are our course typically average and no significant trouble.  That one bad one though can make quite an impression!

The primary hurdle to getting into a wholesale market is developing a product that will interest the general public.  Resellers aren’t going to purchase a product that isn’t going to sell.  Even though you’ve made beautiful furniture for retail clients doesn’t mean that piece will be of interest to the general public.  In addition you would have to find a way to mass produce a piece since one of a kind wholesale is really more like retail then wholesale…..the customer is just the reseller instead of the end user.

Real wholesale success will come from a product that will have market appeal.  Small craft style items can meet these requirements, as well as larger items that are common place in the home or office.  If you can produce something that appears hand made, and yet produce it economically, you have a chance of finding a market in upscale outlets frequented by the more affluent.

One of the best parts of selling wholesale is the time “not spent” wooing clients.  Orders are likely to come in by phone or over the fax machine.  Don’t count on the internet for this market though as you will be right back where you started selling directly to end users.  Whereas this will bring the retail dollars direct to you, the whole point in the first place was to get away from individual piece sales and market your product in volume.

So far I’ve emphasized the mass produced side of wholesale.  For the right product though a custom wholesale market does exist.  But it can’t be too varied a product line or you are right back to involved designs that require contact with the retail customer.  As before this puts you back into the category of working through designer type individuals who will mark up your product.  This is more of a typical custom shop marketing then operating wholesale.

Our product line is curved mouldings.  Over the years we’ve invested in techniques and equipment that allow us to produce a one of kind custom product in a production manner.  Whereas each moulding is produced individually, as long as we stay within the system we can produce the custom product in a production manner.  This allows us to sell the mouldings at a wholesale price, leaving room for retailer markup.

This brings us to the bottom line of the subject: pricing your product.  Whatever you make on a wholesale level has to bring adequate income for the product produced.  In most custom shop situation this doesn’t leave room for retail markup.  To succeed in wholesale you have to be able to make a profit on the wholesale level without outpricing your product on the retail level.  This can be difficult to do.

There are no sure fire ways to guarantee success in the wholesale market.  The two largest hurdles are finding the right product and being able to produce it profitably while keeping the price reasonable at retail.  If you can accomplish these two tasks then the final hurdle is finding the resellers who will purchase your product.