WHOLESALE for Handmade: What Is It and Why You Should Care?

WHOLESALE = very daunting word for indie artisans and some Etsy sellers.  Do you really need to worry about it?  Can't you just create the work that you love and have done with it?  Can't you just set up an Etsy shop and let the sales roll in?

The answer to that question is Yes and No.  Yes, you can and must create.  Your life depends on it.  But no, you can't shy away from wholesale. Unless, of course, you DON'T care to make a living with  your art or craft.  Etsy is a fine venue for setting up shop online.  There are so many talented sellers on Etsy, however, that you may find yourself somewhat lost in the shuffle of things.  While there are a precious few Etsyians making a living from their shops, the reality of it is this:  if you DO want to make a living doing what you love, you're probably going to have to find other venues besides Etsy.  Even the Etsy sellers with the highest numbers will admit that their activity is not restricted to online sales.  To take your craft and your business to the next level, you're going to need to make a few allies who will buy your items wholesale. And that's where my posts here are designed to help.


If you're a pure hobbyist, you probably won't find these posts all that beneficial. But if you're a hobbyist who wants to put some money in your pocket, or a serious indie designer/artisan, then you need to take notes here.

 I've built a successful wholesale business with my soap (in fact, I sold wholesale BEFORE I sold retail) and I want to share some tips for success with some of my fellow artisans.  IT IS POSSIBLE to make a living doing what you love.  But it DOES require a lot of work and a fair amount of careful planning.  The last part - the part about careful planning - is where these posts will help out a lot. Some of this may seem very elementary to some of you - and that's ok.  But I'm starting from the beginning - which is where I started from in the first place - so if you're beyond some of these tips, just check back again.  There WILL be something here you can use.

So what is exactly is wholesale?

WHOLESALE (n) - the sale of goods in quantity, as to retailers or jobbers, for resale (opposed to retail).

Basically, wholesale is an agreement between you an a certain vendor in which you agree to sell said vendor a certain quantity of your goods at a certain price.  Pretend you make miniature ceramic chihuahua sculptures.  You can sell John Q. (a consumer) one of your little chihuahua sculptures for $20.00.  This would be a basic retail sales exchange.  But a store named Dogz R Us calls.  They want to know if they can buy 50 of your little sculptures and they want to know what your wholesale price per sculpture is. You agree to sell Dogz R Us your miniature chihuahuas at 10.00 each, since they are buying in quantity. THIS, while a very short and elementary example,  is wholesale at its most basic.

And why should you care?

In a word:  MONEY

If you haven't already, pull out your trusty calculator.  As you can see, when you sold your miniature chihuahua sculpture to John Q, your gross was $20.00 (don't worry, we'll talk about net vs. gross in another post, but for right now just work with this).    If you decide to sell 50 little chihuahua sculptures to Dogz R Us at $10.00 each, very obviously your gross is much higher at $500.00.  Which number sounds better to you?

Wholesale is not as tricky as it may seem.  If you want to build a BUSINESS doing what you love, then wholesale has to be become a part of your equation, and this is especially true for those you who make smaller items such as soaps, jewelry, greeting cards, etc.  But wholesale exists in every industry, not just the handmade nation.  When you purchase gasoline at a service station, you are buying it at a set retail price.  But, depending on the arrangement the proprietor has,  the station itself purchased the gasoline WHOLESALE before selling it to you at a retail price.  Almost every company in any industry, even insurance and telecommunications corporations, has a "wholesale" relationship somewhere in its business model.  It's all about quantity. 

And so...whew...now that we've gotten this out of the way, we can move on the meat of the matter.  To be able to cultivate and establish wholesale relationships with vendors, you must first figure out and establish a WHOLESALE price. 

Over the coures of these posts/tutorials/how-to guides, I'm going to touch on the following basic things that will help you get work to establish the wholesale end of your business:

1.  Defining wholesale (which is what we've just done here)

2. Pricing for Wholesale 

3.  Setting up a Wholesale pricing list (better known as a linesheet)

4.  Evaluating retailers

5. Approaching retailers (I'll even give you some scripts to follow)

6. Establishing a wholesale agreement

7. Customer Service and follow up

And there's more.  But enough! My wee little fingers are tired from typing now!  And I have to get back to my day job, which is making soap.   

Tomorrow: Wholesale For Handmade - Pricing Your Work Right for Maximum Return So You Can Make Some Money!

Stay tuned!  Feel free to leave comments or questions you might have on these posts, as well.  I'll be interacting regularly, and will try to address any questions as they arise.  You can also email me, too.