How to Sell Wholesale: Get Your Hand Lettered Products Into Retail Stores
Learn how to sell your illustrations and hand lettered products onto the shelves of brick and mortar stores and online retailers.
Quite a few years back, I had my first retail store owner reach out to me about a poster I had listed in my Etsy shop—he said he’d really like to buy a few to sell in his retail store and wondered if I did wholesale.
Wholesale…what the heck is wholesale…
I googled it, as you do, and found out that I’d need to offer some kind of discounted price since that’s something wholesalers did…so I blindly said “yes” and offered a price that was 25% less for the 10 posters he wanted. He ended up agreeing, but I’m positive I gave myself away as someone who didn’t actually know anything about running a successful wholesale business. Cause…I really didn’t.
Many years later, with a LOT more understanding and experience under our belts, we’re here to help you out so you don’t have to go through those “oh crap, someone asked me if I do wholesale!!!” moments, or the “oh my gosh I’m so overwhelmed at the idea of getting my products into shops!” moments.
Let’s do this.
How does wholesale work?
The whole business model is basically selling to existing brands instead of selling directly to customers. Retailers who own stores need products to go in those stores, so they buy them from wholesale businesses—people like you who make the goods and offer them at reduced wholesale prices.
Why are wholesale prices reduced?
Great question. When wholesale buyers purchase a product at, say, $10, they can’t also sell it at that same price, or they wouldn’t make any money. So a retailer who buys a product at $10 will need to sell it to retail customers for more like $20 to make it worth their while. Wholesalers price their items so that the wholesale price still makes them a profit.
Often, product brands will offer both consumer and wholesale sales: they can sell their products directly like in an Etsy shop or craft fairs, at the regular retail price.
Wait, so … I can sell my products both wholesale AND retail?
Yeah, it’s a little confusing at first.
Let’s imagine I’m an artist who sells paper goods like greeting cards and prints. I have a wholesale arm of my business, where I sell my cards to shops, boutiques, and other wholesale marketplaces. My cards’ wholesale price is $2.50/ea when I sell them to a store, and the store charges $5/ea when they sell them to a customer. I also have a retail arm of my business where I sell my paper goods in my own online shop. I sell the cards directly to customers for $5.
Okay, got it. So how do I start selling wholesale?
First, of course, you need at least one product. Probably, you actually need a whole lot of products (retailers usually expect you to approach them with a whole catalog of items to choose from, but there are some exceptions).
You can wholesale any sort of thing, from artisanal soaps to wall hangings or specialty ornaments. You just need to make sure there are store owners & retail wholesale buyers who will want your…whatever-it-is.
When you’re ready to start wholesaling, it’s important to keep in mind all the moving parts. And there are a LOT. From designing your catalog to production and shipping, you’ll want to make sure you give buyers clear expectations about your process and timeline and what they can expect. You’ll want to have inventory stocked, or ready to be assembled—and make sure you’re prepared to fulfill some big orders (because wholesale is all about buying in bulk)! At the beginning of our wholesale businesses, we were not above bribing our friends with product and pizza to help fill orders when we bit off more than we could chew.
Presenting Your Wholesale with Retailers
Line sheets & catalogs
These words might sound like either a ton of work or a ton of gibberish, but it’s pretty simple! You’ll want to supply potential wholesalers with a catalog (digital, or potentially printed) or a simple line sheet so they can look through all of your products.
A catalog is a more polished document that really shows off your products and includes nice pictures (think about the catalogs you get in the mail). A line sheet is a super straightforward form that shows your products with pricing and ordering information in a very matter-of-fact way. You don’t 100% need to have a catalog, but it’s nice to have. You DO need to have at least a line sheet.
Issuu is a great place to upload your catalog files, but a simple PDF will work too. A PDF is perfect for line sheets.
On your line sheet, each item should have a title and a SKU number (identification #), plus a wholesale price and a suggested retail price (SRP). (We’ll talk about how to get to those wholesale and retail prices next.) You’ll also want to set minimums that tell retailers they have to order at least X number of each SKU (it would be mighty annoying and less profitable for you if they ordered 1 of this…one of that…), and a minimum amount for the whole order (our min. order is $150). Retailers can either fill out a form or send you an email with what they’d like to buy.
P.S. If wholesale is going well for you, it’s a fantastic idea to set up a separate configuration of your online shop where buyers can create a login and purchase wholesale directly from your online shop! This makes it easier and faster for them, and creates a seamless workflow on your end.
Wholesale Pricing Strategy: Know your margins so you can make money!
Pricing can feel like a nightmare, but it doesn’t have to be! There’s a pretty simple formula that should help you understand how to charge for wholesale (and retail). The general rule of thumb is that your retail price should be 2 times your wholesale price.
How to calculate your wholesale price from your regular retail price
To find your wholesale price, use the formula below and make sure your cost of goods includes EVERYTHING from your time to your supplies (cello bags, printing costs, ink, packaging, etc). (The cost of goods below refers to the cost to produce just ONE item…so if I’m pricing a poster and I know it costs $500 to print 100 posters, plus $.50 per poster for packaging, my cost of goods formula look like this: (500/100) + .5 = $5.50 per poster).
Wholesale vs. Retail Price Formula:
Cost of goods = cost to produce one item
Cost of goods x 2 = wholesale price
Wholesale x 2 = retail price
If you print all your greeting cards at home, wrap them in cello, and score them yourself, and it costs you around $2, you simply can’t afford to wholesale them at $1. Take a look at your industry and see what others are charging to find a place that seems comfortable, and make sure you’re not accidentally undercutting yourself!
Set minimum order quantities
When it comes to selling to wholesalers, setting a minimum order quantity is an important part of the process. This is because it helps you maintain control over the number of products you sell and ensures that the wholesaler is committed to buying the product.
Minimum order quantities (MOQs) are the minimum amount of products that a wholesaler MUST buy to be able to place their order with you. For example, if your MOQ is 100 units, then a wholesaler must purchase at least 100 units to place their order. The more they purchase, the more money they save, and the more you make! It’s a win, win.
Speaking of making more money, it’s essential to consider the financial implications for the wholesaler when setting up your MOQs. You want to set a low MOQ so the wholesaler can realistically place an order without thinking twice. You also want to ensure that your MOQ is high enough to get a fair price for the product.
Finding & approaching retail businesses
Knowing your target audience and ideal customer is essential when beginning your search for retailers to pitch your products to.
It sounds simple, but start curating a list of stores you think your product would be a good fit in. Browse the internet for cute shops, and take stock of all the shops in your town that you think might like your products. Then, you can simply email them a nice, personalized note, including your catalog and/or line sheet, and ask if they’d like to work with you or see some samples. You can also try sending snail mail (really fun mail to catch their eye!) or call the shop and ask for the wholesale buyer. This is the step that is super hard for those introverts out there, but it’s incredibly important. Try to remember…you’re not trying to con them into anything! You’re introducing them to a product that can make them money!
Tracking inventory & shipping
Organization is one of our love languages, but it doesn’t come naturally to everyone. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where someone has ordered 20 of your 3-color letterpress greeting cards only to find out you only have 18. Find a system that works for you and makes it easy for you to keep track. Shipstation is a great tool for tracking inventory and shipping wholesale orders too.
Who pays shipping: wholesaler or retailer?
When you ship to retailers, they generally expect to have to pay for shipping on top of their order (but they don’t like it!). Offering free shipping with certain order amounts can be a good way to incentivize retailers to buy more.
Under Promise and Over Deliver
We learned quickly and early that the world of retail is fast paced and busy. Everyday is different. Make sure you are kind and prepared! Set up clear expectations about your timeframe, your packaging, your processing and shipping times and any fees, but then BAM - surprise them by over delivering. That could mean including a handwritten note with their order or a special gift just for them, free shipping, or another benefit of working together. Make it clear that it isn’t included, but that you were so excited for their order that you included something special.
Is your head spinning?
That is a whole lotta info we just dumped on you.
If you’re looking to expand your wholesale knowledge even more, check out two of our favorite resources ever that helped us both SO MUCH on our wholesale journey, Indie Retail Academy & Proof to Product.