what is wholesale?

Q: I am new to 'the net' and new to beading, but in the past few months I have had several 'spending accidents' with various bead companies and my dumb question of the day is 'What is wholesale?'

A: It seems to me that some companies want to 'protect' their legitimate customers and only sell to those truly in the business. These companies would require proof that you are a serious customer and ask for a number. As you have found, other companies, ourselves included, sell to anyone. The way we sort it out is that the customer who spends more money gets the better prices. This too 'protects' the store owners to whom we sell from us being their competitor as well as supplier.

I don't know what your state requires, but in California, if you have a retail licence, file (yearly in many cases) tax forms, and report no sales, your licence is pulled. Also, don't underestimate what a pain in the ... filing the forms can be - even once a year is traumatic, let alone once a month!

I filed a business name. It costs $50 for five years. That's all I have to do unless I actually start making enough money to interest the IRS and the State of NH. (NH would mean $50,000 a year! The IRS much less -- which is accurate -- but my expenses currently outweigh my income.) Most wholesale VENDORS (excpet in California where they are more strict about these things) either only require proof once or not at all. I send a photocopy of my business license when I request their catalogs/price lists. Without it, the price lists I get are definitely higher prices.

Discuss It!

Most Popular Articles

More