Yesterday we discussed the Pros and Cons of Selling Bulk Listings Online, so today we will dive deeper and review how specifically to list small bulk.  Let's begin!

While I type this I am eating a Cheddar Ale (Sam Adams) Fondue I made; omg it's so AMAZING but my fingers are slick with oil and salt, so please ignore any and all typos.  

On that note; if you have some cheddar (or ANY, ANY cheese!!!!  Block, shredded, cubes, who gives an F?!  Cheese is great!) just throw it in a bowl chopped up / diced / shredded then put in enough corn starch so it's coated nicely but not "caked".  Put the beer (OR WINE!!), some garlic (fresh, finely diced OR fake!) and a little pepper and simmer on low.  After a bit (when it smells like heaven.... trust me, you'll know when it smell like Jesus has come), mix the cheese in bit by bit.  Watch it melt into a miracle....mmmmmmmm (*Homer Simpson voice*), then you have a fondue!  Now of course you can add all kind of other stuff before or during the process; I like some mustard powder, a splash of Worstershire, fresh cracked black pepper... if you use white cheese a bit of green onion if F'n AMAZING...  have fun!  If you want way better recipes, here ya go and also here too. The world is your bread bite!. It's seriously so easy.  Anyhoo...

TIPS TO START SELLING SMALL BULK BUNDLES, ON THE INTERNET (of course!)

Small bulk bundles are usually being bought by the person who plans to keep them for themselves.  So with that in mind, here's my top advice to you, if you're just starting out:

1. Never bundle tops with bottoms (unless it was intentionally sold as a set, connected together, in the store) - yes, it’s super tempting because it seems like someone would really enjoy getting tops with bottoms but you will quickly run into problems. The two most common issues are:

• Someone just doesn’t like the style of top or bottom you picked for them but they love the opposite pieces. For example, you chose to bundle size Medium jogger-style sweatpants with size Medium solid color tees. The buyer loves the tees but prefers straight-leg sweats or even refuses to wear sweatpants because they live in yoga pants or jeans.
• The second issue is that more people are mis-matched sizes. I am one of these people and because of it I can never buy sets. I need a size L or XL bikini top / sports bra, but I have to buy a small or medium bottom. I wear a size medium shirt but need a size Small bottom. Whenever anyone buys me PJ sets for Christmas I only use the bottom because I hate long sleeve tops (I live in a tank tops). I go through a lot of perfume and body mist but little lotion. I think I have about 40 lotions I have gotten in gift sets in my closet but the matching spray is long gone. See what I’m saying? If matching stuff was the genius solution, every bra would come with panties and the store would be stocked to the brim with gift sets. If you think about it, a gift set is kind of like saying “I’m not specifically sure what you want, but I’m pretty sure you’ll like at least one of these…”

Solution: Since you are selling to the end consumer who is planning to keep the merchandise for themselves, bundle similar items with similar items, such as:

• 4 pieces of Worthington Womens Dress Shirts in size XL 
• 4 tank tops in size Small 
• 2 pairs of Chinese Laundry High Heels, Size 9.5 
• 3 pairs of Nike Sandals size 7 
• 6 padded pushup bikini tops in size Medium Assorted Colors

2. Keep your items to the same STYLE. If you are listing the “2 pairs of Chinese Laundry Shoes”, if one is a flat and the other is a 6” stiletto heel, chances are someone doesn’t want this type of variation. Instead make both items flats or both high heels or a flat and a very small heel. Equally, if you’re selling dresses, make them all the same, or similar, lengths because some people “only wear” maxi-length or only they only like short sundresses. 

3. Remember that you have to give the customer a price discount because they are buying quantity; the more they buy, the deeper the discount.  You may actually be really surprised to discover how little wholesalers can make off 1 listing!  So if you would usually make $30 profit per hoodie, in a bulk Lot of 4 hoodies, you should not be asking for $90 total profit.  You should instead be aiming for $25-$35 (total) markup on the total bundle = $6.25 to $8.75 profit per piece.  However, if your lot is 10 hoodies, you would cut your profit down to $4-$7.  If your lot is 20 hoodies you might only make $3 per piece.  A 1,000 piece lot, you could only take in $.69 - $1 extra per item, or less.  Here's a little graphic to explain:

Of course%  that's just an example.  As you already know, we sell our wholesale mens and womens liquidations for $4.99 - $9.99 average, so we definitely do not get $25 per piece unless it's something AMAZING like a North Face coat or True Religion Jeans...but with those types of items we also pay waaay more than $10 cost.  Regardless, the image above explains, in general how the cost-vs-profit system works when you sell in bulk when compared to direct-to-customer.  

SELLING BULK IS JUST LIKE FISHING

You ever go fishing?  Here in Michigan we are surrounded by lakes... technically "The Great Lakes"... but there's a million lakes in this state.  In fact, when you talk to a Michigander and they tell you "I'm going to the beach on Sunday", what they actually mean is the Lake, because even though our state is surrounded by water, we have no salt water here. Anyways, because of this, everyone who lives here has gone fishing before.  And everyone knows that our fish here are super choosy.  Lake fishing is genuinely an "art".  You might rig your pole up with a shiny, beautiful lure and fire off the perfect cast, but nothing bites.  You cast again and again... still nothing.  Then you switch to the frog-shaped lure; still no nibbles.  Eventually you say "screw it" and throw a cheap plastic worm on the hook and drop the line into the shallows... next thing you know... chomp, chomp, chomp!  There seems to be no rhyme or reason regarding why one try was a dud and the other was gobbled up joyfully.  All you can do is reel it in, load the hook back up and cast out again.

HOW TO ACTUALLY START SELLING SMALL WHOLESALE LOTS

If you genuinely are interested in this, I would sincerely suggest starting with something mega-simple.  Such as 3 Victorias Secret PINK panties in size Small or 2 Calvin Klein similar items. OR, if you have merchandise that just hasn't been selling no matter WTF you try, are you able to match some of the pieces up into small quantities of 2, 3 or 4 and offer them at a really deep discount? 

DEALING WITH CUSTOMER REQUESTS

When you start listing things in bulk Lots, you will continually have people ask you to divide the lots up and sell them 1-piece-out-of-this and 2-pieces-out-of-that or "swap this-for-that-one and those-three-for-these-three".  If you choose to do this, it means you will have to dump all of your hard work to create the Lot, disassemble it (if you pre-pack like we do), create a new Lot or invoice for the switched-up stuff, wait for payment, IF they pay you can then start a fresh listing with the leftover stuff... it's a mess AND THEY USUALLY DO NOT PAY!!!  BUT, if you truly want to sell the stuff THAT bad, MAKE SURE you demand (politely!) that the buyer pays in advance before you start removing listings and such.  HOWEVER, please keep in mind that if you have created a Lot of 3 total tees: one is a Calvin Klein that cost you $10, one is Free People that cost you $14, and one is a Attention brand that only cost you $5; your total cost for this Lot is $29 so perhaps you priced it at $40 sell-price.... BUT, if a buyer asks you to let them buy only the Free People tee out of the Lot, they assume that you will sell it to them for 1/3 of the total asking price because they are thinking that 3 total tees for $40 means each tee is $13.34, which means they are expecting you to take the Lot down, scrap your hard work, take apart the bundle and ship them only 1 piece.... for only $13.34 .... even though the Free People top actually cost you $14!  So if you choose to go this route, you are literally losing multiple times over because you are removing finished work, shipping a shirt at a loss, then re-listing the two remaining shirts for less.  With this in mind, it is so much easier to just say "No" (politely!!!). 

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