We have been in business since 2005 so we have “seen it all”. I can’t tell you how many times we meet a new buyer who is terrified because the last wholesaler they ordered through was terrible. So today I am going to tell you three things to watch out for when trying a new wholesale company:

MSRP SCAM: The “Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price” (“MSRP”) is the price printed by the manufacturer on the tag. For example, this authentic Ralph Lauren sweaters price is almost $400 because it is literally made of Camel Hair (yes, seriously...camel hair!): 

So saying that the “retail” of this piece is $398 is 100% accurate and completely honest. However, what dishonest companies do is buy no-brand stuff like this:

This type of stuff is called “Fashion Brands” or “Fashion Apparel”, meaning it is not a “designer brand”. The dishonest wholesaler then falsely CLAIMS the MSRP is something it isn’t. The Wholesaler will lie and tell you “MSRP: $40 each!”, when in reality these tanks would sell at a store like Forever 21 for $3:

Or perhaps $12.99 at Macys. Regardless, nobody anywhere is selling those tanks for $40 because it’s an outright lie.  The best advice I can give you for avoiding this trap is to LOOK at what the wholesaler is selling and cross-reference.  For example, lets say the wholesaler is offering "Cotton Kids Gloves - MSRP: $50 each".  Find out what brand the gloves are then Google search the brand and look at their website; do they sell expensive merchandise?  If there is not a website because the brand is a Fashion Brand, then you absolutely can assume the MSRP is NOT $50.  On the other hand, if the gloves are Kate Spade, Tory Burch or similar then they likely do retail for $50 and this can be verified on these brands websites. 

THE REVIEW SCAM: Yesterday we discussed how the new review scam works. To quickly review, the dishonest wholesaler will have a “Leave us a Review” pop-up appear IMMEDIATELY AFTER A CUSTOMER HAS ORDERED. To make matters worse, this “Review Us” form blocks the customer from accessing their invoice until they have left a review. So, the wholesaler is asking the buyer to leave them a review before they ever received their merchandise and, since the buyer literally just ordered an actual second ago, they leave a 5-star review just so they can access their receipt. The end result is tens-of-thousands of wonderful reviews for the dishonest wholesaler.  This disgusting method of review collecting is outright despicable and any GOOD wholesaler would have no reason to employ these techniques. You can avoid being a victim of bogus review collecting by reading real reviews on sites like Facebook, Google and eBay.  I highly recommend reading our blog post about this review scam as well as the Amazon Prime Fake Review Scam.  

PRESSURE TO BUY, RIGHT THIS MINUTE:  If you see countdown clocks that tell you the deal will be gone in 5 minutes, flashing text that looks like a strobe light, endless pop-up ads telling you that you gotta buy now or you will miss out or other gimmicks that encourage you to rush and order this very moment, coupons that just so happen to end in 2 minutes ... pass on it.  These are all high pressure sales techniques.  When you are purchasing wholesale to resell you are making an INVESTMENT.  This isn't gambling at a Casino; this is buying inventory, it's like buying a car that you know you will have for the next 10 years.  Trust me on this: When the car salesman tells you "I can only give you this deal TODAY.  It must be TODAY.  If you don't buy this vehicle before 5pm TODAY you will never be able to get this offer again... EVER!!!", they're totally lying.  I can almost guarantee that if you drove back to the car lot the next day and asked for the same deal as the prior day they would gladly give it to you... and if they won't, inform them that the car lot down the street said they would match it... then watch how quickly the deal not only appears again, but gets even nicer.  

Now of course there are some exceptions to this generalization.  For example, lets say the wholesaler is doing a massive inventory blowout because they are moving to a new warehouse on August 12th and they want to lighten their load.  If you contact them August 15th and ask for the deal that clearly ended a couple days ago they will likely say "No" because they have now moved and have no reason to dump inventory. BUT they might be able to offer to do something else for you.  

BONUS:  This is just common sense, but for those of you who are brand new to buying wholesale:  IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS!!!!  *******There is NO SUCH THING as Victorias Secret panties for 50-cents.  Adidas does not sell $5 tank tops.  Nike doesn't liquidate $3 sandals.  This stuff is NOT legitimate.  The reason you are getting it so cheap is because the wholesale company is tricking you.  Check out our blog post called How Much Should Wholesale Cost? to learn about the typical wholesale price.