Setting Up Accounts with Suppliers

Our product, the Directory of WBI Certified^TM Wholesalers, represents MILLIONS of brand name products that you can sell on your Online Store. Every one of them meets the following criteria, and much more:

-         They will NOT charge you an account setup fee in order to do business with them.

-         They are ALL genuine Factory-Authorized Wholesalers, or sometimes the actual Manufacturer of the products they sell.

-         They all carry only brand new, factory warranted products.

-         They ALL KNOW that they are listed in our Directory. They are EXPECTING calls from people just like you.

 

Wholesale Suppliers are the middle link in the "retail chain". They buy in bulk from manufacturers, and they sell in smaller quantities to retail operations (like your Online Store). Remember, real Wholesale Suppliers do not "grow on trees"! The vast majority of Suppliers will ONLY sell in bulk, and will not work with Online Only Retailers! However, there are more and more top quality Suppliers who are beginning to work with small home businesses. They see that Ecommerce is the wave of the future, and they know that they'd better be positioned to ride that wave.

Finding quality, brand name Wholesale Suppliers that satisfy all the criteria that I list above is VERY difficult, but they're out there. We've found them, and we find more and more every day.

They are CRITICAL to your success if you want to retail on the Internet.

I'm going to talk about contacting and establishing accounts with the Suppliers we list in our Directory, but the same basic principles hold true no matter what suppliers you're contacting. It's just a lot easier with the companies we list, because as I said, they KNOW they are listed with us, and EXPECT calls from Online Business Owners like yourself.

We list contact information such as the Supplier's company name, address, contact person, phone number, fax number, email addresses, ordering methods, credit terms, drop ship fees (handling fees for Drop Shippers), minimum orders (for Bulk Wholesalers), shipping methods and regions, and a comments section that tells you special things you should know about them. These are all important things to know, no matter what Supplier you are trying to contact. The Directory will tell you whether you should contact them by phone, email, or start an account on their web site.

If you call, sound professional. It's better if they can't hear your kids screaming at each other in the background, or your Spotify playlist blasting from your bluetooth speaker.

When I call, I say something like this:

"Hello, this is Chris Malta, from Worldwide Brands, Inc. I'm interested in retailing your products on my online store. Can you tell me how I can get started?"

Use your name, and always use your business name. If a Supplier thinks for one minute that you're trying to buy products for your personal use at wholesale prices, you'll probably never hear from them again.

Let the sales rep tell you what they need from you on the first call. Don't ask too many questions about what you get from them yet.

They may want you to email or send them some combination of the following:

1.     A copy of your Tax ID Certificate. We talked about this before. A real Wholesale Supplier MUST have a copy of this in order to sell you products at wholesale.

2.     Some form of credit references. Don't Panic! Virtually all of the thousands of Suppliers in the Directory will accept personal credit information, such as the name of your bank. The majority of our Suppliers won't even ask for this unless you are trying to set up a "Net 30" (where they bill you once a month) account with them. The most common way to get started with these Suppliers is to simply pay them with your personal or business credit card as you order products. You can also use a Debit Card with a Visa or MasterCard logo on it. In a situation like that, they are unlikely to ask you for credit references.

 

Wait two or three days after you think they've received your information. If you have not heard back from the sales rep, call a SECOND time. Simply ask if they received your information, and if they need anything else from you. If they want further info, send it as soon as you can. If they say they're working on your account, thank them and hang up.

Sometimes it takes days to establish an account, sometimes weeks, depending on who you're dealing with. Most of the time it's days.

Then sometimes it's immediate; some of the Suppliers we list in our Directory will set you up during your first phone call, and give you an account number within minutes or you register on their website for quicker access.

Remember, if you're looking for Suppliers on your own, there should be NO CHARGE associated with "joining a Site" when dealing with a Supplier. If a Supplier tries to charge you an account setup fee or monthly access fee, they are NOT a real Wholesale Supplier. There are some Suppliers who provide you with extra tools for your business, and do charge for them. However, there are very few of these.

There are things you will need from THEM as well. Most Suppliers will give you an information packet containing all the answers to those questions, right up front.

Once your account is set up, you can call and begin asking questions such as "How soon after I place an order do you ship it?", "Do you have overnight shipping available?", and (my personal favorite), "Happy New Year, Dave; it's 82 degrees here in Orlando...how's the weather up there in Saskatoon?"

Some of them have secure wholesale sites that they will give you passwords to, so that you can access images and descriptions of the products you want to sell. You can go there and download (copy to your computer) all the images you need. You can also highlight the product descriptions, copy them to your computer, and place them in a word, for later placement on your Online Store or Auction listings.

However long it takes to get that account, be patient, don't bombard the rep with phone calls or emails, and above all, LISTEN to what they are saying to you. A sales rep that likes you will go out of his or her way to help with other issues in the future.

Please remember "Email #3" in Chapter 9!! Don't be rude to these people! Don't be pushy or arrogant! We're in the Real Business World now; you're dealing with people who will be more than happy to tell you to get lost if you don't treat them with a little common courtesy!

Simply open a polite conversation with them, listen to what they tell you, and you'll be fine.

Setting up an account with a Supplier is easy when you do it right. The Suppliers we list in our Directory have already agreed to work with Online Businesses like yours, whether you are a start-up or a 'Net veteran. They'll help you with what you need. If you have questions, just ask.

However, you should not ask a Supplier's sales rep technical questions about how to place products on your web site or Auctions. He or she is a salesperson, not a technical help desk. That's something you should ask the Tech Support people at your Online Store's hosting company, or at eBay. :o) Far too many people make the mistake of trying to sell only products that they like on their web sites. Others make the mistake of trying to sell only the coolest and flashiest things they can find.