A Guide to Buying Wholesale Clothing

Searching for your key specialty in the online resale business can be an arduous task if you are trying to find a niche market that would generate the best profit. You should stick to areas that you are either interested in, experienced in, or in areas of which you see specific gaps in the market, be that in online marketplaces, or in your local town.

However, what if you have already made up your mind and decided you are going to buy and sell clothing? Whether you are going to open a brick and mortar shop or you intend to sell the merchandise online, you might want to read through these tips aimed at making your life easier, whether you are an experienced buyer or a newcomer to the business.

There is a very good reason why many decide to buy and sell clothing, namely, the relatively high profit margins achievable. But, to make the most out of selling clothing you must know first where to buy, and also understand and appreciate that there are also periods within a year that will grant you lower prices on certain clothing items.

The Benefits of Buying Wholesale

The number one rule for making the biggest profit on reselling is to buy clothing in bulk. Having the right supplier is one of the first steps to take. Whether you are looking to buy from a liquidator or a wholesale supplier, the point is of making a business connection with a business that suits your needs.

It makes no sense to work with a wholesaler specializing in electronics when you are looking for branded clothing pallets. In addition to that, you need a trusted wholesaler who will be able to provide you with large quantities of quality clothing. Always do a thorough search of your local wholesalers and liquidators as well as the ones you find online, browse through their categories and pay special attention to the clothing section.

Besides the wholesaler reputation, pricing, delivery options and other services, there is one other point to pay attention to, quality. Buying clothing simply because it is cheap is not the way to go.

You can categorize clothing in a number of ways, from infant and toddler clothing, children’s clothing to women’s and men’s, and there are various categories below that. Dipping into every one of them will give you variety and diversify your offering to customers.

But it has to be stressed that finding wholesale clothing of high quality is a must if you would like to attract customers. For this reason, it is best to work with reputable suppliers that will have exclusive relationships with top brands and that will be able to offer you quality merchandise.

Also, reputable wholesale suppliers will have detailed manifests, enabling you to pick and choose which lots to bid on and which ones are not of any interest to you.

To make your chances of a significant profit even better, it is smart to keep healthy business relationships with your suppliers, because more often than not, wholesalers will reward loyalty and give special offers to long-term customers.

But wholesale suppliers don’t always have to be your only source. You could earn on reselling clothing items you purchased from a retailer, if you know when to buy.

Seasonal Wholesale Buying

Clothing falls into a category of seasonal merchandise. This means that after the season, e.g. summer is over retailers will look to empty their shelves and free up space for the clothing items that will be sold in the fall season. The same process repeats from one season to another and brings with it significant price reductions because retailers are looking to get the merchandise out the door quickly. If they don’t work with wholesalers or liquidators, you might get pallets of clothing directly from the retailer at a huge discount, though these are harder to find, and generally only applies to smaller retailers.

For you as a reseller, this could be a smart way of making money on reselling clothing. There are, however, some limits to this strategy. First, you must check the retailer’s websites or stores often to catch the price reduction as soon as it happens, otherwise, items you are interested in might be snapped up before you decide to buy.

Another issue is the fact that you would have to hold on to the items you buy for the best part of nine months before it comes into season the next year and you can display it in your store with marked up prices.

In order to hold onto large quantities of clothing for such a long period you would need to secure adequate storage space which some either can’t or don’t want to because they are in the business of flipping merchandise quickly.

To do so, and to keep a steady stream of income going throughout the entire year, the best tactic is not to stick to one season, but rather buy clothing for all for seasons. This way you will be able to cover the peak demand periods each year, and avoid having an off season.

This is also an advantage over buying from wholesale suppliers that specialize in winter clothing only, because of the seasonal nature of the merchandise, you might not be able to purchase it throughout the entire year.

Making the Most of Selling Wholesale Clothing

This brings us back to the beginning, and the purchase process. Whether you are buying from wholesale suppliers or retailers when they are discounting seasonal clothing, you have to be aware of your budget. Always do price research, compare the wholesale prices, the retail prices, the prices offered by your direct competitors to know how much you can pay for certain lots and what your profit margin would be.

Securing best prices will enable you to be competitive in the market while making a healthy profit. This means that you should set your prices just below your competition and not go for large one-time sales. It is better to count your profits once you have sold all the items from a lot, than to make one big sale and drive away potential customers with higher prices. 

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Henley Johnson

Henley currently works as a sales representative for Direct Liquidation, assisting businesses with product sourcing of liquidated merchandise from the largest retailers in the world. Whether you are looking for a pallet or a truckload Henley is here to help you grow your business.

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