Would you display prices on a wholesale website?

[IMEX Sourcing Services]

Hi,

I was just setting up a website through which my Bulk Buyers will buy products from me. The idea is to set up a wholesale webiste and a retail website.

Earlier I thought I would display prices on my wholesale website too. But then I realised it might not be a very good idea, due to the below mentioned reasons. I was just trying to weigh the pros and cons of displaying prices on a wholesale website, and have written down my ideas below. Would you display prices of products on a wholesale website, why or why not?

ADVANTAGES

1. Buyers will instantly know the prices

DISADVANTAGES

1 Reduces scope for negotiation - Less flexibility (Especially in a new business)

2. Buyers can give a website link to the competitors to get better deals from them, and hence I may lose customers.

3. They might get put off by the prices in the first place.

4. there wont be a lot of trade enquiries, as a lot of buyers will make decisions based on prices. hence there will be no communication, and hence I will have very little chance to attract buyers on the basis of Good Customer Service.


What would you do and why?

Ash

[Rob Holmes]

Maybe split the site and password protect the reseller area - so resellers have to apply and register for prices etc..

Or have 2 seperate sites and just have a contact form on the retail site for reseller enquiries..

Or offer tiered sales so bigger buyers benefit from 'reseller prices'

Just a few thoughts,

Rob

[IMEX Sourcing Services]

Hi Rob.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have already done that, I have a different site for retail buyers and bulk buyers. What I meant was, if I display prices there are more chances, of Inter-Buyer comparisons, and other disadvantages "(as mentioned above). So it would be nice to have some opinions on, what others would do in this situation.

Ash

[The_JinJ]

I have seen a few sites that don't show the entire price range but an example of prices - usually their best prices.
Gives the customer an idea but doesn't give the entire price list away and still leave room for negotiation etc

[Jayne]

Hi,

All the wholesalers I use all show their prices, it's nice to know all customers pay the same price and your compertition down the street isn't getting one up on you :D I wouldn't use a firm who didn't give me all their prices first up front.

They post price lists to me, maybe you could do the same, but every customer pays the same. You can get things cheaper when you bulk order, but that is a set price too for everyone.

Hope I helped

Jayne :D

[Astaroth]

In my opinion it will depend on who you are trying to attract as customers. I think a lot of small scale operations will be put off my not having prices listed - at the end of the day when their bulk buying may only be a relatively small amount they realise their negotiating possition is fairly weak and would rather have the speed and convenience of a up front price.

If you are looking at larger operations then the reverse is true. They expect large discounts due to their buying power and prices being listed on your site means that they immediately discount you as none competitive.

When you get to the size of organisation I work for then we wouldnt even be looking at your site. You would have to approach us with an offer to supply and we would then negotiate on it - and things like your ability to accept XML order forms directly from our intranet site is of as much interest as a few pence per unit.

[webit]

BYW on the way to fame:

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[directmarketingadvice]

Ash

That's a great question.

The proper answer would be to test both approaches and see which one brought the bigger profit.

But first, let me ask you, are you really competing on price or is it on other benefits?

What are trade buyers buying on? Are they simply looking for price or is service equally important?

Whatever it is you're competing on is what you should feature (assuming it tallies with what the market is looking for).

Even if you have to say "our average margin is x% and, if you're willing to shop around, you might find 0.5% below that. However, when you do business with us, xxxxxxxxx ....."

xxxxxxx is whatever benefit your clients get from doing business with you rather than your competitors.

If the perception of this benefit is greater than the saving they might get from shopping around, then you should overcome this problem.

However, testing the two approaches makes the most sense to me.

I hope this helps.

Steve

[IMEX Sourcing Services]

Hi,

Some really good ideas there.

I have decided to test both the approaches for a short period of time, and see where it goes from there on :)

Cheers to everyone
Ash

[neilsdeals2008]

Hi.

I would agree displaying prices would be be quite important really, and personally i would`nt bother contacting a company if they can`t be bothered to quote rough wholesale prices, as i think it`s unprofessional, if the trader knows the prices your can way up the margin`s and compare with other wholesalers, to see who has the better deal`s so theres more chance of a deal if the the price is right