Sourcing wholesalers

[Sbanc85]

Hi everyone,

Without going into too much detail, I’m dealing with a difficult situation at the moment where I have decided that I’m probably more suited to starting my own business from home.

Having children of my own and my love for regularly refreshing their items and discarding their outdated or worn stuff, I feel more drawn to selling children’s clothing, bedding, toys including river island/next/character/Disney etc but iv searched and searched and it’s getting overwhelming for me trying to find wholesalers. Certain websites offering a database of wholesalers charge a fee I can’t really afford right now.

Could someone please point me in the right direction?

Also many wholesalers don’t allow you join their site without company details. Again I have tried researching what I would need to do to set up a reseller business to meet wholesalers credentials but I’m struggling.

I can’t start off big by ordering in large amounts, I’m on a small budget so just want to build things up gradually.

I’d appreciate it so much if someone could reach out and simplify things for me because it’s all becoming overwhelming and after hours and hours of research I feel like I’v getting nowhere because any potential support requires a fee I can’t afford right now.

 

[Socio South West]

Wholesale business are looking for large orders - on the basis of what you say a lot more than you currently want to spend.

You will need a registered company, probably a VAT registration and possibly trade references to open accounts with these guys when the time comes.

In the meantime you probably need to be looking for good multibuy deals on the likes of eBay to get yourself started in the manner that you have described and at minimal cost on top of the goods. The downside is that you are going to struggle to make good margins until you can break into the wholesale supply chain.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

With all due respect, I think you're probably looking for something that doesn't exist. You're looking for somewhere that will sell you branded clothes, at wholesale prices, at very low volumes, without you having any company registered or trading history? It's highly unlikely to be out there, and certainly not for the branded type of products (River Island, Disney etc) you're looking for (otherwise why wouldn't every man and his dog go and buy from them?). The big brands will have extremely strict official channels that they sell through, they won't just sell to anyone that wants to sell a few things online from home.

You mention regularly refreshing stuff, would there not be an option to consider looking at second hand stuff and repurposing it? You may find people willing to simply get rid of bags of clothes their kids have grown out of if it's collected from them. Concentrate on taking that, cleaning it up and getting it ready for resale - finding the hidden gems or maybe pulling different clothes together into full "outfits". Almost like a kids boutique, shall we say. Would allow you to start something locally from next to nothing (probably starting with your own kids' leftovers!). Adding in brand new items along the way may then gradually follow - even if they're not necessarily designer brands but are something you source to complete "the look".

 

[Sbanc85]

Wholesale business are looking for large orders - on the basis of what you say a lot more than you currently want to spend.

You will need a registered company, probably a VAT registration and possibly trade references to open accounts with these guys when the time comes.

In the meantime you probably need to be looking for good multibuy deals on the likes of eBay to get yourself started in the manner that you have described and at minimal cost on top of the goods. The downside is that you are going to struggle to make good margins until you can break into the wholesale supply chain.

Thanks for your reply, it’s not that I don’t want to spend a lot of money, it purely down to affordability. I was hoping to start off small

 

[Sbanc85]

Wholesale business are looking for large orders - on the basis of what you say a lot more than you currently want to spend.

You will need a registered company, probably a VAT registration and possibly trade references to open accounts with these guys when the time comes.

In the meantime you probably need to be looking for good multibuy deals on the likes of eBay to get yourself started in the manner that you have described and at minimal cost on top of the goods. The downside is that you are going to struggle to make good margins until you can break into the wholesale supply chain.

Thank you for your reply. It’s not so much I don’t want to spend a lot of money, I just cant afford it so was hoping to start small and build up, but I’m guessing in this situation, as you say I’m not going to be able to break into the big supply chains at this moment in time.

 

[Sbanc85]

With all due respect, I think you're probably looking for something that doesn't exist. You're looking for somewhere that will sell you branded clothes, at wholesale prices, at very low volumes, without you having any company registered or trading history? It's highly unlikely to be out there, and certainly not for the branded type of products (River Island, Disney etc) you're looking for (otherwise why wouldn't every man and his dog go and buy from them?). The big brands will have extremely strict official channels that they sell through, they won't just sell to anyone that wants to sell a few things online from home.

You mention regularly refreshing stuff, would there not be an option to consider looking at second hand stuff and repurposing it? You may find people willing to simply get rid of bags of clothes their kids have grown out of if it's collected from them. Concentrate on taking that, cleaning it up and getting it ready for resale - finding the hidden gems or maybe pulling different clothes together into full "outfits". Almost like a kids boutique, shall we say. Would allow you to start something locally from next to nothing (probably starting with your own kids' leftovers!). Adding in brand new items along the way may then gradually follow - even if they're not necessarily designer brands but are something you source to complete "the look".

Thank you for your reply it makes so much sense and I have actually been looking into selling used clothing. I think that would be a good start and then as you say, introducing new items at some point.

 

[fisicx]

Having children of my own and my love for regularly refreshing their items and discarding their outdated or worn stuff...

Why don't you start by selling these used clothes and toys.

 

[Sbanc85]

Why don't you start by selling these used clothes and toys.

I am. I’m just asking for advice on reliable suppliers for when I can start purchasing more items.

What I didn’t clearly state is I can’t go to a supplier as yet who has a minimum order of 1000 for the same item. I would ideally like to order a mixture of items ranging from a minimum of 10-20.

 

[fisicx]

What I didn’t clearly state is I can’t go to a supplier as yet who has a minimum order of 1000 for the same item. I would ideally like to order a mixture of items ranging from a minimum of 10-20.

It’s not worth them even creating an account for such lot quantities. They want you to take pallet loads away. And do this every week.

 

[DoolallyTap]

eBay, Vinted and others are flooded with used clothes selling at low prices with high fees. Wholesale new clothes in small quantities is probably impossible, with different sizes, style, colours, fabrics etc. how would you know what to stock and then you have the issue of where to stock it. How do offer it to you potential customer? eBay, website market stall, shop?
But most of all, how much capital have you access to? £5000 and it will be almost impossible, £10000, perhaps, but clothes, the margin will be tiny so you will need to sell huge quantities to make it work.

clothing, bedding, toys? Have you got a warehouse, I guess the answer is no.

Sorry to burst your bubble but it is not going to work

 

[Desire Fashion]

Hi everyone,

Without going into too much detail, I’m dealing with a difficult situation at the moment where I have decided that I’m probably more suited to starting my own business from home.

Having children of my own and my love for regularly refreshing their items and discarding their outdated or worn stuff, I feel more drawn to selling children’s clothing, bedding, toys including river island/next/character/Disney etc but iv searched and searched and it’s getting overwhelming for me trying to find wholesalers. Certain websites offering a database of wholesalers charge a fee I can’t really afford right now.

Could someone please point me in the right direction?

Also many wholesalers don’t allow you join their site without company details. Again I have tried researching what I would need to do to set up a reseller business to meet wholesalers credentials but I’m struggling.

I can’t start off big by ordering in large amounts, I’m on a small budget so just want to build things up gradually.

I’d appreciate it so much if someone could reach out and simplify things for me because it’s all becoming overwhelming and after hours and hours of research I feel like I’v getting nowhere because any potential support requires a fee I can’t afford right now.

Hi
We are wholesalers of womens fashion from UK, France and Italy. We are based in Manchester Cheetham Hill on Broughton Street. We can offer you low MOQ to get you started on on your feet. We have a whatsapp broadcast list that we use to send businesses our incoming stock, or if you want you can always visit us at our warehouse and we can discuss your needs, unfortunatley we dont do childrens/baby wear but we do womens fashion of high quality.

Thank You
Desire Fashion Wholesale