What is a fair wholesale price?

[Shaft]

Hello,
does anyone know if there is a guideline for a wholesale price? I am publishing a book over the internet that I have written myself. It is a special interest subject and some retailers have contacted me to sell it as well. As I don't have any experience in dealing with retailers it would be great if someone can share his/her experience on that matter.
One retailer expected 50% off the retail price. I think that is too much as I had to pay for the print and so the retailer would actually make more profit than I do. Thanks for your advise.

 

[Toon]

It depends on the product. I will buy clothing that I might make a 100% markup on. I might then buy perfume that I make a 20% markup on. I don't mind the 20% markup if I sell lots of that item otherwise I would be wanting 100%. So whoever said 50% of the cost is right in a way!

 

I think 50% off retail is pretty normal for most goods. I have a 100% mark up on most products although some items do require adjusting up or down according the the market variables. A retailer will expect to pay 30% - 50% less than retail so you should price your wholesale prices accordingly. Example if you buy from the manufacturer at £10 then you would say wholesale at £15 and then the retailer marks up to £30.
Yes, it is quite normal in some instances for the retailer to make more than the wholesaler but don't forget the wholesaler can sell to retailers easily, the retailer on the other hand has to market the products to the customers.

 

[RedArc]

Hi,

For books, 50% discount is about the norm although some book retailers ask for as much as 60%! You could try to negotiate a lower rate. Some may be receptive to 40-45%. One author we worked with managed to negotiate a discount of 35% for single-copy orders.

Profit margins aren't great from print-on-demand publishing but if you've priced the book right, it should still make more profit than what you'd receive from a standard author royalty contract on a per book basis!

 

[earner]

As a rule of thumb, if I had a genuine buyer asking for goods, who could realistically sell goods that I couldn't, then I'd be prepared for them to earn more than me!

e.g. if it were a book retailing at £10 and my costs were £4, then I'd rather somebody else sold 1000 a month for me and I made £1 a time, than the alternative of having to find/manage 1000 sales myself.

A successful entrepreneur will not look at how much somebody else is making, but will see how much THEY are making for "doing nothing".

Perhaps look at retrospective discounting. So, if the book is £10, then offer it to the retailer at £7 but they get it for £5 if they've met some sales targets. That way it covers your disappointment/effort if they send it all back.

 

[Cornish Steve]

Forget markups and discounts for a moment. What will the market bear? Will the price cover your costs?

 

[adam]

A publisher will have many retailers each making them a small amount. A retailer as said above has to fight for each customer.

Some profucts I say for a good margin made my supplier only 5-10%.

If a retailer makes £1,000 from sales from you and you make "only" £500, imagine the situation when you have 10 retailers, each making £1,000 but you then make £5,000 and as said above again for "doing nothing".

A retailer will need a 35-50% margin so if they can do the business then let them make you rich.