wholesaling pricing vs retail - how much to expect?

[mavwrx]

I was thinking of getting a reseller license to purchase office products and resell to businesses with a website.

How much savings can I expect on wholesale pricing? Is it substantial?

 

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[WestCoast]

well, a pretty broad question.

I wrote an extensive response to discount vs. margin in another thread, can't find it though.

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Depending on a NUMBER of factors, most retailers expect at margin of 45-50% to justify their purchase of stock.

So, if they buy it for $50, they like to resell it for $100.

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The discount you get from a manufacturer might depend on volume, total sales, pre-order, blah blah blah.

So, our business pre-orders stuff in the winter. We get a 50% discount off of list, plus some additional points (or free freight, or longer terms, whatever).

We usually won't buy if the discount is less than 45%.

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Now, Discount does NOT equal margin. We shoot for a gross margin of 40% on our goods, but usually don't quite get there.

I have no insight into office products in particular, but I bet pricing is volume driven and rather cut-throat.

 

[Rickson9]

If an individual is great at selling, retail is an awesome business. If an individual is poor at sales, a discount advantage won't help much.