Is wholesale really viable in 2023?
In 2023, new sellers like myself face significant challenges due to oversaturation and high prices of items sourced from wholesalers. As someone who has recently started wholesale sourcing, I’ve encountered immense difficulty in competing against established Amazon sellers who have driven the market prices down to unbeatable levels.
Now, before any experienced seller suggests that I should “do my homework,” “look elsewhere,” or remind me that success takes time, let me clarify that I have dedicated a consistent 5+ hours per day over the past 12 days to researching wholesalers, opening trade accounts, and reaching out to manufacturers directly. Out of the 20+ wholesale accounts I have managed to open, a staggering 80% of them are overpriced compared to Amazon sellers. Moreover, these accounts suffer from issues such as oversaturation, intellectual property concerns, private labeling problems, and overall underperformance in their respective categories when it comes to sourcing from them. The remaining wholesalers either lack a substantial trading history or have low scores on TrustPilot due to complaints about counterfeit products, undelivered goods, or unsellable items. On the other hand, manufacturers are reluctant to engage with sellers or grant permission to sell their products on Amazon.
Experienced sellers may readily claim their sourcing success, but it’s essential to consider that they likely began their journey during an era of lower competition with access to cheaper wholesale products.
I understand that it’s still early in my venture, but the effort I put into sourcing should yield at least some return on my minimal investment which comes very minimal at the moment.
I hope we can engage in a constructive discussion and I invite anyone to share their thoughts.
Is wholesale really viable in 2023?
In 2023, new sellers like myself face significant challenges due to oversaturation and high prices of items sourced from wholesalers. As someone who has recently started wholesale sourcing, I’ve encountered immense difficulty in competing against established Amazon sellers who have driven the market prices down to unbeatable levels.
Now, before any experienced seller suggests that I should “do my homework,” “look elsewhere,” or remind me that success takes time, let me clarify that I have dedicated a consistent 5+ hours per day over the past 12 days to researching wholesalers, opening trade accounts, and reaching out to manufacturers directly. Out of the 20+ wholesale accounts I have managed to open, a staggering 80% of them are overpriced compared to Amazon sellers. Moreover, these accounts suffer from issues such as oversaturation, intellectual property concerns, private labeling problems, and overall underperformance in their respective categories when it comes to sourcing from them. The remaining wholesalers either lack a substantial trading history or have low scores on TrustPilot due to complaints about counterfeit products, undelivered goods, or unsellable items. On the other hand, manufacturers are reluctant to engage with sellers or grant permission to sell their products on Amazon.
Experienced sellers may readily claim their sourcing success, but it’s essential to consider that they likely began their journey during an era of lower competition with access to cheaper wholesale products.
I understand that it’s still early in my venture, but the effort I put into sourcing should yield at least some return on my minimal investment which comes very minimal at the moment.
I hope we can engage in a constructive discussion and I invite anyone to share their thoughts.
84 replies
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
I don’t think there’s much more to add to what was already discussed on your other 2 threads re wholesale v A2A
5 hours over 12 days isn’t really long enough to say you’ve exhausted all wholesale avenues
Seller_wqciCXuQbNS4p
I agree, and would add, what commercial experience do you have? Any contacts from previous employment?
I’ve been in my industry for 30 years, so managed to hit the Amazon ground running. I expect that without that experience, (and contacts,) I too would have struggled.
So, all I can suggest is that you persevere. It’s a long hard road and the benefits are no longer what they were, but if you can make it work, then good luck to you. If it were that easy, every man and his dog would be at it, but the marketplace simply isn’t big enough.
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
As has been said on your other threads, it’s not an easy way to make a quick buck.
It takes time and effort. I spend on average an hour a day every day looking for new products.
And I’ve been doing that for most of the last 7 years or so.
So honestly, to say that you have spent 5 hours a day for 12 days, you have literally barely scratched the surface.
Running a business is HARD work.
If you want to have an easy life, it’s not the job for you. Your far better off working 9-5 for your wage.
As I’ve said previously, the initial prices you will get from wholesalers etc, are not necessarily the best prices you will actually get.
Unless you can find a niche to sell in, then you are going to be competing with a lot of other sellers, who are sourcing from the same places.
You need to build up relationships with suppliers. And as time goes on, you will start to see better prices etc. But at this point, if your not even at the stage of VAT registration, which gives you an immediate boost to your profits, you are not going to make it.
What kind of level of capital do you have? In order to buy from reputable suppliers, your looking at minimum orders of at least £500. And that is getting base prices.
You need to look at something that you have an interest in, or have knowledge about already.
Oh, and to answer the question directly, YES, wholesale is viable.
70% of my business is entirely wholesale. Despite the numpties who come and go on an almost daily basis, with the ridiculous prices.
Seller_wqciCXuQbNS4p
I think that the other question that you need to ask yourself, is what do you want to get out of it?
Is it a side line from a full time job? Or a committed, exciting, new long term business venture?
If the former then you may be okay to muddle along and suck it and see. If the latter though, get yourself down to the library and start reading some good books on business. It’s not just about sourcing the right products, it’s about having, or at least having the ability to develop the right degree of business acumen.
Seller_77IcbQKVGdZo0
Yes wholesale is viable and it is profitable. It takes a lot of work though and finding the right products takes time and effort.
When I look for products I will discard a number of products due to them not being profitable on Amazon or the listing being poor quality.
It is just hard work to find the right products.
Seller_GTQV2zDar8YQQ
The 3 R’s
The right goods at the right price at the right time.
Seller_e4TPdaiQnD4BP
As a new seller just over 2 months selling, 60 hours over 12 days isn’t near enough time to say there is no market there for new sellers. When I started I was looking for products easily 10hours a day between online and scanning in stores and then coming back home to find a wholesaler.
Money is there to be made, but don’t expect it to fall in your lap if your new here.
Seller_pD4k5nUkDbIgP
I felt like the OP at the start because no I can’t sell products for 40p profit and it takes time to find a strategy that works. But slowly I researched and researched and found some products. Actually, I keep finding products that are either not on Amazon yet or they are but are overpriced. Some products are definitely too competitive but you have to keep researching and find products that you can sell at a profit. I don’t have a winning product yet that sells 100s a day but I have found a few niches that are not that competitive,and I have about 500 active products. If I sell one product a week from each line on average, it would be ok as these products have a decent margin.
Seller_l1N3BeDMYwV9N
OP wholesale is for physical retail or if you have your own customer base. not third party online websites like amazon that only has 1 seller have the buy box. Doing “homework” is also nonsense. Here’s a tip, search backwards. Look at sellers on amazon and their stores to see what type of products they are selling, you’ll soon recognize whos reselling junk from boots and who’s wholesaling (not many). Also another way to distinguish between resellers and actual business is number of ratings on their store. and even then those real businesses have their own sales channels and customers and amazon is supplementary to their sales. Think stationary sellers as example.
No amount of “research” will make you successful, success is being busy and posting here all day aint it. Success is purely sales and your ability to sell.
