General Wholesalers

General wholesalers are companies that carry a wide variety of merchandise. A few of these companies are repeated in some of the category sections so you may see a few duplicates here.

If you are going to buy wholesale you need to learn the lingo. I have used some common wholesale terms in the listings below. See if you know them. If not, you can break the code by looking at one of my blog posts: http://blog.skipmcgrath.com/2007/08/ebay-sellers-learn-the-lingo-if-you-want-to-buy-wholesale/

Topper International is one of our advertisers, but I also like to mention them here   as I have received several emails from readers that they were pleased with the products they bought and the service and support.

All Time Trading is an online wholesaler and closeout company that helps eBay sellers and small website owners compete against larger enterprises by offering more than 25,000 high-quality goods at prices close to those at which large chains purchase. Minimum order is only a case of any product giving small businesses the opportunity to quickly turn merchandise rather than having your money tied up in inventory.

AsSeenOnTV.com the Official Site of Premier As Seen On TV Products offering a wide range of over 1400 of the finest products.

Sales Stores sells Appliances, Computer Hardware and Supplies, Consumer Electronics, Phones and Communications Equipment, Extended Warranties, Furniture, Luggage and Cases, Office Equipment and Supplies, Projectors and Cases, Security Systems, Tools, Watches, and more. You can buy in quantities of just one, but the minimum order is $100. If you see something you want in larger quantities, email them for additional discounts.

RG Riley sells off brand and brand name clothing and apparel

Rex Distributors had one of the largest –and strangest booths at the ASD show. They sell a large line of knives –almost anything you can think of, but they also sell boxing gloves and other sporting equipment, and cutlery for manicurists and pedicurists as well as a dozen other unrelated categories.  I made the mistake of asking for a catalog and the weight of my backpack increased by over 5 pounds. But they have some great stuff and they are happy to deal with small online sellers.

If you live in the Mid West, Transworld Merchandise Center is located about 1 mile from Chicago O’Hare Airport.  They have thousands of brand name wholesale products in stock. They have also just launched online wholesale auctions that you can bid on if you can’t get to Chicago.  They only auction off a few things at a time, but if you check them every few days you will get a look at a wide variety of goods.

CKB Products is a large, well-known wholesaler in dozens of product categories. I have heard mixed reports about this company. Some sellers really love them and have been working with them for years while others have complained about their products and services. I have not personally worked with them so I suggest if you work with them you start small with maybe a test order or two.

United Auction is another liquidator of new merchandise (no returns or seconds). They are now featuring liquidated merchandise from Habana. This is not an auction. You look at the inventory and photos online and then call and make an offer.

Discount Wholesalers, Inc. specializes in overstock, customer returns, liquidation merchandise and closeouts (pallets to truckloads). Discount Wholesalers, carries general merchandise, domestics, food, electronics, apparel and tools including major Name Brands. If you see something on their website that interests you, call their sales reps at 610-458-1131 to get details and pricing. (Note - don't buy customer returns - these are usually damaged goods. The best merchandise is what's called shelf pulls).

Wholesale Mart has over 3000 inexpensive products in light bulk quantities.

At first glance, World Buyers has a lot of cheap junky products, but if you take your time to look through the site there are some nice items for resale. They currently have a $150 minimum order.

Wholesale Case Lots sells case-sized lots (usually between one or two dozen) of Airsoft guns, remote control toys, tools and other general merchandise.

Value  Setters Inc. is a large wholesale online buying group for independent retailers and online sellers. They carry a wide variety of merchandise of all types and categories.

Alibaba.com, the massive overseas supplier search engine has introduced a new feature called Super Deals.  This is a page where overseas suppliers list featured merchandise in somewhat smaller quantities for immediate shipment.  You can look at the Super Deal Offers Here.

When I was at eBay Live I met a lot of folks who are doing well selling liquidation and closeout merchandise. The biggest liquidation dealer that deals with eBay sellers is Liquidation.com. Every once in a while I get an email from someone who had a problem with Liquidation.com. The problem is not Liquidation, but the people selling on Liquidation. They are a lot like eBay. There are different dealers selling wide varieties of items. Most of them are completely honest, but just like eBay a few bad apples sneak in once in a while.  Some of the goods are being sold by Liquidation.com themselves. These are usually fine. What I suggest when buying from someone else is to contact them and see how they respond. Good dealers will respond professionally with lots of information. If someone is being deceptive it will probably come through in their communication. The other thing is to check the shipping price. I have had some buyers who got a pallet load of great stuff at a great price and then the shipping cost robbed them of any possible profit.  Having said all that, I can tell you that a lot of successful power sellers deal with Liquidation.com and make really good money reselling the goods on eBay.

When dealing with any closeout dealer, be sure and understand the quality, condition and type of merchandise you are getting. Do NOT buy returns or warranty returns. These products are highly problematic unless you can repair them. Some of these companies sell right off of the web, while others you have to contact to get their stock lists.

Here are some other popular liquidation and surplus dealers:

AllStar Closeouts

H&J liquidators

RhinoMart

One of the nicest guys we met at the ASD/AMD TRade Show in 2008 was Amin Jivraj from a company called Showcase, The best of TV and More. He did a very nice favor for my wife at the show without even being asked.

Showcase is an As Seen On TV wholesale supplier, but are very unique in several ways. First of all they have plenty of higher priced items –not just the low-cost stuff. And they have a drop ship program for eBay sellers. But best of all, this company owns 41 ASOT stores in Canada. This gives them buying power and they can see what sells. They can buy in huge quantities so they can mark up their wholesale cost to make money but still undersell the other suppliers. And most importantly, they have an excellent quality control program. They thoroughly test their products before importing them. When you go to Showcase, the prices you will see are retail. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the link to their wholesale program. Once you fill out the form, they will contact you with wholesale info and their drop ship program.

If you are looking for a broad supplier of low-priced goods, check out Kole Imports. They sell a wide variety of dollar store merchandise in dozens of categories. Two others who sell low cost merchandise are Four Seasons and Regent General Merchandise.

Captain Eds Bottom Line Wholesale sells a lot of low-cost flea market merchandise but they do have some more expensive items if you take the time to look through the site and they will drop ship.

ASD/AMD Wholesale Auctions. Did you know that the same people who run the ASD/AMD Trade Show also run daily auctions for small to medium wholesale lots. They contract with eBay for the online auction technology. You can look at the current auctions here.

Lately I have been doing a lot of product research and wholesale shopping at Global Sources Direct, the specialty site for eBay and small internet sellers where you can import in small quantities. The products and the deals come and go on this site and often only last a day or so. Therefore you want to bookmark it and check in every few days or so. One of the things I like about this site is that you can use PayPal and get PayPal buyer protection on your wholesale purchases.

If you live within 100 miles or so of Lancaster, PA, the Keystone Cash & Carry Warehouse is is the place to shop wholesale in person for thousands of products. More info at: www.keystonewholesalemarkets.com

Ubid is seen by some sellers as an alternative to eBay. And many eBay sellers sell on both. But Ubid is also a great place to find wholesale small lot auctions for goods that can be resold on both sites.

Worldwide Merchandise Inc. is a giant wholesaler and an excellent source of consumer electronics items

Cossett Promotions is yet another supplier of As Seen On TV merchandise. Unlike Salco, they have no membership fee.

Rybacks is a general wholesaler of gift and collectible items.

Racer Wholesale sells automotive racing and performance gear.

Mid America Liquidators is the official liquidation source for Costco. They primarily sell furniture, but they also get pallets of electronics, footwear, and other household items. There are no prices on the web site. You have to call them to set up an account.

America's Mart in Atlanta is the largest gift and merchandise mart in the US. This is their online presence. You can deal with any of the wholesale shops in the mart without going to Atlanta. It is a little difficult to register and get access, but it is worth it as this is a place to find hundreds of unique suppliers.

Rob Gireux sells all types of licensed sports gear and clothing. NBA, NASCAR, WWF, NFL, etc.

World Distributing sells all sorts of wholesale items from around the world

New City, Inc. is one of the largest wholesalers in the world. They sell almost everything. You will need a business license and a tax resale number to deal with them. They will deal in small quantities.

AE Wholesale sells gifts and collectibles with no minimums, no membership or sign-up requirements. Great selection of stuff.

Alibaba.com's wholesale search service connects you with sellers mostly in Asia , but other places as well. Unfortunately there are some suppliers listed on Alibaba that can be less than reliable. Gold Suppliers, however, are pre-qualified and have to pass a rigorous screening to be listed. Once on the Gold Suppliers page, there is a search box where you can search only the Gold Suppliers.

Asbery Wholesale has a wide range of merchandise including most of the Maxam catalog items. Forget the Maxam items, you can get them cheaper direct from Maxam –and even there the prices are not that great. However, if you look at the Asbery site there are some real bargains buried in there such as wheel-ed backpacks for Back-to-school selling for $9.95 each.

Farcountries offers thousands of wholesale products from the Americas , Europe , Asia and Africa . Products include gifts to garden stuff and gourmet foods to things for the garage.

Sahni Wholesale sells a wide range of unusual novelties –silly stuff but some of it sells pretty well. Another novelty supplier is I nter Trade, but they also carry other goods such as clothing, toys, clocks, and DVDs. They also sell adult items, so don't go there if you are offended.

Another novelty supplier is InterTrade , but they also carry other goods such as clothing, toys, clocks, and DVDs. They also sell adult items, so don't go there if you are offended.

Mitech Trading is the source of thousands of products seen on eBay. They are also a big supplier to Costco

Chicky's sells all sorts of jewelry, glass blowing and other gifts.

Mission Knives is a knife manufacturer and supplier to the US Government, Navy Seals and Special forces. These are the real deal --not the cheap "made in China" knives selling on eBay.

The Cheapjunk Group has gifts, novelties, collectibles, watches, etc. Don't be misled by the tongue-in-cheek name, they have some pretty good stuff.

India Mart links to many companies who will export different goods from India and China. They deal mostly in large orders, but they will handle small orders (approx. $500 minimum).

St. Louis Wholesale is an excellent wholesaler of gifts, jewelry and broad general merchandise with GREAT prices.

Liquid XS is a surplus dealer that concentrates on brand name and higher quality products. I have used them before and got some great deals.

A&W Surplus is a large liquidator of tools, electronics and general merchandise. They will shortly introduce a wholesale auction format to their web site. They recently had a large shipment of old slot machines for sale.

Buck Wholesale is a general wholesaler of flea market and dollar store items –many of which show up on eBay. They have no minimum order and no sign up fee.

Wholesale Ramp has both fixed price lots and lots that you can bid on. Mostly general merchandise but there are some unique items if you search the whole site.

A few words of caution when dealing with liquidation and surplus sources:

• You can find some great stuff from liquidation outlets, but expect some junk too. Communicate with the seller and ask lots of questions to make sure you understand exactly what you are buying
   
• Watch the shipping costs. Make sure you are still getting a good deal when they are added in
   
• Don't buy "Returns." These are goods that people returned. They often include items that are defective, broken or damaged in some way.
   
• The best items are "shelf pulls." These are goods that just didn't sell and the retailer had to move them out to make way for new stock

So here are a few sources to look at.

Genco sells deeply discounted wholesale closeouts, wholesale customer returns and overstock items, direct from America's largest retailers and manufacturers.

Jacobs Trading Company, JTC, is a direct source for many retailers' and manufacturers' customer returns, over- stocks, shelf-pulls, and damaged goods

Countryside Closeouts is a business to business firm specializing in low-cost, high return retail products to dollar stores; eBay stores; convenience stores; thrift centers; discount stores; discount furniture stores; hardware stores and other businesses interested in selling quality products bought at aggressive, below wholesale prices.

All-star Wholesalers offers wholesale lots, surplus merchandise, warehouse overstocks, salvage merchandise, store liquidations, shelf pulls, store closeouts, wholesale pallets and excess store inventory.

Surplus.net is the main portal for the Internet Marketing Association of Surplus Dealers. Here you will find Surplus liquidation overstock closeout salvage imports and exports sources.  Be sure and click on the link to Deal of the week.

International Dropship and Wholesale Corp. offers a wide selection of good quality surplus merchandise and they have a drop ship program for heavy items.