what is wholesaling 
wholesaling is the act of buying a large number of goods directly from a manufacturer and then selling them to retailers wholesalers buy in bulk at a discounted price and sell to a retailer for a higher price which is how wholesalers make their profit retailers then repackage these goods into smaller quantities and sell them to consumers at an even higher price due to the large quantities purchased from the manufacturer at a discounted price the wholesaler can also pass on this discount to retailers the retailer sells at a price that reflects the overall cost of doing business understanding wholesalingmost wholesalers do not manufacture the goods they sell but rather buy them from the source and concentrate on the business of sales and delivery to retailers they are known as the intermediary in the supply chain it is more cost effective for a wholesaler to buy in bulk from a manufacturer and receive a discount than it would be to buy items individually the wholesaler will then sell to a retailer at a higher price than it paid for the goods but is still able to provide a similar discount to the retailer as they received when the retailer buys in bulk for example walmart will purchase its products from wholesalers in bulk they may buy thousands of bottles of hand moisturizer it will receive a discount on buying such a large volume than if it were to just buy a few walmart then stocks its shelves with moisturizers and continuously restocks from its large inventory when the shelves are empty a wholesaler may specialize in a single product or product category or may offer a variety of goods it can be anything from milk to electricity some wholesalers also broker deals between other wholesalers and retail businesses that require a variety of goods or components of goods that can be more efficiently obtained from a single source a wholesaler should not be confused with an official distributor for a brand s product line the wholesaler does not generally offer product support may not be connected directly to the company from which it purchases products and may even have limited familiarity with the products moreover unlike distributors many wholesalers sell competing products 