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/

Wholesale Case Lots is another liquidator of general merchandise that sells in case sized lots. Many large liquidators only sell by the pallet so Wholesale Case Lots is better for the small seller.

Sale Stores is a liquidator of appliances, Computer Hardware & Supplies, Consumer Electronics, Phones and Communications Equipment, Extended Warranties, Furniture, Luggage & Cases, Office Equipment & Supplies, Projectors & Cases, Security Systems, Tools, Watches, and much more.

Red Peddler is a large wholesale site that carries merchandise in dozens of categories. You have to register to see pricing. Once you register, use the code RED26 when you place your first order over $299 and you will get a $26 dollar discount which should cover most of your shipping.

If you are near, or traveling through Chicago, The Merchandise Center is located just minutes from O'Hare International Airport. It contains dozens of wholesale liquidation dealers all in one spot.

RG Riley sells off-price clothing, T-shirts and sweatshirts. They sell in small prepack cases; Closeout and irregular apparel only. Save 40% to 80%.

Jerco Global is a liquidator of auto parts, toys, jewelry and consumer electronics

Mitech Trading has wholesale prices on gifts, leather apparel, electronics, swords, watches, wholesale gifts, serving trays, perfumes, binoculars, backpacks, leather purses, promotional products, cookware, cutlery, musical instruments, knives, tools & GAMES and GAME accessories.

DPJ Wholesale carries a large line of general wholesale products and has a low $50 minimum order.

Kole Imports is one of the oldest and largest wholesale sources in the country. Kole carries thousands of products, but the problem is their products are the dollar store variety. It just doesn’t make sense to sell items for a buck or two, as you have to sell thousands of items to make any money. I was speaking with the rep from Kole and he told me that I was completely wrong. He said that people would often purchase cheap items in huge quantities. For example, one seller sells those cheap copper-scouring pads in lots of 100. Another sells sets of cosmetic brushes in lots of 50. Another eBay seller sells packs of 50 dust filter masks. The trick of course is figuring out what items will sell in large quantities and picking just those. But this is pretty easy to do as eBay has a wholesale large lots sub-category in almost every category. So just research those with completed listings to see what is selling.

TeleBrands Wholesale is probably the leading supplier of ASOTV goods to eBay sellers. There are several companies in this industry -- but this one is the best in my opinion. They sell most products in one-case lots and the prices are typically 50-60% below the advertised on TV price but might only be 20% to 30% above the eBay price.

MBK Wholesale is a large general wholesaler that carries a wide range of gifts, collectibles and ASOTV items. They are a routine source for a lot of large power sellers. Be sure and call them on the phone and ask a lot of questions about the merchandise. They are good at answering questions because the product info on the web site is pretty minimal.

EDM Wholesale has a free dropshipping service for large items. They are the Midwest's largest variety direct master importer with over 1,000 different SKUs in following categories: - Musical - Tools - Arts and Crafts - Sporting Goods - Airsoft Guns and Knifes - Toys - Pet Supplies - Home and Garden.

All time Trading is a closeout distributor. Most of their items are cheap dollar store stuff that isn’t suitable for eBay. However you could make up small wholesale lots of the lower cost items and sell them that way. And if you look there are some higher priced items on the site as well.

Bama Surplus is an Alabama wholesale surplus dealer that sells everything from silk flowers to tools, housewares to hardware, home decor to welding supplies. They carry a wide variety of merchandise including closeouts.

EZwholesaler offers over 4000 products at true wholesale prices. They are distributors of As Seen on TV, Security and Defense, Gift Baskets, General Merchandise and more.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Topper Liquidators has just started a daily deal on their website. When you get to the main page just look right at the top center for the deal. There is a countdown clock right next to it to show you how much time is left. I have been following it from earlier this week and there have been some fabulous deals. They have been advertising with me for about a year now, and I have had really good feedback from readers who have tried them.

Pallet Bid is one of those liquidation companies whereby you bid –much like ebay. Their merchandise is typically overstock or returns. As you know you want to be careful with returns –you can make money on them but just realize that you will often have to trash about 20% to 25% of any shipment you buy. But many of the pallets go for less than $300 and contain $1500+ worth of goods. Always make sure you know the shipping cost before bidding. Each auction shows the location of the seller, so look for sellers who are closer to you. If you live in Seattle don't buy something from Florida.

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.

Genco sells deeply discounted wholesale closeouts, wholesale customer returns and overstock items, direct from America's largest retailers and manufacturers. Recently they have moved into selling smaller lots of items to become more accessible to small eBay and Amazon sellers.

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

VIA Trading is a wholesale auction site where you bid on pallet loads of goods. They have some great new stuff now and they always get a ton of great stuff in right after Christmas, so bookmark them and check every week.

RG Riley sells off-price clothing, T-shirts and sweatshirts. They sell in small prepack cases; Closeout and irregular apparel only. Save 40% to 80%.

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.