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Sell what Sells, NOT what's Cool

The Wholesale Misconception

Wolves in Wholesale Suppliers' Clothing

Working Within the Process

Direct From The Factory?

6 Common Product Sourcing Questions Answered

The Fine Art of Product Sourcing - How to Find Art to Sell through Your E-Biz

Successfully Negotiating with Your Wholesale Suppliers

5 Strategies for Safely Sourcing Liquidation

Informed Compliance for Online Retailers - 3 Ways to Minimize Your Importing Risks

What is Product Sourcing? The Sourcing Techniques Your Online Business Needs

Where Do I Find Products to Sell? 4 Ways to Locate REAL Wholesale Suppliers

Tips for Finding and Working with Wholesalers

April 2017 - Wholesale Suppliers Added

August 2017 - Wholesale Suppliers Added

December 2017 - Wholesale Suppliers Added

Wholesale Supplier Interview 1

Wholesale Supplier Interview 2

Fake Wholesalers Hurt YOUR Business & YOUR Customers!

Made in the USA!

Wolves in Wholesale Suppliers' Clothing

by Chris Malta
Last updated 7/25/2018

The Internet is loaded with fake "Wholesale Suppliers". Everyone who has a couple of wooden birdhouses or glass figurines to sell wants you to think they are a real, live Wholesale Supplier.

And, every Scam Artist who feels like making a quick buck is selling lists of these fakes.

Don't throw your money away on cheap lists and sites full of middlemen, resellers and closeout liquidators that charge you overblown prices, membership fees and minimums. The creators of those lists and sites are irresponsible people who couldn't care less what happens to you. They pad their lists with the names of hundreds, or even thousands of companies that are USELESS to you, and they KNOW IT! You'll waste valuable time and money finding out that the information you bought is virtually worthless.

I'm constantly amazed at people who still think that cheaper is better. Every once in a while, someone will write us and ask "Why should I pay more for YOUR Directory, when I can buy one of those others for 15.00, or 6.00, or even 3.00?"

The answer is simple. It's a fundamental truth, and we all know the answer already.

You get what you pay for.

ALWAYS. No exceptions to the rule. No "but look, this one is different!" This truth IS carved in stone.

I may actually buy a cheap product from time to time, but I do it for very specific reasons, understanding that it IS a piece of junk.

I'll buy one of those $39 DVD Players, but I won't use it in the family entertainment center. I'll buy it for the kids' playroom, because I KNOW that someday, one of the kids is going to try to stuff a peanut butter sandwich into the slot (again!). When it happens, all I've lost is a piece of junk that wasn't worth much anyway.

I'll spend $8 on a cheap set of kitchen flatware, but it doesn't go into the drawer in the kitchen. I'll throw it in with our camping gear, because I KNOW that most of it will eventually be dug out of the sand by archaeologists, centuries after we've lost a couple of pieces every trip.

So, there ARE reasons to purposely ignore value and buy cheap.

However, you'll NEVER catch me putting my grandson in a cheap car seat. Heaven help me if I ever try to pass a Cubic Zirconium off as a Diamond to my wife. And I will NEVER buy a cheap piece of junk where the future of my business is concerned.

We're all here to make money. That includes us, and it includes YOU! If it didn't, you wouldn't be here, trying to decide on a legitimate way to open a Home based Internet Business.

Many people, like us, and like you, are willing to work very hard to make our dreams come true. We at Worldwide Brands work hard to produce a genuinely valuable Wholesale Directory that will help you greatly in your pursuit of success. We really do. YOU are here because you are prepared to take that leap of faith in yourself, and take your future in your own hands. To make something out of nothing, for yourself, and perhaps your family.

Isn't it sad that there are those who would rather cheat us both, instead of putting forth the effort that it takes to do an honest day's work?

Like any other avenue of the Internet, they are here as well, in the Wholesale Product Sourcing arena. Those who prey on your lack of knowledge about a new field that you are attempting to get started in.

Following are warnings against some common hazards that we've seen online, related to Wholesale Product Sourcing for your Home Based Business.

Some of these are simply warnings against Online Business offers and practices that are legal, but will NEVER earn you any money; they will earn money only for those who sell you the programs we talk about below.

TV "Infomercials"
These people are probably the biggest offenders out there. The late night "Home Internet Business in a Box" TV Infomercial. Yes, they are still doing it!

They show you "Amazing Systems" that will make you "Thousands of Dollars a Week", with little effort on your part. They offer you "Easy, Step-by-Step Instructions". They want to sell you "Interactive CD ROMS that Teach You ECommerce in No Time". They offer to reveal "Amazing Secrets of the Pros" that will make you rich. They promise "Instant Web Sites"" and "Access to Thousands of Products That You Can Sell right Now!" They show you beautiful people lounging around pools, swimming in crystal-clear Caribbean waters, and sitting under palm trees while their "Businesses" magically make them all the money it takes to afford those things.

C'mon, folks! You and I both know better!

It's extremely tempting to buy into the fantasy that there are "Secret Formulas", "Hidden Methods of the Pros", and "Businesses in a Box" that will make us rich with very little effort.

It's NOT TRUE. It never has been true. No place, no time, not ever. In our minds, we all know this. However, in our hearts, we long for it to be so. That's what these people prey on... our hearts and our dreams.

We at Worldwide Brands know these people. We've been in this business a long time. We're very good at it, and very we're highly regarded online.

These different infomercial people have approached us over the years, wanting us to endorse them and let them include our Directory in their half-hour trips to Fantasyland. We've had multiple conference calls with the owners of these companies. We've had conference calls with the people who handle their advertising and produce their infomercials. We have turned them down, every time.

We will not allow our name and our reputation to be ruined by being associated with these people. Don't let your chance at a real business be ruined by them.

We know these people, and their Infomercials. We actually do stay up late at night and watch every new one that comes out. We have never seen one that will do what it claims for you. They are selling a white-washed fantasy that has little to do with the real business world, and they know it.

They start out by telling you that their "Amazing System" costs only a small amount of money. Then, when they have you hooked, they tell you that you need to spend hundreds more on an "Upgrade". Then they tell you that you need to spend hundreds more on "Advertising and Email Campaigns". Then they tell you that you need to invest thousands in their "Coaching Classes" if you want to be successful. We have heard from a tremendous number of people who have lost thousands of dollars to these people. Don't let them fool you!

"Drop Shippers" of "More than 3,000 products!"
There are literally THOUSANDS of companies out there who are acting as MIDDLEMEN for ONE real drop shipping company. All of those thousands of so-called drop shippers lead back to the same supplier.

I'm talking about a big supplier of imported off-brand merchandise that does drop ship directly from their warehouse. They sell some nice products; I actually worked with them a few years ago. You won't find any well-known brand names there. Their line consists of about 3,500 widely varying products, mostly decorative figurines, home accents and giftware. Again, you won't recognize any of the brand names...it's all imported merchandise, probably mostly from China and the Pacific Rim. We'll call this company "XYZ Wholesalers", for the purpose of this discussion. That's not their real name, of course.

You can sign up with "XYZ Wholesalers" directly and sell their merchandise on your website, for a hefty account maintenance fee. I did that, as I said. However, I no longer work with them. I found the products difficult to sell, for one very good reason. As I said above, they have signed up THOUSANDS of people, who are all trying to sell this exact same merchandise on the Internet. That kind of competition, plus the fact that there are so many more people (millions of people!) already trying to sell giftware in general online, made it impossible for me to make any real money.

Now, here's the problem: along comes Joe Reseller. He signs up with "XYZ Wholesalers" as a retailer, and has the right to sell their products online. Then he advertises himself as the WHOLESALER. He tells you that he IS a company like "XYZ Wholesalers", and tells you to sign up with his web site. He'll drop ship all those products to your customers and make you rich. What he's really doing is sitting in his bedroom in front of his computer, re-sending your orders to the REAL "XYZ Wholesalers", and making a profit from you that you should not have to pay.

List of Wholesale Companies who drop ship for $3.00!
Ever see an ad like that on an auction site? So have we. We buy them. OK, we KNOW we're getting ripped off, but we just have to see them. A few days after paying for them, we get two Xeroxed pages in the mail containing the most worthless information we've ever seen. Or, we get an Email that's supposed to be a drop shipping list. (An EMAIL!) Or we get a $15 CD chock full of the same garbage the guy who charged us $3 was peddling. If I thought I could make money online selling wooden birdhouses made in somebody's garage, I'd go into business with my neighbor. These lists sell for anywhere from $2.50 to $30. Why do you think they're so cheap? Because nobody had to put any EFFORT into them! It's easy to hit a search engine, type the word "wholesale", throw the first 20 responses on a piece of paper, and sell it for a few bucks.

Will it help you earn money? NO!
98% of all the Drop Ship/Wholesale Supplier Lists and Directories on the Internet are junk! (We're the OTHER 2%) :o)

Yes, we bought them too. ALL of them. They call themselves "Ultimate", "Connection", "Global", "Millennium", "Central", "Wholsalers.xxx," and "Incredible" lists and sites of supposed Wholesale Suppliers who Drop Ship and/or sell in Bulk.

Again, we knew we were being ripped off. I've seen these things floating around for YEARS, and have tried to use them before. But just for the sake of doing our research before telling you what they are really like, we bought them.

These printed lists and "directories" of Drop Shippers/Wholesale Suppliers have been circulating the same, tired old listings around and around among themselves for years. If you think you can make money selling customized return mailing labels, or novelties like fake vomit and dribble glasses, or used books from some dingy old warehouse, then by all means, give it a try.

They all claim to contain "hundreds", or "thousands" of companies who will drop ship for you. Some of them contain hundreds of listings, but that's easy. Once again, just go to a search engine, type in "wholesale" and copy the first 500 responses you get. Then slap them in a rag print magazine and call it a "Directory". Same result.

One of the oldest and most well known of these (don't ask which one; you know - you've seen the ads!) contains hundreds of company listings. Our Research Manager actually spent a month trying to contact ALL of them. Only 18 of them responded, and only 3 of them (THREE out of 202!) were real Wholesale Suppliers who were willing to Drop Ship. The 18 companies who did respond didn't know they were even listed in this "directory".

When we research wholesale suppliers to list in our Wholesale Supplier Directory, we contact EACH AND EVERY COMPANY WE LIST. Then we ASK THEIR PERMISSION to list them. We verify that they are a REAL Wholesaler Supplier who is willing to work with online retailers. We find out if they are willing to Drop Ship or sell through Light Bulk Wholesaling. Then we place them in the proper category in our Wholesale Directory (Drop Shipper, Light Bulk Wholesaler, Liquidator, etc.), listing their products, their brand names, their email addresses, phone numbers, physical address, contact person, credit information, ordering procedure, etc., etc., etc. NONE of these other so-called "directories" do anything remotely like what we do. We're constantly amazed that they get away with it.

Lists and "directories" such as this sell for anywhere from $7 to about $69. They're almost all in print form, although a couple are online. We've even seen a couple of new ones surface in the past few months. Amazingly enough, they're circulating much of the same worthless information that the OLD ones are! Must have taken a lot of research, don't you think? :o)

Super Drop Ship Information CD!
You've probably seen these on auction sites as well as web sites. Tell you what, we'll make this one short and sweet. Read the warning above this one, dump all THAT junk on a CD, and sell it for six bucks. Same thing.

Complete Site and Product Sales Opportunities!
Have you ever come across a "Drop Shipping Opportunity" like this: (?)

. They'll create a storefront for you

. They'll provide you with THOUSANDS of products that they'll drop ship for your store!

. They'll provide you with Merchant Services so you can accept credit cards without having to open a bank account!

. All for a ONE TIME PRICE of just $50! (Or $149, or $300, etc.)

Wow, doesn't that just seem too good to be true?? That's because it IS too good to be true. Oh, sure, they'll do what they say. It's a legal business. But tell me this...just how much money do you think you'll make?

Think about it for a minute. THEY establish accounts with wholesalers. THEY mark those wholesale prices WAY up. Then they get YOU to put in all the time and effort to SELL those products to people, at a VERY slim profit margin for YOU.

Congratulations! You've just become a commissioned salesman for someone else's business!

Um, not quite what you had in mind, was it?

For a Mere $149, and $50 a month...

Run across one of these yet? A company who claims to be a "drop ship distributor", but has a "setup" or "membership" fee?

Let me say this very clearly:

A Real Wholesale Supplier that Drop Ships does not charge a setup fee or membership fee to do business with you!

ANY Drop Ship Wholesale Supplier that wants you to BUY YOUR STORE'S PRODUCTS FROM THEM, and wants you to pay a setup or membership fee, should be AVOIDED at ALL COST! Almost without exception, these companies have raised their so-called "wholesale" product prices so high that you will never be able to compete online. Your prices will have to be so much higher than anyone else's that you will never make any real money.

And guess what? You don't get to SEE these companies' "wholesale" product prices until AFTER they have your money! See how that works? There will be a NO REFUND policy. Bet on that.

Wolves in Wholesale Supplier's Clothing
There are a LOT of places out there who would have you believe that they are Wholesale Suppliers who Drop Ship for Online Businesses like yours. We spend a great deal of time sorting these fake profiteers OUT of our list of Wholesale Supplier Directory candidates. Here's how they operate:

. They put up a site that contains all kinds of unrelated product lines, and tell you they'll drop ship for your online business.

. They may charge a small account setup fee.

. You sign up with them, thinking that they are an actual distributor, and you place their products for sale on your site.

. Your customer orders a product from you, and you send the order to this fake "drop shipper".

. The fake "drop shipper" in turn places the order with the REAL distributor, and has it sent to your customer.

. You end up paying a lot more than you have to for the product, because the fake "drop shipper" is marking up the price to YOU.

. You lose profits that should be yours.

Many of these people are very clever. Their sites look legitimate and they present themselves well. All they really are is just another middleman that is sponging off of your hard work. You DON'T need them.

Free Wholesale Supplier Information Sites
This is an easy one. Once again...you get what you pay for. No exceptions.

We've checked out these sites. Over and over again, we see them listing companies that we've turned down for inclusion in our Wholesale Supplier Directory. Middlemen, companies that charge large "membership" fees and then give you over-inflated price lists in return, companies that require minimum orders in the THOUSANDS of dollars. The producers of these sites are simply hoping to get people to click on them so that they can claim high numbers of visitors, and sell advertising space. I've never seen anything useful on one of these irresponsible excuses for an informational site.

Well, that's it for now. This isn't "sour grapes", folks. It's real. I don't say all this just to put you off everyone else's products so that you'll purchase ours. I freely admit that I, personally, have been victimized by many of these tricks over the years.

All we can say about ourselves is that we work VERY hard to publish only Honest Product Sourcing Information that will do an excellent job for you.