Why they are important:
Searching online to locate wholesale suppliers is easy to do, but how can you be sure that the company is legitimate? You can either buy a service like ours where we verify & certify wholesale suppliers & manufacturers and place them in our Directory of WBI Certified ™ Wholesalers or you can also visit trade shows.

Having that face to face interaction with a wholesale supplier is still important, especially with the amount of scams that run rampant on the Internet. Get to know who is supplying you your products! Because with drop shipping, you are placing a lot of trust in your supplier.

For an online retailer, going to an industry trade show, is where you can touch and feel the products, this is great for online retailers that want to drop ship. You can understand the quality of the products to be able to offer good descriptions for your customers without having to buy the products first.

Another benefit to trade shows, is having hundreds of wholesale suppliers in your industry all under one roof!

Get the most out of a trade show:
First, choose a trade show that will represent the product types that you are interested in selling. There are all sort of trade shows, from jewelry to toys, pet supplies to sporting goods. There are great resources online where you can search trade shows by trade, date and/or location.

Second, have an objective in mind. You could get caught up in all the bright lights and shiny new products on display. Study the exhibitor directory and map and work up a game plan to get the most out of your visit. It can get expensive going to a show, so with a proper plan, you will be sure to see and talk to the suppliers that you REALLY want to talk to first and then look at all your other options later.

Third, there are quite a few trade shows that also have education segments and guest speakers and sometimes even workshops where you can learn to improve your business in that particular trade. Pick up tips and ideas on how to sell those types of products better.

Be Prepared:
Here is a list of some things to make sure to take with you.
1. Comfortable Shoes – it’s a lot of walking!
2. A roomy bag for brochures, samples and business cards. A bag on wheels is great!
3. Business Cards
4. Stapler – after the day is over, stapling the business card to any brochure from the same company helps keep you organized.
5. Ink pen and paper for notes.
(other things I like to stuff in my bag, are hand sanitizer, a bottle of water and I use my cell phone to take pictures)

I love going to trade shows. Talking with many different people about their products, and getting to see the new things that havn’t hit the market yet. I have been to quite a few trade shows where they have large displays of new products that aren’t available for sale yet, so I can get an idea of what is coming out to be able to be one of the first to offer them.

First and foremost with a trade show, have fun with it!