Insight Publication

Tips on Whether You Can Use Wholesale Suppliers for Your Business

If you own an online business, then one of the most important things to you is where you buy your products or supplies.   Of course, you probably want to use wholesale suppliers for your business but you may wonder how you can tell if they are legitimate.  This is actually a good concern, since approximately 70% of so-called wholesale suppliers are either scammers or have poor quality products.  Using your own good judgment and some of the following tips, you should be able to come up with a strategy to help you evaluate companies so that you can use wholesale suppliers for your business.

One of the first things you can do is to run a “WhoIs.com” check to verify that the domain of the company is listed in the same country that the business is in.  This will help you eliminate companies that are set up with a U.S. front but are located elsewhere.  The next thing is to type the company name into a browser and follow it by a word such as “rip-off” or “scam.” You can also find sites that contain actual reports on these types of problems.  Most companies will have a few complaints, but if they are simply that shipping took longer than expected or that the customer was not called back quickly, those can be discounted.  However, if the complaint is about the merchandise being inferior or never showing up, then you know that it is suspicious.

If there is no contact information on the site, you can be sure it is a good sign that you cannot use wholesale suppliers for your business with that company.  There should be basic contact information such as the name of the company and their address and phone number. Calling the number listed on the site is another way to help verify its legitimacy.  If the number is phony or no one ever answers, that is a bad sign.  If you do get a person, it is good policy to ask questions related to the business that they should know the answers to.  If they act clueless or give extremely incorrect answers, you have another red flag to add to the list.  If they seem to know what they are talking about, it is a good idea to purchase a small sample to begin with, so that you can actually see the quality of the product.

Some other things to look for when determining whether to use wholesale suppliers for your business include being wary of any company that only accepts wire transfer payment.  The problem with this is that once the money is transferred, there is little if any way to get it back if there is a problem.  Another statement to be concerned about is if the merchandise is “as is” and there are no returns.  This means if the merchandise is not up to your standards, you are stuck with it anyway.

Remember that none of these tips is a stand-alone deal breaker.   If you want to use wholesale suppliers for your business, you need to check several of them out for each company you are looking at.  If you use these tips and your good sense, you will be able to determine whether a company is legitimate or not.