The biggest determinant in wholesale success – both in the early days and as you get more established – is having a great product… and finding unique, personal ways of connecting with store owners about that product. And both elements of that – product and connection – require creativity and your best approach will not look the same as someone else’s best approach.

One of our wonderful community members, Ann, wrote to us the other day with a question that may sound basic to some. But it’s a question that so many folks struggle with… and feel like they’re missing something. So today, I'm answering a tough question that almost everyone using wholesale marketplaces struggles with at one point or another!

The coaching I do isn’t generally about telling the person WHAT to decide or what to do. Rather, I support business owners in getting clear on HOW to decide. Of course, there are a lot of approaches to “how to decide” depending on the specifics of the situation. But there is one useful tool that I find myself returning to over and over again. And it can be seen in the form of a formula:

Numbers + Intuition = Good Decisions. 

The more Faire becomes a market leader, it’s easy to feel like Faire is the “only” wholesale platform that brands need to know about. But there are some great platforms that serve a more specific niche. And that focus can be an incredible opportunity. Sometimes these platforms have better terms and buyers who are a better fit — so are worth considering as a part of your overall wholesale strategy.

Recently, we were lucky enough to sit down with the folks from Powered By People and got to dig into all the specifics of how PBP works, how they find the balance between profit, people, and planet — and how to think about whether PBP is right for you.

When Faire Wholesale first debuted, many makers were pretty amazed by all that it offered. It felt like a gamechanger to have so many buyers in one place… and to be able to manage your wholesale ordering on their platform. And it’s true – for many independent brands, Faire has proven to be an incredible asset.

As time has gone on, though, not everyone has decided they love Faire. Some makers find the commissions to be punishingly high. Other brands find that it’s hard to build sustainable relationships with store owners through the platform. And still others simply don’t get orders there.

As a maker or indie product line, it can be challenging to know how to use your website for wholesale sales. In this article, we answer key questions like: Should I hire help or DIY my first Shopify site? What wholesale apps are best for a Shopify website? What mistakes am I making on my website that could be hurting sales? Do I need a separate wholesale website?

Faire has become a part of the maker community. In fact, most of the makers we work with also use Faire or similar. That said, there are some things to be cautious about if you are considering using Faire as a key avenue for your wholesale growth.

Here at Wholesale In a Box, we know that your time is valuable and that keeping on-top of all the latest wholesale marketplace news can be time consuming. You’re so busy managing the ins and outs of your business that sometimes relevant information can slip right by you. So today, we’ve filtered all the recent updates and bring you three wholesale marketplace surprises that may directly impact your day to day operations.

As many of you know, the online wholesale marketplace landscape is ever changing. It seems like a new marketplace opens every 6 months.

When marketplaces change focus or shut down, we know brands and makers can be left frustrated, scrambling, and wary of joining yet another marketplace. Which is why we put together some tips on how to move forward and continue your wholesale journey, even when a marketplace closes.

In June 2023, after 6 years of operations, Tundra, one of the largest online wholesale marketplaces at the time, shuttered its online marketplace. Tundra’s email announcement made some big waves by announcing their intention to file a lawsuit against Faire, while simultaneously promoting their new online wholesale business, Wholesale Co-Op. In the whirlwind that followed, Wholesale Co-Op went belly-up at the end of January 2024. This article reviews the details on both Tundra and Wholesale Co-Op.

When you’re a maker growing your wholesale business, the crowd of new wholesale marketplaces can feel bewildering. One maker says she thrived on Faire, while another tells horror stories of stolen stockists. Some makers put their line on every marketplace while others grow wholesale without using marketplaces at all. Each marketplace has different advantages, disadvantages, and risks.

As new wholesale marketplaces pop up, it can be hard to sort out the real opportunities from the time-wasters. As you know, we’ve done profiles of all the key marketplaces (starting with Faire of course.) But JuniperMarket LINK, one of the newest entrants to the space holds real promise. JuniperMarket’s key differences are its focus on home goods and furniture, certainly – but they also have an interesting showroom component that may just prove to be a truly new offering.