21 Essential Questions to Ask Your Wholesale Supplier

04 Nov.,2024

 

21 Essential Questions to Ask Your Wholesale Supplier

To ease things up for you, we&#;ve put together the most important questions to ask your wholesaler .

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If you&#;re a newcomer to buying wholesale , chances are you neither have an idea where to start looking nor know what criteria to have in mind when the time comes to make a choice.

However, not all wholesalers contribute to these satisfying numbers. Therefore, it&#;s important to bear in mind a few things instead of jumping headfirst.

You can only imagine the number of sales made on a global level.

As reported by Statista , the US wholesaler sales have reached an estimated amount of around 670 billion USD with an increase of around 10 billion USD within one year .

The reasons behind this preference are numerous, but we won&#;t go into detail since the sales numbers can speak for themselves.

It&#;s no secret that wholesale is classified as one of the most preferred supplying methods among others, such as dropshipping .

How long have you been offering wholesale services?

The best way to verify that the supplier you&#;ve chosen to collaborate with is reliable and sells genuine wholesale products is to find out as much information as possible regarding their experience and work history.

Wholesalers who have secured a network of loyal clients and have been on the market for some time are certain to be more trustworthy and provide you with better wholesale service.

Of course, you can always do a full investigation by yourself by:

  • looking at their website
  • browsing the company&#;s name on Google
  • reading reviews on Trustpilot.

However, it&#;s even better to ask them directly as they may share details that haven&#;t been published online which could end up being decisive information.

What merchandise do you sell?

Understanding the merchandise your wholesale supplier offers is crucial for aligning their inventory with your store&#;s needs.

When selecting a supplier, ask for a comprehensive list or catalog of the products available. This list should include detailed information like product categories, materials, sizes, and variations.

For instance, if your niche is high-end fashion, you&#;d want to know whether the supplier provides a consistent supply of luxury clothing, accessories, or footwear, and if they carry premium brands or focus on unbranded items.

Additionally, inquire about new product launches or seasonal collections to ensure your store can keep up with market trends.

Don&#;t forget to ask about quality control measures and how they ensure the merchandise is free of defects.

How do orders work?

Understanding the supplier&#;s ordering process is vital to maintaining efficient operations and meeting customer expectations.

Begin by asking if there is a need to create an account on the supplier&#;s platform. If so, this may require you to provide some business details, such as your name, number, address, business name, business permit, or business registration number.

Once your account is verified, you&#;ll probably gain access to their wholesale catalog, where you can browse the full range of products available.

in most cases, you can put products you want to order in your shopping cart and finalize your order by paying with card.

How often do you update your inventory with new products?

Besides making sure the supplier has sufficient experience, store owners should prioritize finding vendors for your business that offer new clothing arrivals on a regular basis.

For every store out there, the main source of success comes from keeping customers content which is best done when providing them constantly with the latest products.

This recurrent update on items will continuously draw their attention, making them keep coming back to your shop and eventually turning them into a regular clientele.

Do you offer diverse products?

It goes without saying that product diversity plays a crucial role in retaining customers and preventing them from checking out competitors&#; stores.

That&#;s why in your search for the finest wholesaler you should never forget to ask potential suppliers about the variety of products they have at your disposal and estimate if that amount would satisfy your customers&#; needs.

Therefore, don&#;t rush into choosing a supplier before confirming that they offer a wide-ranging portfolio of brands and products that&#;ll not only bring you happy and loyal customers but also assure you notable revenue growth.

If you are getting into the fashion industry, make certain your supplier of choice covers enough categories of winning products for both men and women to be able to meet shopping enthusiasts&#; expectations.

Are the products you&#;re offering authentic?

In case your niche consists of selling high-end fashion products, it&#;s of the utmost importance to verify their authenticity as there are many suppliers offering knock-off items that you may end up purchasing without realizing they&#;re counterfeit goods.

So, when browsing for wholesalers of luxury brands, remember to look for suppliers that stand behind their products&#; authenticity and would stock your store with genuine brands.

Could you provide me with a product catalog?

The product catalog is every wholesaler&#;s most significant part of their website, giving prospective customers a sneak peek into their inventory, enough to make a general evaluation of the items they&#;re selling.

However, many business owners may stumble upon wholesalers that offer an extremely limited preview of their catalog, making the rest of the products available only after one decides to use their services.

So, try to avoid these suppliers and stick with those who give clients access to check out their merchandise by registering for free like BrandsGateway and their catalog of the latest trending clothing items.

Is there a minimum order quantity?

The minimum order quantity can vary tremendously from one wholesaler to another but it mostly depends on the type of products being sold.

For instance, expensive products usually have a higher MOQ than those sold at cheaper prices because they&#;re high-quality authentic products that are obtained from authorized entities.

Thus, it&#;s best when clients are informed upfront about the MOQ in order to be able to calculate in advance their order expenses and see if they can fit them into their budget.

Where is the merchandise sourced from?

The location where the supplier&#;s merchandise is produced can say a lot about the quality of the products.

Although many suppliers source their goods from authorized vendors and then sell them to retailers, outlet owners, or eCommerce stores, an even bigger number source them from unreliable manufacturers, some of which are known to have significant disadvantages such as the cons of Chinese suppliers.

Because of that, it&#;s highly recommended to check where your wholesale supplier sources their merchandise from prior to buying a poor-quality bulk of items.

Where are your warehouses located?

The whereabouts of your potential wholesaler&#;s warehouses are another thing clients should take into consideration, especially because it can greatly affect the delivery time.

In addition to the price paid when purchasing the products, the buyer is also required to cover custom duties for exporting and importing merchandise from one country to another.

That being the case, try to opt for a wholesaler who has warehouses in several places around the world, such as BrandsGateway, which will not only reduce your expenses but also provide you with fast and convenient delivery services.

What is your shipping policy?

Another vital thing wholesale suppliers should inform you about is the approximate time it would take for them to deliver your orders.

You wouldn&#;t want to find yourself in a situation in which customers can&#;t make a purchase of a certain item because your store is out of stock.

Therefore, just like previously mentioned, when choosing a supplier, keep in mind both the location of the warehouses and the time it might take for orders to be handed over to you.

Can I track my orders?

In order for you to be able to keep an eye on your packages, ask your wholesaler if they offer the possibility for you to track your delivery.

In that way, you can be kept posted on the status of your order at all times and be notified almost instantly in the case of any shipping delays.

Hence, make sure to pick out a supplier that would provide you with a tracking number, as BrandsGateway does with its clients, so you could constantly be kept updated on where your order stands.

Do you ship worldwide?

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Before trying to figure out delivery costs, order tracking, or shipping time, you need to find out if the potential suppliers you&#;ve been looking into ship globally or just locally.

If they don&#;t ship to your location, you&#;d only be wasting your time with them.

You shouldn&#;t be surprised if you ever come across wholesalers who limit their shipping abilities and offer delivery services only within the countries their warehouses are situated in and sometimes including neighboring states.

For that reason, always make sure that you work with a supplier that ships worldwide so that you can build an international eCommerce business.

What are your return policies?

Being aware of return and refund policies is crucial in the event of having to deal with damaged goods.

Thus, it&#;s important to have a clear understanding of how your supplier manages situations when clients wish to return products or cancel orders.

Some might offer monetary reimbursement, some may provide store credit, while others might give out coupons or discounts.

In addition, be on the watch for any hidden fees or additional charges that could be imposed by the supplier.

Who covers the costs in case of returns?

In most cases, suppliers rarely offer freight-collect services concerning the return of products.

In other words, the buyers are the ones responsible for covering the shipping costs when sending items back to the wholesaler.

However, there are suppliers that do bear those costs in the event of merchandise that is faulty, has been damaged, or wrongly shipped.

In order to benefit from a full refund in cases like these, suppliers are likely to ask you to provide them with photos of the products concerned.

After they&#;ve accepted your request, they&#;ll be able to reimburse you for your loss.

Therefore, have a good look at the terms and conditions of your wholesaler and take careful notice of the returns and refunds sections.

What payment methods do you accept?

One more key question to include in your list is regarding the payment methods of the wholesalers you have set your mind on working with.

Taking into account the pros and cons of various payment methods, depending on your preferences and possibilities, you might find some of them are less while others are more suitable for your business.

Thus, it&#;d be wise to opt for suppliers who present clients with the opportunity to choose among different types of payment.

In this manner, you&#;d have the freedom to determine which option would work best for you.

What do your payment terms involve?

To avoid any inconveniences, it&#;s essential to settle the payment terms with the supplier, meaning, to agree on when payments should be installed.

Usually, wholesalers have clearly defined payment times that clients are expected to respect.

However, for different types of items, there may be different payment terms to be met.

Hence, it&#;s important to inform yourself thoroughly about invoice deadlines so there won&#;t be any confusion or unexpected situations.

What are the anticipated profit margins?

Do you offer discounts?

When purchasing products in bulk, luxury brands particularly, wholesalers try to abstain from giving discounts.

It&#;s an industry standard that has been around for a long time and suppliers attempt to stick with it.

Nevertheless, during the holiday shopping season, chances are you&#;ll come across discounts for particular categories of products and brands.

So, stay in tune with your supplier so you don&#;t miss out on those opportunities.

Do you provide customer service?

You know that a wholesaler is worth doing business with when they not only supply clients with excellent products but also have at disposal exceptional customer service.

Whether it&#;s about the above-discussed delivery issues, merchandise troubles, or something else, clients should always be able to lean on customer support for any kind of problem that may arise.

In that way, they can keep steady communication with the supplier around the clock.

Do you have customer reviews available?

Last but not least, customer reviews and references exert an astounding influence on clients&#; decisions.

In a survey conducted by PowerReviews, 98% of consumers said that reviews are an indispensable step when purchasing merchandise, thus, giving them a decision-making role in the purchase process both in the B2C and B2B marketplaces.

So, it wouldn&#;t be a bad idea to request from suppliers credible reviews. To illustrate, wholesaler BrandsGateway supplies interested retailers with such testimonials, furnishing them with evidence that BrandsGateway is legit.

Final thoughts

As your store grows and expands, you&#;re likely to constantly come across new wholesale suppliers.

Some of them might emerge immediately as the perfect match, while others might not be up your alley.

To be 100% sure that they are someone your store would benefit from working with, we recommend putting these questions to use when business talks are in progress.

Thus, we advise you to have this list on hand so you can come back to it whenever you need to evaluate new partners and verify the reliability and authenticity of their services and company.

Special Forces Plate Carrier Setup: A Complete Guide

A common question we get is, &#;how do Special Forces guys setup their plate carriers?&#;  A Special Forces plate carrier setup does vary from the standard Citizen or law enforcement setup. This article will take a look at what these guys do and how that influences their plate carrier setups.

Introduction

What is a Special Forces plate carrier setup? First, let&#;s define what Special Forces is, shall we? &#;Special Forces&#; (big &#;S&#;, big &#;F&#;) refers to the U.S. Army Special Forces, a group of soldiers also known for their distinctive headgear, the green beret. Special Forces soldiers have affiliation for Foreign Internal Defense or FID. FID is the training of rag-tag militias and new armies &#; like Afghanistan&#;s Northern Alliance and the Afghan National Army, respectively &#; and turning them into a lethal fighting force.

Even though SF soldiers are the face of FID, they also have a bunch of other taskings that they must be able to execute, including Direct Action. During much of this, a Special Forces soldier sets up their plate carrier with everything they might need to accomplish the mission. There is also the colloquial use of &#;special forces&#; (little &#;s&#;, little &#;f&#;) that more appropriately refers to special operations forces (SOF). This larger group includes the U.S. Army Rangers, Navy SEALs, Air Force Pararescue and Combat Controllers, and Marine Raiders.

Like SF guys, all of these other SOF assets wear plate carriers on the regular. Though each has specific mission sets (SEALs have affiliation for maritime operations), all can be found performing similar operations at one time or another. And all can be seen wearing similar plate carrier setups. So, let&#;s take a look at a Special Forces plate carrier setup.

What is a Special Forces Plate Carrier

The quality plate carrier is the platform for all your tactical gear, as well as your body armor. A given unit or operator may have different plate carriers for different missions, so we will make some generalizations here. The basic, underlying design is to provide a carrier for your armor plates, so we&#;ll take a look at that first. The plate carrier itself usually consists of a front plate bag, a rear plate bag, shoulder straps, and some sort of elastic cummerbund. Some Special Forces guys may run a lightweight plate carrier like this with nothing more than two armor plates.

A minimalist plate carrier like this provides ballistic protection where you need it most but keeps you light and flexible. This is ideal for fast-moving scenarios like close-quarters battle where speed, surprise, and violence of action win the day. Bulkier tactical vests worn by conventional troops tend to carry too much bulk, especially in cramped confines.

Most Citizens and LEOs can skip worrying about artillery, mortars, grenades, and other shrapnel-producing munitions. Military folks have to worry about this a lot and may choose to wear soft armor underneath their plate carriers. This provides additional ballistic protection, and side protection from shrapnel threats. Special Forces guys may also elect to add side plates. These are hard armor plates that provide rifle protection to the vulnerable sides of the body.

Special Forces Plate Carrier Setup

With ballistic protection out of the way, let&#;s look at the gear carried on these plate carriers. First, different missions require different plate carrier setups. Not only that, but different positions within the team require plate carries be configured in different ways. For instance, the radio operator, the lead medic, and the primary breacher all have gear that is common to all, but each also has really specific gear for his billet. Let&#;s look at a general loadout, then we can talk a little bit of specifics.

Magazine Pouches: Ammunition is first, and it will be carried by every single member of the team, no matter the mission. Ammunition is usually distributed in a single layer around the plate carrier to avoid making the front profile too thick. This makes it hard to do things like get in the low prone or climb over obstacles like walls. Ammunition on the side &#; at least intuitively &#; seems to offer just a tad more ballistic protection against frag. A couple pistol magazines will also probably be carried on the plate rack&#;just in case.

The number of rifle magazine pouches will vary depending on the mission. Again, during fast-paced CQB missions a shooter might only carry three or four magazines other than the one in his gun. On a long-range patrol the same soldier may carry 10 or more magazines due to resupply considerations and the potential to end up in a protracted gun battle.

Communication Equipment: This is another common-to-all pouch &#; the radio pouch. Every single troop will have a tactical radio on his or her vest. In my day, it was the PRC-148 MBITR, and these are still widely deployed. The radio operator may have two or three radio pouches for a variety of communications equipment: a PRC-152 for adjacent units, another PRC-152 for aviation assets, and an MBITR for intrateam comms. 

Medical Equipment: Each soldier on the team will carry some medical equipment. An individual first aid kit will be somewhere &#; often in a uniform location &#; on each tactical plate carrier. It should be accessible to the individual with either hand. It should be readily visible, as well. Medics will also carry a whole array of advanced medical gear to provide advanced life support like starting IVs, giving blood, performing field surgeries, and the like. Most of this gear is carried in a backpack and not on his tactical vest, however.

Grenades & Pyro: Depending on the mission set, most shooters will carry a grenade or two and some sort of pyrotechnic device, usually a smoke grenade. Fragmentation grenades are carried for obvious reasons. Smoke grenades are very versatile and allow the team to provide some concealment for themselves, mark a landing zone, mark their own position when calling aviation fires, execute a &#;no-commo&#; plan, and plenty of other cool stuff.

Administrative Pouches: Soldiers in leadership roles will also carry an administrative pouch. This allows them to keep up with map pens, maps, protractors, grid-reference graphics (GRG), and all the other stuff necessary to coordinate multiple units in the battle space.

Breaching Tools: Depending the mission, you are also very likely to see breaching tools on an assaulter&#;s vest. Breaching is categorized as mechanical, ballistic, and explosive (there is also thermal breaching, but that&#;s a topic for another time). Mechanical breaching uses tools like sledgehammers and Halligan tools, and these are frequently worn in pouches over the back.

Ballistic breaching utilizes specialized shotguns with special &#;lock buster&#; or &#;Hatton&#; rounds to bust through hinges and locks. There are special plate carrier clips to secure these tools while still providing easy access. Explosive breaching involves, well, explosives. Breaching charges are usually premade and the lead breacher will carry a variety of charges on target so he can make a hole in whatever the team encounters.

Other Stuff: There may be a whole variety of other gear on a Special Forces plate carrier. Items like IR strobes and fireflies, handheld flashlights, chem lights, dump pouches, and flex cuffs may all be attached to a shooter&#;s plate rack. The exact layout will depend &#; again &#; on the mission, the individual&#;s role on the team, and his particular preferences. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and each soldier&#;s kit will be set up a slightly different way.

Check out Qore Performance&#;s line of Blue Force Gear Pouches to help you organize your kit, equipment, or gear.

Plate Carrier Fit

Each Special Forces plate carrier is fit to the individual wearing it. For a plate carrier to provide the appropriate ballistic protection it must fit right. A proper fit will keep the plates in place over the vital organs, when standing, when prone, when running, or when assaulting an objective.

Hard armor plates should sit high on the torso. There is a tendency among the untrained to wear plates that hang way too low. The object of hard armor plates is to protect the vital organs like the heart, lungs, liver, and the great vessels &#; not the belly. I wear my plates with the top edge at or just below the sternal notch, the bony notch at the front base of the neck. The rear plate should also ride nice and high, and not be more than a couple inches below the base of the neck. Check out the article &#;What Size Plate Carrier Do I Wear?&#; for more information.

Armor Plates and Inserts

The armor plates worn in a Special Forces plate carrier are typically Level IV hard armor plates. These provide the best ballistic protection available. Some plates are &#;ICW&#; plates, meaning they must be worn &#;In Conjunction With&#; Level IIIA soft body armor to provide a given level of protection. Not Qore Performance&#;s DFNDR plates, which are standalone, meaning they provide the stated level of protection by themselves.

The Level IV DFNDR plates are the highest level of protection offered. They offer multi-hit protection against 7.62 armor-piercing ammunition. Of course, military guys need this level of protection. Considering the lack of armor-piercing threats in CONUS, the average Citizen would most likely be fine saving a few hundred bucks and getting Level III plates. These are still rifle rated, up to 7.62/.308 mild core ammunition, but they are also both cheaper and lighter.

Plate Carriers and Accessories from Qore Performance

Qore Performance offers the best plate carrier on the market, the ICEPLATE® EXO. It is in use by a variety of SOF assets worldwide, not because it is the cheapest (it isn&#;t) but because it&#;s the best. The ICEPLATE® EXO is incredibly lightweight. It is adaptable to any mission or operator parameters, and it is incredibly comfortable. This lightweight plate carrier is made from the best materials available, including our propriety ICEPLATE® EXO laminate, and will last a literal lifetime.

As if that&#;s not enough, it&#;s also made to work with the ICEPLATE®. The ICEPLATE is a revolutionary form of hydration carriage. Instead of carrying water in a vulnerable bladder on the back, which needlessly increases bulk, the ICEPLATE carries water in a armor plate-shaped and -sized container. The ICEPLATE carries and harnesses the immense thermal potential of water. Refrigerate or freeze it to cool you when it&#;s hot, and fill it with warm water when it&#;s cold.

Qore Performance also offers a lot of other stuff I wish I&#;d had when I was wearing a plate carrier to work. Their ICEPLATE® is amazing, their ICEVENTS® vented padding make everything from vests to drop-leg holsters to war belts more comfortable.

The company is the world’s best Wholesale Tactical Vest supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.