On the eve of the new millennium, a wholesale directory was born. And that wholesale directory was Worldwide Brands. But now it’s 2021, and we want to know whether Worldwide Brands still stacks up. So we’ve conducted an in-depth review of it.
If you've made your way here, you're either selling online already or looking to do so and exploring your options.
Maybe you're simply looking to find good deals and avoid scams. Maybe you're looking to switch over into wholesale selling from another avenue such as affiliate marketing. Maybe you're interested in wholesale sourcing, or dropshipping, or even both.
Whatever the reason, you need to know if Worldwide Brands will work for you. This review has everything you need to make an informed decision.
To help you figure out whether or not Worldwide Brands is for you, we'll be looking at:
So let's get started!
Worldwide Brands is an upper-market wholesale directory for sellers looking to find suppliers. A high-quality but high-cost option.
Basically, if you're looking to sell products on platforms the likes of eCommerce giants, Amazon or eBay, or other online stores, then it goes without saying that you'll need some inventory to sell. Finding suppliers for this is the hard part, as there are a lot of scams or over-priced options out there.
This is where wholesale directories like Worldwide Brands come in. Worldwide Brands is forever adding to its expansive list of suppliers, and sellers can search within the directory to find products without the risks found elsewhere.
You might think, that sounds great! What's the catch? Well, nothing good comes for free, and that's definitely the case with Worldwide Brands. The directory charges $299 for a lifetime membership, which is definitely up there as far as wholesale directory pricing goes. It is possible to get lifetime access for $199 on their discount offer, but the website states that this is a limited time offer and so it may be wiser to consider the directory at its regular full price.
This, of course, isn't actually a problem if the return is going to be worth it, but the question has to be asked: is Worldwide Brands worth the steep fees? We will explore this in more detail throughout the review.
Worldwide Brands makes it easy to browse a comprehensive directory for viable supplier options.
Once you've logged into the Worldwide Brands site, you'll search for suppliers in the directory by entering a brand name, the type of product you're after, or a state or city for finding local options. You'll then be able to see wholesale providers that match your search.
The results are pulled from a regularly updated and strictly monitored database of genuine suppliers. Suppliers who make it through this tough application process are awarded a Worldwide Brands certification seal. Most of their suppliers are located in the United States, which may mean that these wholesalers may offer prices that are not as competitive as other wholesalers located around the globe.
In the directory, if you click on any of those suppliers, you'll get the company name, full address, website, contact details, and any details about doing business with the firm, such as payment terms or ordering methods. Please be aware that what the directory does not do is provide you with a list of products that each supplier sells or any pricing information.
Worldwide Brands has a great directory with a lot of wholesale suppliers to choose from, but it's somewhat lacking in other features, especially for the price.
Opinions on Worldwide Brands vary by where you look. Some love it, while others find it to be much too expensive and not worth it.
When I went to discover some user opinions on Worldwide Brands, I was surprised at how few recent reviews I could find. Most of the ones I was finding were from way back in 2016, if not earlier. There were no reviews left for Worldwide Brands on popular review sites such as g2.com and the Better Business Bureau site. But, I did manage to gather some to help paint a better picture about what customers think of the company.
The Trustpilot site appears to be the most common platform for customers to leave their reviews for Worldwide Brands, and indeed one of the only platforms where reviews are left for the company at all!
Michael said on his Trustpilot review, “Customer service gets right back to you. Very professional.” Kader echoed Micheal’s comment in his review, saying “I am very satisfied with the experience and customer service provided. You were very helpful, always replying in a timely manner.
It can be safely concluded that Worldwide Brands treats their customers well, which is great to see, however, what about the actual product they offer? Read on for some more customer findings.
Summer, in her 2020 review on WebRetailer stated that “Over all, Worldwide Brands failed to live up to its promise. Many of the vendors are not wholesale. Their prices are too high. Clicking through to a vendor website, I found far too many vendors did not offer wholesale or they did not allow online sales. It seems like the vendor offerings are just put up without any thought to how a Worldwide Brand user would access the vendor. Too many vendors just linked to their website with no indication of wholesale buying. It is a good idea that fails to deliver on its promise.
Another customer, in their review on WebRetailer mentioned that “the wholesalers' prices are not competitive nor are they in-demand items. The very few items that had some potential were priced higher than the listings on ebay. Save your money, and find product resources elsewhere!
“I have a Worldwide Brands account and for the most part can't say it's been worth it for me. Besides the fact that the database is horribly programmed, a lot of the information is either outdated or inaccurate,” said DukPep, in his comment on Reddit. “All Worldwide Brands does is make it clearer who you can get certain parts from.
Brian, in his 2020 review on WebRetailer said “Very outdated system. Hard to navigate. They send you soooo many emails trying to get you to purchase more things. Not personable at all. Waste of time and money.
Based on this feedback, some customers believe the price may be too high for what the Worldwide Brand directory offers, when there are alternatives, such as SaleHoo, which has more membership options, research tools included, product catalogues, specific product pricing, shipping filters, more supplier types, and features at a notably lower price than the Worldwide Brand Directory. Scott, in his review on Trustpilot mentioned SaleHoo, saying “I haven't purchased it yet, but after seeing the price. I have decided to in the future. It's a fair price for the value they are providing.
Worldwide Brands is for experienced sellers who know what they're looking for and are sure of their ongoing directory needs.
The way I see it, Worldwide Brands is like a gym membership. Is it worth it? It can be, but you've really got to be sure you'll continue to use it. Otherwise, it'll just become something you spent a lot of money on that collects dust.
Worldwide Brands is for you if you're looking for a way to cut out the scams and find suppliers with low prices, and that's basically all you need. It probably also helps if you have a bit of experience under your belt already, and don't need much in the way of market research. Worldwide Brands does have market research options, but they're limited and there are better tools out there, like SaleHoo Research Labs, which tracks trending products and monitors competition levels for a huge range of products.
Their directory is their main offering and big winner!
On the other hand, Worldwide Brands is probably not for you if you're fairly new to online selling and you don't know if you're ready to commit to the big fee. Paying $299 for a lifetime membership really is a long-term option and you have to feel confident that you will be able to find the right wholesalers for your business. Perhaps it'd be an option to try after you've found your feet (and some money to spare!) and connected with a few suppliers through cheaper options.
But if you do have the time, effort, experience, and money to spare to justify the Worldwide Brands fee, then it's well worth considering.
Decide whether or not Worldwide Brands appeals to you, and act accordingly!
You've got 2 options here. If you'd like to go forward with Worldwide Brands, I'm going to share the best way to succeed with the directory. If you decide otherwise, there are plenty of other options out there. Keep doing your research.
Keep in mind that if you like, you can even use a variety of directories to find suppliers and build your e-commerce empire. You're not limited to just one! If you'd like to see how two (or more) stack up against each other at the same time by purchasing a membership from two different companies, there's nothing stopping you — except maybe the cost.
SaleHoo also offers an extensive supplier directory product, which features a range of 8,000+ vetted suppliers from around the globe. At a lower price point to the Worldwide Brands directory membership, with both annual and lifetime membership options, this may be an alternative that is worth checking out - at least for the sake of a comparison.
If you go ahead with Worldwide Brands, don't let your investment go to waste. Get involved in the forum, make use of the support team and research the products you'd like to sell to make sure you're choosing the best options.
Once you've found a promising market, get some listings up quickly to start bringing that money back in.
You can sell on eBay or Amazon (great for the huge amount of buyer traffic it brings in, but also quite competitive), or any of the many promising alternatives.
The best way to get yourself a solid profit margin is via your own online store. That way you eliminate the competition you'd typically find on mega platforms such as Amazon. You can learn about the pros and cons of setting up your own online store here.
If you find the price a little steep or you've decided that Worldwide Brands is not for you, there are definitely other options out there. Some say that you can find the best dropshippers and wholesalers with simple Google searches, and perhaps if you're very search-savvy then you can find the gems between the scams, but it's definitely not the safest option.
If you want to find suppliers safely but are looking for a cheaper option, then most other directories you'll find online will be cheaper than Worldwide Brands. You can check out SaleHoo reviews on Trustpilot from our customers and determine if it is worth your investment. It's just about finding the best quality for the best value.
I'd do a Google search for "wholesale directories" and take a look at all the options available before settling on one or another. Look at what others are saying about each option, and decide for yourself where the best value lies.
If you're hesitant because you're new or only have a little experience, I suggest you get some experience by selling some stuff from around the house before you launch into bigger strategies. This will just give you a better feel for the process of listing items and selling, and then you can find the best directory to go forward with when you're ready.
Let us know your comments or reviews on Worldwide Brands by posting below. You can also ask us questions on Worldwide Brands, SaleHoo, eCommerce, wholesaling, directories, or anything related to starting your online business! Directly reach out to our SaleHoo Experts for a chat at any time, 24/7.
Comments (20)
wholesale dropship product sourcing on 5:57 16 May
Hi. I'm a Salehoo member and have been for a little while now, and couldn't be more satisfied. My only regret is that I haven't been more active in the forum. I came across this article by accident while doing a bit of keyword research, and I was surprised that I hadn't found it earlier while browsing the Salehoo site. My thought here is that it might be helpful to update some of the worldwidebrands information. The price of entry is now between $250 and $300, and it is trying to rebrand itself as onesource. Trivial details, perhaps, but looking at price vs value of listings and forum, Salehoo is an extraordinary bargain resource. For anyone who might happen across this comment, one caveat to be aware of is that both Salehoo and worldwide brands directory resources, and no matter how good the resources, they alone will not make you rich over night. There is no magic solution to clicking yourself rich over night. For better or worse, we still have to go through the "work" it takes to provide ourselves with whatever it is that we consider to be sustainable income.adrian canaway on 6:04 1 Feb
Thanks for this amazing post this will take SaleHoo to the next level. Personally i was doubt at first using SaleHoo but after i tried i was so thankful because i was able to find a durable and cheaper toy for my son’s birthday and take note the price of the toy is cheaper than my budget. Yeheeyyy. I’m sure SaleHoo will provide tremendous value and convenience to everyone.
Worldwide brands review on 13:22 11 Feb
Worldwide Brands is an amazing tool for all online sellers out there. All they have to do is learn what drop shipping is all about, define their expectations and use Worldwide Brands for a successful online business.Chris (salehoo member) on 3:12 25 Jun
Hi there i am a salehoo member too! I do most marketing on ebay these days... Anyway this worldwide brands tool looks great. Did not know it exists but gonna try it too. Thanx for the infoHenry Vuik on 22:41 21 Dec
Hi there I have been using the world wide brands site for 2 weeks now. I can certainly find things that a good sellers in the market place but they mostly American based drop shippers or wholesalers and there is a lot that dont ship internationalI have found difficutly finding suppliers for hot sell goods on word wide brands. There are no real name brands on this site. I am based in Australia. After you pay shipping cost and do the research on the items there is about 2 % profit or non at all. unless you have a lot of capital you can direct import to make money. I am still working on world wide brands to find items that I can make money on and suppliers to supply me I dont expect to see or sell major well know products but did expect to see 2nd and third tier products. Cheers HenryKalpesh Acharya on 5:38 20 Dec
Henry, I am also based in Australia and I sell on eBay.com drop shipping from Amazon. I am having some success with it, but I find quite often I find some items are much much cheaper on eBay than Amazon. If I join WWB, do you think I might be able to find cheaper items to drop ship on eBay?TIAMark on 23:06 12 Mar
Getting past the $300 to sign up with Worldwide Brands is the bone cruncher. But it is a lifetime membership. While SaleHoo is $67 for the year it would take around 4 years to match the $300 for Worldwide. I guess one could go for SaleHoo and easily make enough money to purchase your lifetime membership with Worldwide.My question is who has the better merchandise and who has more sense of community?
I have heard SaleHoo has little to no community and not too sure about their educational videos. Wish somebody would create a decent side by side video comparison without the affiliate sales pitch.
salah on 11:50 5 Sep
Hi there, I think i am a stranger in this area please any advice can do it for me. I am going to establish an on-line store based on drop-shipping but i have no experience not even a little experience on this work.I have some cash enough to establish the store and accept for a membership in one of directory sites.Based on your exp:can i walk through this e commerce by my self ?
what steps should i take to make income ?
should i be from the same country that i do drop-shipping in ?
last question, should i establish a financial company to start this work or be legal site or some thing ?
Thanks,
salah
Melissa Johnson on 17:34 6 Sep
Hi, Salah!I recommend you take a look at our in-depth dropshipping guide, which should answer all of your questions pretty clearly: http://www.salehoo.com/dropship
Cheers!
Lesa on 18:56 23 Nov
Hello, I am pleased that after all of my research I have narrowed it down to Salehoo and/or Worldwide Brands. The only drawback I am seeing is that Worldwide Brands is asking for $300.00 fee or 3 pay payment plan, If it is as good as what I am seeing, then it would not really a drawback. Of course with Salehoo with $67.00 yearly fee, not bad either. So now I am at the point of deciding on which one would be easier for me to use and also the products that would be available for me as a drop shipper, as well as the resources, forums, customer support and the like. Or maybe I will use both.Melissa Johnson on 21:17 26 Nov
Hi, Lesa -- we have a large assortment of resources for our members, as well as an active members forum. Have you looked into them? You'll find a lot of really valuable information there.http://www.salehoo.com/education
http://www.salehoo.com/forum/
leigh on 20:29 11 Aug
hiim from west aust and wondering which (saleshoo or WWB) would work best for someone 'down under' ?
Gina Broom on 22:38 12 Aug
Hi Leigh,Thanks for reaching out! A couple of things to consider here:
WWB is an Florida-based company, whereas SaleHoo has its base in NZ (which I know may not endear you to SaleHoo haha) but what that means is we're very familiar with operating businesses from outside the US.
We have resources specifically about selling in/from Australia: http://www.salehoo.com/search?ie=UTF-8&t=Blog&q=australia
(Those are blog posts but you'll also see tabs for Australia-related content on the forum and in our education center)
Also, the Market Research Lab has just been updated, so that's definitely a plus you should look into using here. :)
WWB is more expensive but a huge directory. In saying that, if there's anything you'd like to source and you can't find it in our directory, you can just let us know and we'll find suppliers for you: http://www.salehoo.com/forum/wanted/
So I might be biased, but I'd say go SaleHoo rather than WWB. The lower cost is lower risk, especially if you're relatively new to selling-online.
Hope that helped!
- Gina :)
Mayra Alvarez on 22:33 29 Nov
HiI don't speak English, I use Google translator
I take a long time to Salehoo, I like a lot and has good service but my concern is that Salehoo not have many suppliers.
I would like that added dropshipping companies for Video Games, Tablets, Movies and many more .. I thought about buying in worldwidebrands.com because supposedly have many supplliers. Need help!
Thanks
Melissa Johnson on 18:03 4 Dec
Hi, Mayra!If you need help finding dropshippers for these products, contact our support team -- they will help you find what you need!
http://www.salehoo.com/support
Kalpesh Acharya on 5:23 20 Dec
I am thinking of purchasing WWB membership but, as Matthew Ortega mentioned above that once you purchase WWB membership for $299, they will try to sell you into more services, and then they limit you on the number of supplier searches you can perform.NewToWholesale on 23:58 21 Dec
Are the searches limited per day, or in total?Rhea Bontol on 4:28 26 Dec
If you use SaleHo, there's no search limit when you use the Directory to find suppliers.Diana on 2:58 4 Feb
I have been considering Both WWB and SaleHoo as well. Such a big difference in pricing at sign up! I like the fact the for a start up that SaleHoo is more reasonable.Rhea Bontol on 5:42 3 Jan
Apart from the price difference, SaleHoo even has a money back guarantee which is safe to try out.Hassan on 22:31 12 Aug
Hi.I am a newbie in drop shipping. Can anybody guide me that what kind of services are available on WWB, other than suppliers directory. And what are their monthly plans specification.
Also, I registered my own domain and have paid for hosting. Should I use SALEHOO or WWB software plan to make my front shop website.
Many thanks if you guide mHassan
Melissa Johnson on 15:17 19 Aug
Hi, Hassan!It doesn't look like WWB offers any sort of services beyond the directory itself. It's also just a one-time fee to join. If you have any questions about SaleHoo, you can contact our support team!
https://www.salehoo.com/support
Good luck!
Frankie on 18:18 27 Sep
I am looking into dropshipping and I too was looking at WWB. I have just opened an "Amazon Store" I don't understand if whether or not every dropshipper will load their product selection to my store and I just send to shipper their orders or do I HAVE to buy load the product info, buy and then ship? Can you help me?Melissa Johnson on 15:35 3 Oct
Hi, Frankie!I am not familiar with WWB -- if you need support for their products, you should contact WWB.
I can say that our suppliers vary -- some provide a feed of products, others you may have to list manually. =)
David Speyer on 14:43 1 Nov
Anyone have any experience with connecting products from WWB and/or SaleHoo to Shopify - as much automated as possible.Clint on 14:58 4 Jun
Based on different forums, the only difference, aside from price, WWB suppliers are true suppliers, NO MIDDLEMEN, while SaleHoo, the list might include MIddlemen. Can SaleHoo comment on this?Justin Golschneider on 13:52 6 Jun
Hi Clint! Our list does not include middlemen. We vet all of our suppliers to make sure they are genuine wholesalers or manufacturers and do not accept scam artists who buy from wholesalers (or worse, retailers) and then claim to be wholesalers themselves.Fritz Ian on 15:59 16 Jun
Can someone help me around here please? I want to find suppliers for dropshipping that I don't need to buy in bulk and store items in the warehouse. I want to purchase as soon as I got an order. May I know which one is the best suited for me SaleHoo or WWB? Which one has a good number of suppliers that I can use?Justin Golschneider on 11:31 19 Jun
Hi Fritz! Either one is a good choice; both SaleHoo and Worldwide Brands have large dropshipper directories filled with exactly the kind of supplier you’re looking for, and both have an A+ rating from the BBB.I’m not sure how many dropshipping suppliers Worldwide Brands has, but we have over 1,000 here at SaleHoo. SaleHoo costs $67 per year while Worldwide Brands is generally $299 for lifetime access.
Paul Omu on 7:55 4 Sep
Well am still doing a whole lot of research in starting my online store business so I do it right without getting scammed or making losses, the info you have provided so far has being very useful, obviously salehoo is for me and will like to know more, am also getting an offer from Alidropship to use their plug in and I have asked a question if using Alidropship plugin limits me to only Aliexpress products or can combine using other suppliers and manufacturers too. Can salehoo help me out with this answer?Justin Golschneider on 10:24 4 Sep
Hi Paul,I haven't heard of the Alidropship plugin before, so I'd recommend waiting to hear an answer from them. However, we don't require you to be exclusive or anything—if you want to use both SaleHoo suppliers and Alibaba suppliers, that's fine with us. :-)
Kinshuk on 15:01 10 Jun
I've been a user of worldwide brands for about 6 months or so and I'd not shy away from saying that it has been a disaster. I can't say if its a scam or not, but all I can say is that the wholesalers and dropshippers listed there are unresponsive. I was curious why is it so that no one is responding, I decided to watch some videos on you tube by its founder, Chris Malta. He says that the wholesalers listed there don't understand what ecommerce is or what dropshipping is!! So you need to call them, perhaps too many times till the extent of boot licking, so that they will open a wholesale or dropshipping account. On top of that Chris Malta said that wholesalers and dropshippers will not talk to you unless you have a registered US company and a tax ID. I think that if these were the cases then it would have been better had this been mentioned to people like me, who paid $299, before getting registered. I don't have a US company nor a tax ID but if I knew that these are the requirements then I wouldn't have ever registered on that site. Because without doing market research and profitability research, both of which need wholesale prices, there is no point in establishing a US company as it has on going costs. So if anyone thinking about subscribing to WWB, please have a US LLC formed and get your tax ID and be ready to make some constant overseas calls (if you are not from US) to educate the wholesalers what ecommerce is (as Chris said they don't know).Rhea Bontol on 6:09 17 Jun
Hi Kinshuk! Thanks for sharing your experience. Indeed, most large suppliers require you to have a sales tax ID for tax purposes. If you're not based in the US, you can acquire from your local revenue department which is also referred to as VAT, ABN, or GST in some countries.Kay on 23:47 16 Jul
Actually, WWB does talk about and suggest how to register and get tax id. It's under "about drops hipping", but you would have to read through sites in order to get a complete understanding of the company BEFORE just glancing at a site and signing up from limited reviews of someone else perspective. I'm not a member of any site, but I did read through sections that would of importance if I did want to become a member.Adriana Rosales on 21:31 9 Dec
I bought Worldwide Brands and the first Supplier I bought from stole $2000 from me. It is a very unreliable directory. Other suppliers I found are low quality products and with bad prices. Dont waste your moeny.Rhea Bontol on 3:52 12 Dec
Sorry to hear that Adriana. Were you able to recover the funds stolen though?Tyler Brinkmeyer on 19:14 18 Jan
I am looking into either Salehoo or WWB and was wondering if either or both have name brand items or is it no-name products.Rhea Bontol on 2:56 18 Feb
Hi Tyler! SaleHoo doesn't stock physical products. What SaleHoo provides is a directory list of verified suppliers. The branded products we have are sourced through liquidators. Since finding the latest stocks of certain brands from liquidators are a bit of a challenge, it's the easiest and legit way to re-sell high end brands online.