Why won't suppliers advertise their prices on their website?

Hi. I'm just starting out at importing and I was wondering if anyone knows why the supplier sites dont have the prices up. Does it mean you have to contact them to ask for prices or something like that?

Hi lukes_biz,

Yes, some of the suppliers will require you to register an account with them to have complete access to the information on their site, such as their wholesale prices and other details.

A lot of sites do offer FREE registrations, so just try signing up with them or inquiring. Most of the legit suppliers will ask you for further information from their customers as security on their part.

Hope this helps. Cheers! :)

From what I have seen lukes_biz some sites use that technique to create accounts so once you create an account and log in you can then view the prices. Also it really depends on the site and some just don't list prices and require you to either order their catalog or call for pricing.

Most legit suppliers will require certain criteria to register as a business customer, however I would not suggest ever paying for wholesale access.

Anyone who is trying to charge you to see wholesale prices are not providing you with genuine wholesale, they are making their cash out of your membership fee.

Some may set their MOQ prices for viewing, but wholesale prices are based on volume, and most can't provide an accurate price until they know what you want, and the volume you want to buy it in.

Create a dialogue with the sales department of any suppliers that interest you, they'll be more than happy to assist I'm sure.

As what fudjj said, most legitimate suppliers require that you meet certain criteria to be a reseller of their products. This is especially true for those with big names in the industry. To add to his advice, no true wholesaler should charge you to sell their products, so please let us know if one of our suppliers tries to charge you. An exception to this is if the supplier is drop shipping products for you. They may charge a small fee on each order to cover handling and packaging costs.

We always advice resellers to contact the suppliers directly to negotiate on price. The best prices are never listed on the wholesalers website. Another tip: Suppliers will often tailor their prices to your order. The more products you buy from them, the better discount you will get!

Cheers! :)

In addition, some of the suppliers I came across say that they require an account set up because that would allow you to see their prices without your customers knowing the original price you paid for the product.

All the best!

In addition, some of the suppliers I came across say that they require an account set up because that would allow you to see their prices without your customers knowing the original price you paid for the product.

All the best!

That's actually a very good point.

What retailers will sometimes do is place a customer's order with their wholesaler and then let the customer pick up direct to save on shipping times in the supplier is close enough.

What happens in this circumstance is the retailer who placed the order gets billed their wholesale price, but the buyer gets what is called a blind invoice. It has the actual wholesale price that the retailer has been charged blanked out so as to protect their margin from being known.

And add to that the fact that suppliers are in constant competition with each other and therefore, seldom will you see the wholesale pricing published on the sites.

:)