This post was part of the launch of our FREE Wholesale Tuneup Series (which you can still sign up for here) and so we are wanting to give you some wholesale help leading up to it. Yesterday we introduced you to a few #ahasmembers who talked about how wholesale changed their businesses. Today we're giving you a big list of wholesale resources our members love!
Book
Adventures in Wholesale: An insiders guide to navigating the complex world of selling wholesale. You'll find interviews with top retailers, designers, and tradeshow professionals; as well as resources, worksheets, and tools to jump start your business and take you to the next level. This book is for any designer that wants learn more about the wholesale industry, start selling to retailers, exhibit at tradeshows, and grow their business.
Courses/Classes
Paper Camp: We’ll teach you how to create a stationery + gift line, launch to the wholesale market and exhibit at trade shows, so you can build a sustainable, profitable business. Learn from industry pros who openly share their successes and struggles to help you make better decisions in your business An action-inducing 2-day business camp.
Wholesaling for Makers Bundle via Creative Live: Wholesaling for Makers is a complete guide to developing a wholesale business. Learn how to evaluate wholesale opportunities and how to ensure the ones you pursue are worth the effort. Learn from a veteran wholesaler and avoid common and costly mistakes.
Get Your Wholesale Business Up-and-running via Creative Live: Spend an hour getting your wholesale house in order with Kristen Rask. Kristen is the president of Urban Craft Uprising, owns the Seattle toy shop Schmancy, and is a veteran expert on the wholesale game.
Worksheets
How to Design a Wholesale Order Form from Lucky Break Consulting: Build a Better Order Form: a checklist that details best practices for creating attractive + effective wholesale order forms.
The Not So Dark Art of Wholesale Pricing from Aeolidia: While different people have different pricing formulas they use, one thing is pretty solid across the board when it comes to wholesale pricing for handmade products: You need to price for profit, and you need to price at the wholesale rate, because ideally that’s how you’ll be selling most of your products. Use the worksheet to price for the right profit.
Blog Posts
4 Must-Know Rules for Making the Leap to Wholesale from Dear Handmade Life: Etan and Emily from Wholesale In a Box discuss building your product-based creative business through selling wholesale. They offer a “cheat sheet” with a few concrete tips of things you can do this week to start getting into stores.
Do's and Don'ts for Wholesaling from Academy of Handmade: Maker and online boutique owner (and #ahasmember!) Stacy Wong understands the wholesale game from the inside out. A process we've talked about a bit before, but there's a lot to know about it and we're grateful that Stacy has offered to share some of her valuable wisdom with us!
Are you really ready for wholesale? from Academy of Handmade: Guest blogger wholesale veteran Mei Pak of Tiny Hands jewelry (a line of scented food jewelry at and sells in over 90 stores across the USA) helps makers, artists and designers get more exposure and make more sales in their creative businesses. Here are five things Mei recommends you should be thinking about if you're going to wholesale.
Selling Wholesale to Retailers from Indie Made: The one thing that is critical to running wholesale business like clockwork is a good wholesale line sheet, or a listing of products that includes photos, descriptions, wholesale pricing information, and policies. Yes, you need one if you want to get started selling wholesale to retailers. Here’s why.
Events and Shows
Etsy Open Call 2016: For the second year in a row, Etsy Open Call will bring together buyers from top retail stores and fresh talent from the Etsy Wholesale community. You could have the chance to pitch your line to a panel of heavy-hitting retailers at Etsy’s Brooklyn headquarters, August 23, and win a purchase order to see your products in stores––just in time for the holidays.
The National Stationery Show: For 70 years, the NSS has been the place for all things paper – from greeting cards, custom invitations, gift wrap and journals, to lifestyle gifts – and everything in between. The NSS offers a streamlined, focused platform for stationary business development. It attracts store owners and top buying executives from thousands of diverse businesses worldwide, and exhibitors from designer-makers to well established companies. We have an insider’s guide of the NSS from #ahasmembers who’ve exhibited there.
American Made Show: The American Made Shows, held in Washington D.C. and Dallas Texas, are premier wholesale events showcasing handmade works by American and Canadian studio artists and designers. Retailers who attend our shows appreciate the value and distinctive quality handcrafted artist-made products bring to their stores and share our mission of supporting American and Canadian artisans. The events are unique among gift trade shows, as all works on display are exclusively designed and studio-made by artists in the United States and Canada – no imports or mass-manufactured products are allowed.
Gift Shop Magazine: Gift Shop Magazine has a useful calendar of the upcoming trade shows through 2016 related to gifts, home furnishings and jewelry. Browse through them to get an idea of what each show is about and where you might want to exhibit next year.
Line Sheets
NowInStore: Create wholesale line sheets, catalogs and order forms with this online tool. Integrates with major e-commerce platforms like Etsy, WooCommerce, Shopify and more. Have your catalogs available digitally as well ass printed and mailed straight to your customers.
Inventory Management
Stitch Labs: Stitch Labs is an online inventory control app for managing multichannel selling both wholesale and retail. It automatically syncs inventory, orders, and sales across different sales channels, so you can access all your inventory and orders in one place.
Ecomdash: Ecomdash automatically tracks inventory across sales channels and brick and mortar locations 24/7, and updates product quantities as the sale is made. It tracks inventory and supplies as well.
Craftybase: Craftybase manages your soap and jewelry making materials and product inventory, it watches sales, expenses, and keeps track of your pricing: all in one program.
Orderhive: Orderhive is a mobile & web software to manage multi-channel selling. Orderhive integrates with major marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy. You can ship via Orderhive and Orderhive offers tracking integration for 300+ shipping providers.
