In the art business a wholesale transaction is a batch order of your work that you sell to a retail business. The benefit of doing business this way is that you get a large sale without having to market each individual piece. The buyer takes on the risk of selling your work retail from their shop in exchange for wholesale pricing.
If you are planning to start selling your work wholesale, there are a couple things that you can do to simplify things for yourself down the line. Establish documents for use with potential wholesale customers including an order form and line sheet. It also helps to consider your wholesale policies and make decisions how you plan to do business. Having these things established from the beginning lets the customer know that you are professional and well organized.
Order Forms
When I put together my wholesale order form I began by thinking about what kind of information the form would need. Using an example I found online helped me cover my bases. The form needed to include all the information the client would need to get in touch with me as well as requests for all the information I would need from them to process an order.
At the top of the form I made sure to include contact information for my business, including my website and email address beside an image of my logo. This information helps customers get in contact with me, and it acts as a professional heading at the top of my form. In fact I use the exact same heading on my line sheet.
In the main body of the document I have a form for customers to fill in their order. This has lines for several items and column indicating; item number, description of the item, quantity or units, and price per unity. All of which the customer can pull from my line sheet when they make a purchase. This form also includes fields for the customer to calculate the subtotal and then add my flat rate shipping cost.
To the left of this form I have a smaller column with my wholesale policies listed. I have included where to find the line sheet, terms of sale, and explanation about shipping, how I handle returns and exchanges and what forms of payment I accept.
Beneath all of this I have a field for customer information. This includes any details I need to process payment and ship the order. I ask customers to give me their business name, Tax ID number, contact name, phone number and email address along with the shipping and and billing addresses for this order.
Whole Sale Policies
Some of my wholesale policies came from examples that I found on the internet, and some have shaped over time as I have gained experience as a small business owner. It is a good idea to state these terms clearly from the beginning, so clients have an understanding of what to expect from the transaction.
I have a $150.00 minimum on any customer’s first wholesale order. After that the minimum drops to $100 for reorder. These minimums ensures that any wholesale arrangement that I enter into is worth the effort to fill it. I also state that all orders are prepaid by invoice when the order is made, which is another precaution to ensure I get paid for the order upfront.
Shipping is an important detail, because it is an additional cost that your customer will need to pay. In this section I include details such as turnaround time for the order, what provider I will be using for shipping and the flat rate fee that I charge for wholesale orders. It may not always make sense to include a flat rate for shipping, but I have chosen to do this for now to simplify my order process. I used the average size and weigh of my wholesale products along with my dollar minimum to come up with the box size I would be likely to use. From there I researched the price of flat rate shipping from the USPS website. I landed on $15, but you should calculate this based on your own wholesale products.
With my returns and exchanges policy I left the door open for myself to make decisions on a case by case basis. I simply let the customers know to contact me via email about any damaged pieces. Typically if a customer has breakage I try to asses the situation fairly, if the piece is damaged due to packaging or some other issue that I deem to be my responsibility, then I replace it.
Wholesale Line Sheet
For my wholesale line sheet I kept things pretty simple. I used the same heading from the wholesale order form with my logo and contact information at the top left. On the right side of the header I included a product category for the items on the page as well as a page number. My wholesale line sheet is currently four pages long, and will undoubtably expand as I design new products. I organize my products by material, two pages of ceramics and two pages of chainmaille. With similar products grouped together. My shot glasses come in three colors. Each color is a separate product, but I have place the three shot glasses together on the page.
For each item listing I include a nice photo of the product, that clearly demonstrates what the product is. Under each photo I include an item number, name or description of the item and the wholesale price per unit.
Final Suggestions
A wholesale price is usually half of retail or time multiplied by rate and added to the cost of materials. Make sure you are doing your math correctly for your wholesale prices, do not short yourself.
Make sure your new documents are easy to find. I have both my wholesale order form and my line sheet up on my website for customers to download. I also have the line sheet printed out and ready to give to an interested business.
Getting your business set up for wholesale may seem like a daunting task, but you can make things easier for your self by being prepared. If you need help putting together either your order form or your line sheet, consider contacting a graphic designer to give you a hand, or look for a generic template online. Good luck business people!
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