If you want to sell women’s clothing, buying women clothes in bulk is the best way to secure low prices, so you can include your markup and then sell your items for a good profit. In this post, we will talk all about how to buy wholesale clothing for your online store.
Fulfill Your Legal Requirements
Before anything else, you need to make sure it’s legal to start a clothing business in your area. Get all the required licenses and permits to operate as a proper entity. For instance, you might require a city and state business license to become official. Visit the Small Business Administration website for more information on the legal requirements for starting a business.
If you’re looking to source wholesale clothes, you’ll need to legally register and obtain a tax ID (EIN) number. Having this ID on hand is important when buying products from wholesalers. Some of them may ask you to prove that you’re operating a legal business, so make sure to obtain your EIN before you contact them for bulk purchases.
Find Wholesalers for Bulk Clothing
After legally registering your business, having a good list of clothing wholesalers to choose from is key in getting your clothing store off the ground.
If you are looking to buy clothes in bulk for resale, pay heed to the following steps and you will be on track to having a successful business.
So let’s get started with the basics: domestic or overseas wholesale clothing suppliers?
Domestic vs Overseas
The first question everyone needs to answer is whether you want your wholesale clothing suppliers to be domestic or from overseas. Of course, both have their advantages and disadvantages. It will boil down to your personal preference, the products you’re selling, or your own values. Take care to research the quality standards for wholesale clothing vendors at home and abroad to decide which is the best option for your business.
Advantages of Domestic Clothing Suppliers
Let’s start with the advantages of using a domestic wholesale clothing supplier. Because they are located domestically, the shipping time will be significantly shorter. Communication will be easier because there will be no language barrier between you and the vendor. This could yield fewer errors and mistakes. Additionally, the quality of manufacturing should be higher.
Disadvantages of Domestic Clothing Suppliers
The two biggest disadvantages include the limited amount of products to choose from and their higher costs. There are fewer wholesale clothing suppliers in the US than overseas in places like China or India. And, due to the higher quality of products and better labor laws in the USA, the price of goods will be much higher. That being said it can be easier to find wholesale boutique clothing suppliers domestically if that is the route you are looking to go down.
Advantages of Overseas Clothing Suppliers
The other option available for you is overseas manufacturing. This one too comes with a few advantages of its own such as lower manufacturing costs. This is especially true if you compare it to manufacturers in America. That’s unfortunately due to lower labor standards and lower quality products. On the plus side, there are a lot of wholesale vendors to choose from, especially clothing suppliers. Because of services like AliExpress, it’s easy to get started working with overseas suppliers.
Disadvantages of Overseas Clothing Suppliers
Some of the other disadvantages include longer shipping time as most of these manufacturers are in China. It’s going to take longer to deliver the product to your customer in North America. You might occasionally run into issues with customs too. You won’t be able to visit the manufacturers in person, at least not cheaply. Verifying products could be a big hassle if not a big problem. Cultural differences and language barriers could cause more errors, mistakes, and headaches for you.
