Hellooooo to all budding fashion moguls and thrift treasure hunters out there!
Let's chat about a unique, guaranteed way to elevate your reselling business. Buying wholesale clothing in bulk is one of the best ways to scale your business. If you've been on the hunt for an affordable, diverse, and, dare we say, intriguing way to stock up your store, we've got the scoop on what to expect when your order arrives. While we talk in this post about buying in pallets, we consider the information in this post to be applicable to what one should expect when buying wholesale clothing regardless of the size of your order. These tips apply to buying from Boutique by the Box whether you order one 20 piece box or a pallet of 400+ items.
Ready to dive in? Buckle up!
So you've been reselling for a while now, making good sales, learning new brands, and even learning how to make minor repairs on items that require a little TLC. You've mastered product photography as well as properly describing everything when listing it...However, sales are not where you want them to be.
They're steady, but they're slow.
You already spend hours every week thrifting and looking for new inventory to keep your closet stocked, but it doesn't seem to be enough to really boost sales. Thrifting, driving to all the new thrift stores and bins, rummaging through clothing aisles....When trying to grow your business, it can be exhausting and overwhelming.
You see plenty of resellers online posting hauls of hundreds of items, or talking about a new pallet they had delivered, and you wonder where on earth they are finding this volume of inventory. Maybe a few of those resellers share an affiliate code so you click around and find our business. Sound familiar?
We've been there too.
Finding a new source of inventory can be difficult. It's frightening to start a business from scratch and then consider hiring someone to help you with a portion of it. While Boutique by the Box cannot be hired as an employee in your ever-expanding resale business, we can act as a sort of partner with you, and we fully understand that buying wholesale clothing online comes with a learning curve.
We're here to help you streamline your inventory sourcing so you can focus on other aspects of your business. This not only saves you time spent driving and thrifting, but it also allows you to start buying wholesale clothing in bulk, which is the real secret to growing your online business. The more inventory you have from better brands, the higher your sales will be. It turns into a number game, and you're now faced with the task of deciding what to order and processing that pallet (or five! – go on now!) of clothing when it arrives, and getting ready to order again so you don't run out.
What to expect when buying wholesale
A Box of Surprises
Ever loved the idea of unboxings? With Boutique by the Box, every day feels like your birthday or Christmas! Choose from specific brands per box or dive into the excitement with our mystery boxes focused on specific styles, seasons or categories. What will you get? You won't know until you cut open the tape and start opening your box, but that's the fun part!
While the actual items included in each box are always a mystery, there's a handful of things you can expect when you first receive your order to ensure the process is smooth and you aren't surprised by anything.
We work hard to ensure that our product descriptions and offerings are completely transparent. Each description is tailored to the specific inventory being offered, with information about condition, brands, categories, and more.
Try It On for Size
When we say it's a mystery box, we mean it. Wholesale boxes will include a range of sizes, dictated by the inventory available on hand. If you are buying wholesale clothing, especially secondhand clothing, from any vendor, the inventory sizing will always be a surprise, and may include very small or very large sizes. Some brands or categories of product such as brand samples or designer will frequently run in smaller sizes across the board, with less variety included. Some brands or categories have a ton of variety, with sizes ranging from xxs to 5X, and we're here for all of it.
Sizes can be as unpredictable as the weather, so always be ready for a diverse range. Think of it as catering to everyone in the fashion world, from your petite pals to your big beautiful BFFs. There’s a body out there for everyyy size. Small sizes sell, too… we promise.
Our team is proud to be comprised of resellers with extensive experience selling clothing online, and we've discovered that all sizes sell, even the smallest jeans or the largest tee. There is a buyer for everything, and sometimes those outlying sizes that may appear to be less desirable are actually more in demand, because buyers looking for those sizes struggle even more to find their sizes affordably.
When companies like ours purchase liquidation loads from clothing brands, we do so blindly, with little to no knowledge of each load. The clothing is then sorted by gender, category, and condition to ensure that we merchandise the product fairly and have enough of the correct product to list.
Clothing purchased as overstock, shelf pulls or liquidation from clothing brands has always been included in the commercial cycle of business. This means that even clothing that still has retail tags attached has been touched by a consumer at some point. These items may have been in a retail store, listed online for e-commerce and kept in a warehouse, or, if the product is listed as customer returns, has been purchased by the customer and then returned to the brand.
By purchasing items in this manner, our company is able to offer amazing condition clothing to clothing resellers for a fraction of the price. However, as with any mystery wholesale box company, we are limited in what we are able to include in each order based on how our inventory arrived from the brand.
Imperfectly Perfect, Just Like Us
In an ideal world, no reseller would ever have to struggle to find amazing, brand new inventory; everything would be designer items at Goodwill Bin prices; everything would be available in sizes M-XL only; and everything would be the upcoming season styles.
Let's be honest: neither life nor the clothes in our boxes are perfect. We'd give our left kidney for an entire box of perfect condition, NWT, flaw-free Gucci as much as the next reseller, but that's simply not possible in the wholesale world.
As a result, we aim to provide the next best thing: buying wholesale mystery boxes filled with overstock from trendy clothing brands that your customers will love, with as many great, like new condition items as possible. Does this imply that every single item in the box will be flawless? No, not always. Here's what to expect.
Yes, we have boxes listed as new with tag/new without tag (NWT/NWOT), and while the majority of our inventory is in amazing, like new condition, it's important to understand what liquidation and overstock wholesale inventory consists of when buying wholesale clothing.
We'd give our left kidney for an entire box of perfect condition, NWT, flaw-free Gucci as much as the next reseller, but that's simply not possible in the wholesale world.
Because these items have all been included in the clothing brand's commerce cycle, purchasing wholesale clothing should include a small percentage of clothing with minor flaws or blemishes, even if the clothing is listed as new.
Some may require minor repairs, while others may be giving you the "I've had a long day" vibe with a wrinkle or two. A sweater might benefit from a quick shave, or perhaps someone tried on that pretty dress and there's a makeup smudge on the neckline. Then there are those who are suffering from an identity crisis (marker through the brand tag!). However, guess what? They're all looking for a new closet to shine.
Understanding that wholesale inventory will come with some snaggle-toothed, less than desirable items in your order is key to managing your expectations when buying wholesale clothing.
Prices That Please Your Wallet & Margins
One of our main goals is to get you the best price per unit. We understand the hustle and grind of the reselling business. So while not every item might walk off a runway, your profit margins certainly might!
We offer discounted pricing per unit for bulk buys of 100 units or more on all of our wholesale inventory, but even when you are buying straight off our website, you are getting the best deal possible. Buying wholesale clothing for 95% off MSRP is a solid game plan when looking to scale your resale business.
On all of our wholesale inventory, we offer discounted pricing per unit for bulk purchases of 100 units or more, but even when you buy directly from our website, you are getting the best deal possible. Purchasing wholesale clothing at 95% off MSRP is a sound strategy for growing your resale business. However, it's important to remember that our cost of goods fluctuates based on vendors and fees, so the cost of our products may vary from time to time as well.
It is critical to us that our customers achieve profitable margins when purchasing wholesale inventory from us or any other wholesale company.
Here's some guidance on what to expect when buying wholesale inventory to resell, in terms of both our price points and your potential margins.
Our Prices + Your Margins = BFFS
At first glance, our wholesale product may appear to be more expensive than that of your local thrift store or other wholesale companies that sell mostly secondhand clothing, and this is true. Unlike other wholesale companies or your local thrift store, however, the clothing you receive from us is direct from the brand and is primarily new with tag (NWT), current or recent season, and trending brand labels.
Our team spends a significant amount of time researching the brand, categories, exact styles, and other factors before listing any product. Our product is priced using both the item's current trending sold prices and our own product costs.
We recognize, however, that each reseller has different goals and objectives, and that certain brands or price points are not suitable for everyone. We're okay with that, because we've seen how buying wholesale inventory can help your business, and we're here to help you every step of the way!
One of the most important expectations to manage however when buying wholesale clothing is your expected profit margins. Margins on first quality clothing can be amazing, but won't always be as high as when you resell second hand clothing sourced from the bins or the thrift store. First quality clothing still plays an important part in any reseller's inventory plan however. Buying wholesale first quality inventory allows you to offer your buyers more current styles and brands, better condition and new with tag options.
We understand it can be a whole new approach and mindset when looking at profit and numbers on your sales, so here's some points to keep in mind when buying wholesale first quality clothing:
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Not every item in a box is a home run, and that's okay. With most mystery boxes, it should be expected that the box will include some misses. Items that aren't the greatest style, the most desirable category, or the highest price point. Some items may not sell for more than what you paid for them, and that's okay. With all mystery boxes, one should expect to have a few losses in the box, a few pieces that knock it out of the park, and then a handful of middle of the road good pieces that are what make your actual profit. Yeah, you might have to sell a few pieces at cost, but you sell those home run pieces and cover the cost of your box in 3 or 4 sales, and then the rest of the middle of the road items are what make up your profit.
- Duplicates of the same item are a good thing. Listing one offs is great for variety, but listing multiples of the same item is a game changer. List one and done, then let the sales do the work for you. Multiples of one piece are a good addition to just about any mystery box because it significantly cuts down your time on photographing and listing (and sharing!).
Embrace the Adventure
Buying from Boutique by the Box isn't just another business transaction; it's an adventure. With every box, you’re discovering new styles, playing detective with unique pieces, and giving clothes a second chance to be the star of someone’s wardrobe.
Venturing into the world of buying wholesale with Boutique by the Box is like embarking on a fashion safari. Expect the unexpected, revel in the joys of discovery, and remember: every item, whether pristine or with a touch of character, has its own story to tell. And who knows? Your next box might just contain that elusive gem that sends your customers into a shopping frenzy!
Happy unboxing, resellers! May your finds be fabulous and your sales plentiful! 🛍️
New to buying wholesale, or new to Boutique by the Box? Try our Boutique Starter Pack; a 15 piece sampler pack full of our most recent available brands!
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