Wholesale Supplier Negotiating Checklist
Relationship is Key – Use customer-centric communication to discover what is important to your supplier. What are their pain points? Knowing these can help you develop and offer solutions to help them.
Think like a supplier – They have the product and want to sell as much of it as possible. Present yourself as a resource with a proven track record of selling to the target industry. Understand that money talks, and a supplier that sees dollar signs will make a partnership with you. The trust and credibility you build will determine the terms of your partnership and favorable rates.
Be Professional – Make sure you have a professional, clean website that simply states what your company offers its suppliers as an Amazon seller. Be sure to set yourself apart from most other 3P sellers by offering value-added services
Research the supplier and its products before making contact – Showing an interest in the supplier right up front illustrates that you want to develop a mutually-beneficial partnership by caring about their company and its success.
Leverage economies of scale – Ask for the price on a large quantity )the quantity you hope to order over the course of 12 months.). Then tell supplier you would like to place a test order or a smaller quantity, with the understanding that if the product does well for you, you will reorder regularly. Ask for price on the smaller quantity.
When you call to place your NEXT order, negotiate for higher-quantity discount based on repeat orders.
Ask supplier for 30-day terms, AFTER you have placed 2-3 orders – They save up to 3% on credit card fees. This will help you leverage further price discounts since you are saving them money. Be sure to pay your bill ON TIME to maintain your relationship and discount.
Ask supplier to prep and ship to Amazon for you – You’d be surprised how open a supplier can be to adding a bundle item you send them to your product, attaching your FBA label to products, and shipping directly to your Amazon account.