Home Business Legally Registered, How to Buy Wholesale at Market?

Updated on October 24, 2012
G.B. asks from Oklahoma City, OK
6 answers

My sister has a home business that is registered with the state and she has a federal tax ID and everything. She is a legitimate business.

She has been ordering through Target and getting a good price on her supplies but they are no longer carrying some of her stuff. She needs to know how to "go to market" in Dallas or some other city that is near Oklahoma City. She needs girls denim garments like jeans-jackets-skirts, fabric, ribbons, thread, gemstones, fabric glues, etc...all the things that go with running a garment making business. She completes a couple of garments a day sometimes and is barely making a salary once she counts in her costs.

I have asked other people but don't know how to help my sister understand how to go about this. I know my boss goes to Dallas to market twice per year and brings back things like hangers, racks and shelving, leotards, etc...I am not sure it's the same kind of market my sister needs to find.

How does one find a "market" to go to that has their items of need? How do they contact them to make an appointment to go shop or to buy online? What is the proper protocol to do this?

Thanks for taking time to read this and answer. I know that if she were not a legal business I would not ask this. She is legal so I think that when she calls the market office they will verify that information.

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So What Happened?

My sister has been ordering through Target with her certifications and tax id information. I checked the Dallas market site and they don't have any vendors that carry the items she needs. Think Lee apparel or Levi or Rider. She can order 1000 if she had to. She has been buying the items for about %50 of what they sell for in the store and by the time she adds the embellishments and sells them she makes enough money to be just in the black. She would love to find a better way to buy wholesale.

The Dallas market is something she can do, the information you gave was right on. She has all that information. I talked to my boss and she said that most of the denim garments she has seen at Market is more expensive than the new prices at Walmart or Target. The vendors buy it to sell it to make money. It's their business, that's not what she needs.

She needs to know how to get the garments cheapest. Like a couple of bucks each. Maybe a catalog with the companies clearance items in them. I know sometimes my boss can get leo's for a couple of bucks each and she sells them at regular price.

That's what my sister needs, it how to connect with the companies themselves I think. Is there any way to cut out the middle man? Where does the middle man, the vendor at market, get his garments?

I tried looking up Lee denim, Levi's, and Rider jeans and got tons of selling places. She needs to be able to get a catalog from the company themselves so she can make orders herself.

I really thought that going to market was the way one was supposed to do this. That the companies themselves would have booths there and people would walk around and order the items they needed straight from the company. I was wrong. The vendors have to get their items from the company, that's where she needs to get hers from. She can't afford to pay $10 for a denim skirt that she could go to Walmart and pay $5.95 for.

She needs to buy that same skirt for $2-$3 each. She was paying Target about $3.5-$4 for skirts, $6-$8 for denim jackets, and so forth. She is really going to miss this supply.

More Answers

C.C.

answers from San Francisco on

What TF Plano/Allen said below. Your sister has to have a Cert. of Resale - what it allows you to do is buy raw goods without having to pay sales tax up front, with the understanding that you will collect sales tax when you sell the item(s) or finished goods. Once you have a certificate of resale, then all you have to do is call whatever supplier you want to use, and let them know you have a cert. of resale. They'll put it on file and you can buy at the wholesale rate. Check with a good CPA on how to track all of this; you don't want to get into hot water with the IRS or state taxing authorities.

1 mom found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

There are several different tye of certificates you need for buying and reselling.

Is she reselling what she buys? Then she needs the resale certificate.

We have a Sales and Use tax cerificate where we don't pay tax on our purchases because they are raw materials and the end person who pays the tax is the person who purchases the end product, (Example... a package of garbage bags).

Does she have a W-9? She needs that as well. Also she needs to get a copy of a W-9 from those she sells to as well as the Sales and Use certificate just to keep her nose clean with the IRS.

I don't have all the detail and don't understand all the detail fully but the above is what we have done for our business.

Best wishes.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.R.

answers from El Paso on

This is what I found regarding the Dallas Market Center. I didn't do much looking into how you go about getting into it, but either you or your sister could do that. Good luck!

http://www.dallasmarketcenter.com/

P.S. Thunder Up! :)

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S.E.

answers from Wichita Falls on

I would simply google "wholesale denim (or whatever you need) Dallas (or closest large city). Then call the supplier and ask for a catalog and what kind of whole-sale rates they have. Discounts come with volume but if you don't need 50000 of something, shop around. The tax id # is used to get the material tax-free (since tax should be added to sale price) and needs to be kept track of.

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P.M.

answers from Birmingham on

First of all, your sister needs to see if she qualifies to go to the Dallas Merchandise Market. She can do so by going to http://www.dallasmarketcenter.com/markets/newbuyers/quali...

If she quaifies, she can register and go to the Market and visit vendors who carry products she is interested in purchasing.

Even if she doesn't qualify to attend Market, an internet search for "wholesale companies" that sell the items she is looking for will be a tremendous help to her. With her wholesale number, she can purchase the items she needs at a great discount. The only way she is going to make a profit is to buy wholesale and mark-up the items.

The Dallas Merchadise Market is the type of market you sister needs to attend. Would your boss be willing to "mentor" your sister? Are there any Small Business Seminars or SCORE events in your area? There is a wealth of information on the internet or even at your local bookstore.

Good luck!

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M.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

She should just call the suppliers that she wishes to use and ask this question. Chances are good that they will be a big help in directing her on what to do and set her up with an account. She can either order online or go to shows.

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