Buying Wholesale Clothing From The USA
Buyers all over the world want to
buy wholesale clothing from the USA.
Some buyers travel in person,
others send someone who lives
in the United States on their
behalf, and others do their shopping
online.
So why do
so many wholesale buyers want
products from the USA?
The demand for USA wholesale merchandise
is based on various factors.
First of all there is the international recognition
that American brands have. Almost everyone
on this planet is familiar with brands like
Polo Ralph Lauren, Guess, Calvin Klein,
Nine West, Nike, and Tahari.
The Internet has helped American brands
gain an immense following abroad, especially
from young people who can see the latest
trends every time they log on to
social media sites like Facebook.
In addition, Hollywood does a great
job of further publicizing American
brands when its movies are watched
in other countries.
Product placement is a big business,
and no one does it better than
the movie executives working in Hollywood.
Think of what happens when
millions of movie goers
watch a famous actress wearing
a BCBG dress.
There is also another factor that motivates
international buyers to search for wholesale
merchandise from the USA.
That factor is the belief that American
products are very high quality. And yes,
you would be surprised, there are still
many products being made in the United States,
especially clothing.
For instance, many R&M Richards dresses
are made in the USA, as well other private label
clothes.
The reason why you can still find wholesale clothing
that is made in the United States is because
many retailers do not want to have to
wait for shipments to arrive from China
or elsewhere. They want the clothing that they
need to be available on an immediate basis.
There is actually a third factor that
I have learned from my international
wholesale customers, and that is
that products that are made overseas for the
American market are usually higher
quality than products made for some
other markets.
In other words, a factory in China that
is producing wholesale dresses for the
USA will make them from better quality
materials than those it might make for
the domestic Chinese market.
While I have not personally researched this
idea in detail, my customers have repeatedly
expressed this belief to me.
So how can you purchase wholesale products
from the USA?
You can start out by doing a search online through
Google for American wholesalers. If you are going to
visit a specific city, such as New York, or simply want to
purchase products from a NY wholesaler, then you
would want to do a search for wholesalers in a specific
city.
You can also use specific wholesale niche search engines
like WholesaleCentral.com or CloseoutCentral.com.
There are many paid directories are well,
such as Salehoo or WholesaleQuest.com
Note, I am an affiliate of both of these directories.
Wholesale directories are a compilation of
wholesale sources such as exporters, importers,
distributors, jobbers, closeout dealers, and
closeout brokers.
The advantage of a paid directory is that
the owner of the directory needs to
update and maintain good listings to
satisfy the people who are paying for
access to the directory.
There are also many free wholesale directories
available online. The challenge with those
directories is that many of the listings
might be outdated, but you might still
find a few valuable sources in there.
If you can visit the USA, I would recommend
that you visit a wholesale shopping district
such as the New York Fashion District.
You will literally find thousands of wholesale showrooms
if you visit the various wholesale districts
located in New York, Los Angeles, Miami,
and Chicago.
When visiting a wholesale district take your
time in comparing the various wholesale deals
that you will find, this way you won't miss out
on merchandise deals that another seller might have.
On the other hand, if you do come across
a really good closeout deal don't hesitate or
someone else might buy it.
It is very common for a retailer
to visit my warehouse, see a
selection of wholesale dresses that they
want to buy, and then return a few days later to
make their purchase and those specific dresses
are sold out.
If you see something that you know that you
can do well with, you need to take action
right away.
When speaking to wholesalers in the USA
I would recommend finding out if they
have customers in your country. This way you
will know what their level of knowledge is
regarding your market. This is important since
you want them to make suggestions based
on what is popular in your market.
For example, if you have a boutique in Nigeria
you will want to connect with wholesalers
that have supplied boutiques in Nigeria.
If you are certain in knowing what
merchandise you need for your market
then it is not as important to
work with a wholesaler that is familiar with your
market.
But if you do find someone that is knowledgeable
then be open to their suggestions, since
they are actively dealing with retailers
from your country, so they so to speak
have their finger on the pulse of the
retail market.
You can also decide to buy wholesale
directly from American brands.
They might be open to doing business
with an individual retailer, or they
might refer you to a wholesaler that
they are already doing
business with in your country.
If they don't have a wholesale representative
in your country you might consider
asking them to become their rep
this way you can make money
by supplying their products to
other retailers as well.
If you do want a brand
to consider developing a
an exclusive relationship
with you, you need to show them
that you are serious by actually buying
a large quantity of merchandise from them.
This is true for any situation in
which you want to demonstrate
the benefits of doing business with you.
If you want the best brand name deals
from a closeout warehouse, then you
have to demonstrate your
buying power.
As far as shipping your wholesale purchases
from the USA back to your country you
can use shipping companies such as UPS,
DHL, Fed Ex, the US Postal Service, or you
can use freight forwarders.
Freight forwarders will aggregate
shipments on a flight, getting a lower
rate for the shipments than if they
were booked separately.
Some freight forwarders will ship to the
closest international airport to you, and others
will provide door to door delivery service through
a local agent.
For international shipping I use freight
forwarders such as Schenker, Impex,
Corporate Messengers, Express Air Freight,
Laparkan, Tropical Shipping, and other
companies based on my customers preferences.
You can still successfully purchase wholesale
products from the USA even if you
can't travel to the United States or
send someone to a warehouse on
your behalf.
You can place an order online
through their wholesale website,
or order by email or by phone.
Just make sure that you are dealing with
a wholesale exporter that is familiar with your
market. You can also ask for references to assure
yourself regarding the reliability of
the business.
It's a great sign if a wholesaler already has customers
in your country.
On the other hand there are advantages
to being a wholesaler's first
customer in your country.
You won't have to compete with
other retailers that might otherwise
be buying from the same wholesale source.
Another important point is that
while you might be looking for specific
items, such as wholesale Tahari suits or
wholesale Steve Madden shoes, you
should be open to considering
other items as well.
If you bring a new item to your marketplace
you might be surprised at how well
you can do with it.
Let's say you decide to import
wholesale Tally Taylor dresses.
While your customers are
not familiar with the brand, they
might fall in love with the dresses
by Tally Taylor.
Since you will be the only seller of
Tally Taylor clothing in your market
then customers will have to buy it
through your boutique.
And if you see that you are doing
really well with a certain brand
that is new in your market, you
can try to form an exclusive relationship
with the wholesaler that you bought
that branded clothing from. This way you can try to be the
only retailer carrying that brand in your
country.