How to sell wholesale as a brand or manufacturer comes down to six jobs: set a wholesale price that leaves the retailer room to earn, publish a line sheet, pitch stores that already serve your buyer, decide your terms and minimums, open each approved store as a wholesale account, and take reorders online instead of by email.
This guide is written for the business that makes the product and wants it on store shelves. If you buy wholesale to resell on a marketplace, you are on the other side of the counter, and most of what follows is about what your supplier needs.
Last updated: November 5, 2026.
Step 1: Set a wholesale price that works for both sides
A wholesale price is what a retailer pays you. The MSRP is the shelf price you suggest to the consumer. Selling wholesale works when the gap between the two pays the retailer and your own cost still leaves you a margin.
Work backward from the shelf. Say a product costs you $12 to make and land in your warehouse, and you want it to sell in stores for $40.
- If you charge the retailer $20, the store keeps $20 a unit and you keep $8.
- Your wholesale margin is the profit divided by the wholesale price: $8 / $20 = 40%.
- If that margin is too thin, fix it before you print a price. Lower the cost, raise the MSRP, or accept that this product is direct-to-consumer only.
Run that math for every SKU, then add the costs retail brings that your own website does not: case packing, freight to the store, samples, and the occasional damaged carton.
You may end up with more than one price. A distributor buying by the pallet, an independent store buying a case, and a regional chain on a contract each pay something different. Write those tiers down now. When you take orders online later, each tier becomes its own price list, and on Shopify each list is a catalog (more on that in Step 6).
Step 2: Build a line sheet a buyer can order from
A line sheet is the document a retail buyer orders from. It should answer every question they would otherwise email you about. For each product, include:
- A clean product photo and the product name.
- SKU and barcode. GS1 US, the barcode standards body, states that "each variation of each product you sell requires a unique barcode." GS1 US adds that its barcodes "uniquely identify a single retail product online and in retail stores around the world." A UPC is the barcode a store scans.
- Wholesale price and MSRP, side by side.
- Case pack (units per carton) and any per-item minimum order quantity.
- Availability: in stock now, or the ship window for the season.
Then add one page of terms that applies to the whole sheet: the opening order minimum, the reorder minimum, payment terms, shipping and freight policy, returns or damages policy, and exactly how to place an order.
If you sell by season, you may need a new sheet for each collection; fashion brands can see how that works in wholesale linesheet ordering on Shopify. If your range rarely changes, one sheet that you update when prices move is enough.
Put a version date on the sheet, so a buyer holding last year's copy knows to ask for the current prices.
Step 3: Find retailers and pitch them
Start with stores where your buyer already shops. Make a short list of stores that carry brands next to yours at a similar price, then check each one in person or online before you reach out.
For each store, find the person who buys. In a small independent shop that may be the owner. For a chain, look on the retailer's website for a vendor or supplier page before you email anyone.
Keep the first email short:
- One line on the product and who buys it.
- One line on why it fits their store, naming a brand they already carry.
- Your line sheet attached or linked, with wholesale price, MSRP and the opening minimum visible.
- A low-risk first step, such as a small opening order or a sample.
Follow up once after a week, and send samples to the stores that reply. When a store says no, ask what would change their mind and keep a note of it. As the answers come in, sort them by objection: price, packaging or fit.
Trade shows, sales reps and wholesale marketplaces can also bring in first accounts, and each comes with its own cost. Once a few stores reorder, ask yourself where you want those accounts to live. On your own store, you set the terms and you keep the pricing and order history.
Step 4: Decide your terms before the first order
Write your terms down before a buyer asks, so every account gets the same answer.
Payment. You can ask new accounts to pay up front by card or bank transfer. Established accounts may ask for net 30, meaning 30 days to pay the invoice, and with net terms you ship the goods before you are paid. Decide who qualifies (for example, after a set number of paid orders) and put that rule in writing. Shopify B2B supports this directly: you can give each company "Net 7, Net 15, Net 30, Net 45, Net 60, Net 90, or due on fulfillment," and Shopify notes that "All terms start from the day the order is placed." Requiring a deposit on orders that use net terms is "Available only on the Shopify Plus plan." Our guide to Shopify net terms covers collection and reminders.
Minimums. Set an opening order minimum, a lower reorder minimum, and any per-item case quantity. Shopify lets you "set up quantity rules to minimum, maximum, or increments that a variant can be ordered in," so a product with an increment of 6, for example, can only be ordered in full cases of 6. Order-value minimums work differently, and wholesale order minimums and case packs on Shopify explains both.
Shipping and damages. Say who pays freight, at what order size shipping becomes free, and how a store reports a damaged carton.
Step 5: Open wholesale accounts
A wholesale account is the record of an approved store: who they are, where they ship, what they pay, and on what terms.
Get your own paperwork in order first. The U.S. Small Business Administration says "Your business structure affects how much you pay in taxes, your ability to raise money, the paperwork you need to file, and your personal liability," and that federal and state tax ID numbers "let your small business pay state and federal taxes." This is not legal or tax advice; consult counsel and an accountant on structure, registration and resale certificates.
Then make applying easy. On Shopify, you can install the Shopify Forms app and "create and customize a form for wholesale customers to fill out." When a store submits it, "a company, a company location, and a customer are automatically created in your Shopify admin." Company name and email are required. You can add your own fields, and Shopify's own example is asking how many shipping locations a company has before you approve it.
Approval stays with you. "By default, companies created through the form can't place orders in your online store or access B2B pricing until you approve them." Each approved company can then carry its own settings, which Shopify lists as "payments terms, shipping address, contact permissions, catalogs, tax exemptions, and checkout settings."
One limit to know: "You can't use company account requests when you have a dedicated store that is gated and available only to B2B customers." If you want a public application form, keep wholesale pricing behind the login instead of gating the whole store.
Step 6: Take reorders online
Once a store is approved, move its reorders online early. Your team stops retyping them, and buyers can order when it suits them.
"Shopify B2B is available on the Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Shopify Plus plans." You can run it in the store you already sell from: Shopify says "A blended store lets you manage both your D2C (direct-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) businesses in one Shopify store and admin." It also warns the choice is "not easy to change at a later time," so read running B2B and DTC from one Shopify store before you decide.
What a logged-in wholesale buyer gets, from Shopify's B2B feature list:
- Their own prices. Catalogs "Create custom pricing and control the availability of products for your B2B customers." On Basic, Grow and Advanced "you can assign up to 3 active catalogs across all your B2B markets"; Plus is unlimited.
- Volume pricing. "Offer additional price breaks to B2B customers when they purchase a certain quantity of a product in the same order."
- Fast reorders. Buyers can place "reorders by duplicating a past order using customer accounts," and quick order lists let them add several variants of a product "to their cart in one click."
- Their terms at checkout, plus purchase order numbers on the order.
- Review when you need it. You can require orders "to be placed as drafts based on company location," so you can check stock or pricing before you confirm.
Buyers "must log in with customer accounts to access their wholesale information and assigned catalogs." To hide prices from visitors who are not logged in, Shopify notes that "Theme editor customizations for B2B context are available on the Advanced and Plus plans."
For the full setup, from catalogs to price lists to company permissions, see our guide to Shopify for wholesale. If you are still deciding what wholesale online should look like, start with what wholesale ecommerce is.
A manufacturer that moved wholesale onto its own store
Kooks Headers and Exhaust is an automotive manufacturer of headers and exhaust systems. Its case study describes it as "a multi-channel manufacturer serving both retail enthusiasts and wholesale distributors." Before the rebuild, "Wholesale orders were processed by hand, and disconnected systems caused delays, backorders, and lost opportunities."
The company "replatformed its retail and wholesale business onto a single Shopify B2B and D2C store built by Uncap." The build "gives wholesale buyers secure portals with custom pricing." Uncap's case study lists what those portals cover: "negotiated pricing, streamlined reordering and account management." The same store is connected to the company's Infor Visual ERP. The published result: "22% higher conversion and 38% lower total cost of ownership."
Georgia Kryssing, Sales and Marketing Director at Kooks, described the starting point: "Before switching to Shopify, our old website held us back. We lacked analytics, marketing tools, and B2B capabilities, had no live inventory or search, and were stuck on a platform that was restrictive and hard to scale."
Read the full Kooks case study.
Where Uncap fits
Uncap is a Shopify Platinum Partner that builds wholesale on Shopify for brands, manufacturers and distributors. Here is where we tend to come in:
- A buyer portal for trade accounts. "Uncap Portal gives trade accounts a self-serve home on Shopify, catalogs, pricing, reorders, invoices, and users." See Uncap Portal.
- Prices and stock that match your ERP. "Uncap Connect is the real-time data layer between Shopify, your ERP, and the warehouse floor. Inventory, orders, customers, and pricing move the moment they change, not in an overnight batch." That matters once your price tiers from Step 1 live in the ERP. See Uncap Connect.
- A plan before the build. The Uncap Blueprint is a fixed-price, four-week engagement at $7,500.
We have written up how wholesale works in specific categories, including food and beverage, beauty and cosmetics and fashion and apparel. For the full picture of how we approach it, see Shopify Plus agency for wholesale.
Ready to put your wholesale accounts and reorders on your own store? Talk to Our Experts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the profit margin for wholesale?
Your wholesale margin is your profit per unit divided by the wholesale price. If a product costs you $12 and you sell it to a retailer for $20, your margin is $8 / $20, or 40%. There is no single correct margin; set the number from your own costs, freight and the shelf price the product needs to hit.
Do I need an LLC to sell wholesale?
The choice of business structure is yours and your advisers'. The U.S. Small Business Administration says your structure "affects how much you pay in taxes, your ability to raise money, the paperwork you need to file, and your personal liability," and suggests consulting "business counselors, attorneys, and accountants." This is not legal advice; consult counsel.
How do I pitch my product to a store?
Email the store's buyer by name with one line on the product, one line on why it fits their shelf, your line sheet with wholesale price, MSRP and opening minimum, and a small first order or sample offer. Follow up once after a week, and send samples to the stores that reply.
How can I sell my product to retailers?
Set a wholesale price that leaves the retailer a margin, build a line sheet with terms and minimums, pitch stores that already carry brands like yours, approve each store as a wholesale account, and give approved accounts a way to reorder online at their own prices.
What are wholesale accounts?
A wholesale account is an approved business customer with its own record: company details, shipping locations, prices and payment terms. On Shopify B2B, each account is a company, and you can configure "payments terms, shipping address, contact permissions, catalogs, tax exemptions, and checkout settings" for it.
Can I sell wholesale and retail from the same Shopify store?
Yes. Shopify calls this a blended store, which "lets you manage both your D2C (direct-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) businesses in one Shopify store and admin." Shopify B2B is available on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Shopify Plus plans, and the choice of store type is "not easy to change at a later time."
Should I offer net 30 to new wholesale accounts?
That is your call. One workable policy is payment up front for new accounts and net terms after a few paid orders. Net 30 gives the store 30 days to pay, so you ship before you are paid. On Shopify B2B, payment terms are set per company, from net 7 to net 90 or due on fulfillment.
