16 Best Small Business Wholesale Suppliers (2025)

You have a business idea. You’ve researched its viability. You’ve made a plan. Now, how do you find small business wholesale suppliers to bring it all to life?

Not all product-based businesses are also manufacturers. In fact, many online brands buy all of their stock from top wholesale suppliers. These suppliers sell products in bulk at affordable prices so direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands can personalize them, add a markup, and sell them for a profit.

Buying from small business wholesale vendors helps avoid the biggest expense that new entrepreneurs face in their first year of business: product costs. Some 21% of business owners in a Shopify survey said that costs associated with inventory, such as testing new products and returning defective goods, could quickly rack up. 

While you might think selling wholesale is only for big-box retailers and global companies, even small businesses source from wholesalers. Find out more about the best wholesale suppliers for your small business in this guide.

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What are small business wholesale suppliers?

Small business wholesale suppliers are business-to-business (B2B) entities that sell products at a discounted rate to other businesses. The retail buyers then sell the products in individual units directly to consumers for a profit. Wholesale suppliers may or may not manufacture the products themselves. In some cases, they do a mixture of both.

How to find small business wholesale suppliers

1. Get your initial options
2. Vet your options
3. Contact the suppliers
4. Compare and choose

1. Get your initial options

Every search starts somewhere. To find wholesale distributors, you can begin with a Google search. This will bring up lists of popular wholesale suppliers to check out first. You can search by product, industry, and even location to pull up options more relevant to your niche.

Take note of these initial wholesale supplier results. This list serves as your starting point for further research.

2. Vet your options

Not every wholesaler is legit, so you need to do some vetting beyond the first search results page. Search for the wholesale company name and add keywords like “reviews” and “scam” to your query to unearth any red flags.

Visit the websites of the suppliers you found in your search results. Look for information about their products, pricing, and terms. Check if the supplier has a physical address and contact information. A legitimate business should provide transparent ways to get in touch.

Read other online reviews and testimonials. This can give you insights into the experiences of other businesses that have worked with the supplier. Pay attention to both positive and negative feedback, as well as how (or if) the supplier has publicly engaged with that feedback. Those interactions can tell you a lot about what kind of vendor relationship you might have with that supplier.

Finally, look for any relevant certifications or affiliations with industry associations. These affiliations can be a sign of professionalism, credibility, and adherence to industry standards.

3. Contact the suppliers

Once you’ve done your initial research and vetting, it’s time to reach out to the potential wholesale suppliers.

Send an email or give them a call to inquire about their products, pricing, and terms of doing business. Those negotiable terms should cover things like minimum order quantities (MOQs), lead time, payment terms, and shipping options. This initial contact will also help you gauge the supplier’s responsiveness and willingness to work with you.

Ask for a sample or catalog of products, or create a wholesale account on their B2B ecommerce storefront. This will allow you to assess the quality and suitability of their products and service quality for your business.

4. Compare and choose

After you’ve contacted several wholesale suppliers, compare their offerings, terms, and responsiveness. Consider factors such as product quality, pricing, minimum order quantities, and customer service.

Make a well-informed decision by weighing the pros and cons of each supplier. This will help you find the one that best aligns with your small business’s needs, values, and objectives.

15 best wholesale suppliers for small business

1. Faire

Hundreds of thousands of retailers buy wholesale products online with Faire. You can order from more than 100,000 independent wholesale vendors with net 60 terms from the wholesale marketplace. 

Faire is perfect especially if you’re looking for unique items. It will also give you a prepaid shipping label in case you’d like to send products back.

Before finding leading wholesale suppliers on Faire, be aware of the marketplace’s commission. Faire takes a 15% cut of any order, plus a $10 one-time fee for new customers. This makes your first order with a small business wholesale supplier more expensive.

2. AliExpress

China-based AliExpress is connected with the Alibaba online marketplace. It’s well-known for having a wide range of products—more than 100 million—at competitive wholesale prices. It ships globally and there’s no order minimum. AliExpress also doesn’t charge commission. 

Wholesale buyers beware, though: Not everything you see on AliExpress is worth the investment. There’s little vetting or quality control. It might take trial and error to find a small business wholesale supplier that strikes the right balance between cost and quality. 

3. DHgate

Another wholesale supplier based in China, DHgate has lower prices on a lot of wholesale products, but it’s known for carrying a lot of replica goods. If that’s not an issue for your business, it’s worth digging through deals to see what you can unearth. It has a massive selection of products with options to suit any merchant and niche. 

DHgate also uses an integrated rating system to help vet the right supplier for you. It ranks suppliers based on their reliability—an important factor to consider when comparing wholesale partners.

Still, it takes some effort to find reputable suppliers on DHgate, particularly if you’re looking for authentic products. Be prepared to spend time ordering samples from a few suppliers before you land on the right one.

4. DollarDays

Like AliExpress, DollarDays has something for just about every kind of business in every industry you can think of: baby products, pet supplies, personal care items, and more. 

The difference with DollarDays is its focus on serving non-profit organizations with affordable pricing. That said, for-profit businesses can also purchase its wholesale goods. 

DollarDays is one of many wholesale companies based in the US, and it serves small businesses all over the world. Like AliExpress, order minimums don’t apply. It also has a dropshipping model so you don’t have to personally manage the inventory you’re reselling.

5. ek Wholesale

Scottish-based ek Wholesale is one of the leading small business wholesale suppliers for merchants in Europe. It offers free delivery to the UK mainland on orders of £250 or more. 

Ek is known for high-quality products, specializing in wholesale clothing. This makes it a great place to find small businesses who sell apparel, jewelry, and footwear at competitive wholesale prices.

What’s great about ek Wholesale is that you can design your own private label clothing brand. By adding your own branding to its apparel, you can start your own clothing line on a budget, without investing money into manufacturing. 

6. IndiaMart

IndiaMart has a huge range of products—it stocks the usual consumer goods, plus a few specific industries that are difficult to find on other marketplaces.

IndiaMart is particularly good for certain niches like medical, chemical, industrial, or automobile supplies. It’s also one of the few wholesale companies to offer over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical dropshipping services.

7. Liquidation.com

Liquidation.com operates on a wholesale model that uses inventory surpluses to offer brand-name goods at affordable prices. With hundreds of product categories, it has all kinds of items for sale, such as apparel, cosmetics, and home goods. 

Its pricing works on a bidding system. The highest bidder wins the auction and takes home the wholesale lot. This makes it an exciting way to find wholesale products, but it does present its challenges. Inventory isn’t always the same, making it difficult to build brand recognition. Prices also fluctuate depending on other businesses participating in the auction. 

8. OrangeShine

OrangeShine’s product offerings are great for apparel, home goods, and lifestyle brands. It specializes in clothing and accessories for women, but also offers items for men, children, beauty, and the home. 

OrangeShine offers flat-rate shipping for orders placed with small business wholesalers through its platform. However, it doesn’t integrate with ecommerce platforms. You’ll need to manually upload product and inventory data when selling online.

9. SaleHoo

SaleHoo is another wholesale directory used by more than 8,000 small businesses. You can browse thousands of reliable suppliers with all kinds of products on the site. Order minimums vary and international shipping is available. 

SaleHoo is based in New Zealand and also has dropshipping options. There is a $27 monthly subscription fee to work with dropshipping supplies, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee on offer.

10. Tasha Apparel

US-based boutique clothing supplier Tasha Apparel sells clothing in bulk. There aren’t minimum order quantities (MOQs), but they do typically sell in packs of six. The supplier offers a huge range of sizes and a ton of different styles, so retailers of all kinds can shop trendy wholesale clothing at up to 60% to 80% below the standard retail price. 

Tasha Apparel supports dropshipping and lets store owners use images from its website for their products. That saves you a lot of time on product photography. Plus, their bulk shipping and bulk rates help ensure dropshippers have access to the trendiest products every season.

11. Tropical Labs

Tropical Labs is a wholesale supplier that specializes in plant-based and organic personal care products. If these are niches you’re interested in tapping into, Tropical Labs could be the vendor for you. 

Tropical Labs makes skin creams and lotions, candles, shave gels, and hair care products, among other related products. You can also use its private label products to start your own skin care line, or tap into its research and development (R&D) offerings to start your own business.

12. Wholesale7

Wholesale7 is another wholesale supplier of clothing, accessories, and beauty items. You can find a bargain if you’ve got the time to compare small businesses using the marketplace to sell wholesale. 

It also offers high-quality boutique clothing with custom logo designs. You can use your own logo and branding on the label and product packaging. That means you can launch your own private label clothing line, with Wholesale7 powering your supply chain.

Wholesale7 also provides the option of dropshipping. It will ship products directly to your customer whenever you receive an order through your online store, saving you time and resources. 

13. Wholesale Central

Wholesale Central is exactly that: a center for all things wholesale. You can find products in virtually every category you can think of, including food and grocery, music, novelties, apparel, religious items, and even tools and hardware. International shipping is available, and order minimums vary.

To view wholesale pricing for your small business through the marketplace, you’ll need your business ID and tax number. Now’s also the time to register your business if you haven’t already.

14. Worldwide Brands

Worldwide Brands has a directory of wholesalers and more than 16 million products to choose from, so there’s no shortage of variety here. 

Worldwide Brands sources products from trade shows and directly from manufacturers, making them available to small businesses everywhere. There’s usually an order minimum, but it varies depending on the supplier. There’s also a one-time fee required to access the site.

15. Shopify Collective

Shopify Collective lets you partner with other leading Shopify brands, without paying for inventory upfront and managing the fulfillment process. Import your supplier’s product and inventory data to your Shopify admin to start selling within minutes.

What’s great about Shopify Collective is that your customers get to interact with new brands using a website they’re already familiar with. And it doesn’t add more confusion to your ecommerce processes: Shopify automatically tracks each order and pays wholesale suppliers for their inventory once your partner has shipped them. 

Considerations for choosing a small business wholesale supplier

There are a few key things to keep in mind when finding suppliers for small businesses.

Price

Price is a big one. You need to find a wholesaler who can sell goods at a price low enough so you can add a markup and still make sales at a profit.

Pricing considerations also include things like MOQs—a lower price per unit is only beneficial if you can also meet the supplier’s order minimums. 

Product range

When you use a marketplace, variety becomes less of an issue. Wholesale marketplaces have a range of suppliers to choose from, each with its own distinct products and branding.

When a wholesale supplier has all kinds of products, that can be a great opportunity for you to expand your own product offerings. Rather than starting the process all over again to find a supplier for your new product, you can use a supplier you already know and trust. 

On the other hand, if you want to niche down and specialize in quality products, it might be worth finding a supplier that does the same. If that’s the case, a diverse product range becomes less important—and quality should be one of your top priorities.

Location

Choosing a local distributor not only cuts down on shipping time and costs, it also avoids import taxes and duties. Plus, with a local distributor, there’s no risk of your shipment getting stuck at customs.

However, going local can also limit you, especially if you’re located in an area without many options. The best way to go here really depends on your location’s opportunities and how they align with your business’s needs.

Shipping policies

Free shipping is no longer just a bonus—it’s often something that retail customers have come to expect, and purchasing wholesale is no different. Some suppliers offer free shipping on all orders, on qualifying orders, or on no orders at all. This impacts the final price you pay, which will then impact your profit margin. You’ll also want to check out carrier and delivery time options.

Order minimums

It’s hard to come up with the capital needed to make a significant inventory investment. If the order minimum is too high for you to invest, consider reaching out and asking for samples. The same idea goes for order maximums—if you anticipate needing a large quantity, make sure they’re equipped to handle that market demand.

Reputation and reviews

As we mentioned before, it’s important to do your due diligence on suppliers before you hand over your credit card information. In addition to your own online research, don’t be afraid to ask for any business licenses and other documentation as proof of their legitimacy.

If you consider a combination of the above tips, and prioritize what’s most important to you at this stage in your business, you’re more likely to set yourself up for success when making wholesale supplier decisions.

Find wholesale suppliers for your business today

With so many options to choose from, it’s both easy to find a small business wholesale supplier and difficult to find a high-quality, reliable supplier. But it’s a necessary step: You can only open an online store once you have something to sell. 

Find a well-reviewed wholesaler who’s familiar with your niche, get a few samples, negotiate a price, and open that online store with confidence.