How To Start Selling Wholesale Online? (In 2026)

Key Takeaways

• Selling wholesale online means selling products in bulk to retailers, resellers, distributors, or other businesses instead of individual consumers.
• A wholesale business usually works with lower per-unit prices, larger order quantities, custom pricing, minimum order rules, and longer buyer relationships.
• You can sell wholesale through marketplaces like Faire, Amazon Business, and Alibaba, or build your own wholesale store on platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Magento.
• Marketplaces can help you reach buyers faster, but your own website gives you more control over branding, customer data, pricing, margins, and repeat orders.
• To start selling wholesale online, you need to choose products, set up legal and tax basics, source from reliable suppliers, choose your platform, create wholesale pricing, enable bulk ordering, and set up payment terms.
• Shopify now supports more native B2B features, but many stores still use wholesale apps when they need more flexible pricing, customer groups, order forms, net terms, or custom workflows.
• A good wholesale store should make it easy for buyers to see their pricing, place large orders, reorder quickly, and understand payment and shipping terms.

Starting a wholesale business online in 2026 can be a strong opportunity for brands, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers who want to sell in larger order volumes.

Unlike regular retail, wholesale is not just about getting one customer to buy one product. It is about building relationships with business buyers who may place repeat orders, buy in bulk, and expect different pricing, payment terms, and ordering options.

In this guide, we will cover what a wholesale business is, how wholesale is different from retail, whether you should sell on a marketplace or your own website, and the main steps to start selling wholesale online.

Understanding the Wholesale Business Model

The wholesale business model is about selling products in larger quantities to retailers, resellers, distributors, or other businesses. These buyers usually purchase products in bulk and then resell them, use them in their own business, or distribute them further.

Unlike retail, where customers buy one or a few products for personal use, wholesale usually involves lower per-unit prices and higher order quantities. This allows wholesalers to generate revenue from larger order values, repeat purchases, and long-term business relationships.

Wholesale is also becoming more digital. More business buyers now expect online catalogs, custom pricing, bulk ordering, account-based access, and flexible payment terms. This is one reason why many wholesale businesses are moving from manual ordering and spreadsheets to ecommerce platforms.

How is selling wholesale online different from selling retail online?

The main difference is the buyer.

Retail means selling directly to individual customers. Wholesale means selling to businesses that usually buy in larger quantities and may need different pricing, payment terms, order rules, and product access.

Here is a simple comparison:

This is why a wholesale store usually needs more than a normal ecommerce setup. You may need customer-specific pricing, minimum order quantities, bulk order forms, payment terms, custom shipping rules, and restricted product access

Read Also

• B2B Wholesale – The Ultimate Guide
• How To Buy Wholesale Products to Resell on Your Shopify? [6 Easy Steps]

Ways to start selling wholesale online: Marketplace vs your own website

When you start selling wholesale online, one of the first decisions is where you want to sell.

You can either list your products on wholesale marketplaces or build your own e-commerce website. Both options can work, but they are very different in terms of control, margins, buyer ownership, and long-term growth.

Selling wholesale on Marketplace

Wholesale marketplaces like Faire, Alibaba, Amazon Business, and other B2B marketplaces can help you reach buyers who are already looking for wholesale products.

They are useful when you want faster discovery and do not want to build traffic from scratch.

Advantages

• Existing buyer traffic – Marketplaces already have business buyers searching for products.
• Faster setup – You can usually create a seller account and upload products without building a full website.
• Trust factor – Buyers may feel more comfortable ordering through a known marketplace.
• Payment processing – Marketplaces usually handle payment collection and some buyer protection.
• Good for early testing – You can test whether buyers are interested in your products before investing heavily in your own site.

Disadvantages

• Marketplace fees – You may pay commissions, listing fees, or other platform charges.
• Less control over branding – Your products appear inside the marketplace experience, not your own brand experience.
• More competition – Buyers can compare you directly with similar sellers.
• Limited customer ownership – You may not get full control over buyer data, remarketing, or long-term communication.
• Platform dependency – Changes in marketplace rules, fees, or rankings can affect your sales.

Selling wholesale on your own site

Building your own wholesale website gives you more control over the full buying experience. It takes more effort than joining a marketplace, but it can be better for long-term brand building, repeat orders, and customer relationships.

Advantages

• Full branding control – You can create a buying experience that feels like your brand.
• Better margins – You avoid marketplace commissions and can keep more of your revenue.
• Direct customer relationships – You own the buyer relationship, email list, and customer data.
• More pricing flexibility – You can create custom pricing, volume discounts, customer groups, and private catalogs.
• Better repeat ordering – You can make it easy for buyers to log in, reorder, and manage their wholesale account.
• Long-term SEO value – Your website can build organic traffic over time.

Disadvantages

1. You need to drive traffic – SEO, ads, email, partnerships, and outreach become your responsibility.
2. More setup work – You need to set up products, pricing, payments, shipping, forms, and buyer access.
3. Technical maintenance – You need to manage your ecommerce platform, apps, and website updates.
4. More operational ownership – You handle buyer communication, payment workflows, and wholesale policies yourself.

For many wholesale brands, the best approach is not either/or. You can use marketplaces for discovery and your own website for long-term buyer relationships, better margins, and repeat ordering.

8 steps to start a wholesale business online

1. Find the best wholesale products to sell online

The first step is to conduct market research and find out the best wholesale products to sell online which have high demand, easy sourcing processes, low maintenance inventory processes, and high-profit margins.

You can use tools like Google Trends and other e-commerce reports to understand the products that are in high demand and have good profit margins to ensure more sales for your store.

Try to look for products that solve common problems, cater to specific interests, or are everyday essentials, as this will ensure that the demand is consistent irrespective of changing market conditions.

2. Set up the legal and tax basics

The next step is to understand the legalities and set up the business correctly as per its category. Different regions will have different business types, such as sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and private limited company.

Choose the structure that best fits your business model. Once selected, you have to then register your business with the appropriate government authorities, choose a business name, complete necessary paperwork, etc.

Additionally, you need to ensure that you comply with all tax obligations and e-commerce regulations in your region. This includes understanding your income tax, sales tax, VAT, GST, etc. You will also need to set up a consumer privacy policy and shopping terms and conditions for your business.

3. Source products from reliable manufacturers or suppliers

Research and connect with suppliers or manufacturers to source the products that you want to sell. You can choose products from sourcing websites like AliExpress, Alibaba, DHgate, etc. Stores in the United States can use platforms like United States Wholesale to find wholesalers and product manufacturers.

Before committing, ensure that you thoroughly vet suppliers by checking reviews, requesting samples, and verifying their business credentials. Also, try to find multiple suppliers and negotiate the sourcing price of the products. Also set up clear agreement terms, including minimum order quantities, delivery schedules, and payment terms to ensure that things run smoothly for both you and the supplier.

4. Choose where you want to sell

Next, decide whether you want to sell through a marketplace, your own website, or both.

A marketplace can help you reach buyers faster, but it may come with fees, competition, and less control over buyer relationships.

Your own website gives you more control over pricing, branding, buyer data, and repeat ordering. However, you will need to invest in marketing, SEO, email, ads, and customer acquisition.

If you are serious about building a long-term wholesale channel, your own website is usually worth considering because it gives you more control over the complete buying experience.

5. Set your wholesale pricing strategy

Unlike B2C selling where generally there is standard pricing for all the customers, in wholesale or B2B selling, you have to set up customised pricing for different customers and offer deals like combining discounts, volume discounts, tiered pricing, and more.
If you are not sure how to structure larger order discounts, it helps to first understand how to set up MOQ and volume discounts so your pricing rules are clear for both your team and your buyers.

6. Install Wholesale Pricing Discount B2B on Shopify

Shopify is one of the most powerful platforms today to sell wholesale online. Moreover, using apps like Wholesale Pricing Discount available on the Shopify app store, users can create customised pricing and discounts, offer bulk discounts, create wholesale sign-up form, offer net payment terms, set up advanced shipping rates and more.

Plus, the app now allows you to take your wholesale business global by its recently launched Global Plan. Using the global plan, you can start selling B2B to customers beyond your geography without worrying about the associated operations headaches as the app takes care of most of it.

7. Enable bulk ordering on your store

When you are selling wholesale online on your store,  you need to ensure that your customers find it super convenient to order products in bulk quantities from you. You can enable this by incorporating a bulk order form in your store.

If buyers regularly place large orders, it is worth looking at some quick order form apps so they can order faster without moving between multiple product pages.

Not having a bulk order form will require customers to manually go and add products one by one. This process can be super frustrating it involves a lot of back-and-forth movement between pages selecting products and their quantities. A bulk-order form provides a seamless shopping experience for bulk buyers.

8. Set up net payment terms

When you sell wholesale in your store, you have to set up and provide flexible payment terms to your customers. This is done by offering net payment terms like Net 30, 60, and 90, meaning customers can pay for the order in a set time frame in future. Offering net terms helps both the wholesaler and the retailer to maintain a healthy cash flow in their business.

Wholesale website features you need

A wholesale website needs more than a normal product page and checkout.

Here are some important features to consider:

You do not need every feature on day one. Start with the basics: wholesale pricing, buyer approval, minimum order rules, and a simple bulk ordering flow. Then improve the experience as your wholesale channel grows.

Best platforms to create a wholesale website in 2026

If you want more control and choose to create your own store for selling wholesale online, below we will discuss some of the best platforms for you to choose from.

1. Shopify– Shopify is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms for building an online store. It is easy to use, has a large app ecosystem, and can support both B2C and B2B selling.
   Shopify is also strong because of its app ecosystem. If your store needs advanced pricing rules, customer groups, wholesale signup forms, product visibility controls, bulk order forms, or custom B2B workflows, you can use apps to build the wholesale experience you need.
   Shopify is a good fit for brands that want a simple ecommerce setup, flexible apps, and the option to sell retail and wholesale from the same store.
   
   
   
   
2. WooCommerce– WooCommerce is a good option if your website is already built on WordPress. It gives you a lot of flexibility through plugins and themes.
   
   It can be cost-effective, but it usually needs more technical setup and ongoing maintenance compared to Shopify. If you want full control and already have WordPress experience, WooCommerce can be a good choice.
   
   
   
3. BigCommerce – BigCommerce is known for its pre-existing B2B functionalities, API capabilities, and strong SEO tools. A lot of big e-commerce businesses have been built and scaled on BigCommerce.  However, compared to Shopify, it’s a little tricky to understand and get started with.
   
   
   
   
4. Magento Commerce – Magento Commerce is a platform by Adobe which is a highly customizable e-commerce platform. Magento is suitable for large-scale wholesale businesses. It offers a good number of B2B features, multi-store management, and solid SEO features. While it provides extensive functionality it also requires good technical knowledge to make the most out of the platform.
   
   

Summing up

To do it well, you need more than a basic online store. You need the right products, reliable suppliers, clear pricing, minimum order rules, bulk ordering, payment terms, shipping policies, and a simple buying experience for business customers.

You can start with a wholesale marketplace, build your own ecommerce website, or use both. If you build your own store on Shopify, you can use native B2B features, wholesale apps, or a mix of both depending on how complex your wholesale setup is.

The best approach is to start simple, make ordering easy for buyers, and improve your wholesale setup as your customer base grows.

Frequently Asked Questions