If you are new to the world of business, or selling merchandise, you may be wondering what the difference between buying wholesale and purchasing at discount is. These two terms are often and easily confused. There is a reason for this, one that I will explain shortly.

To understand the concept it is absolutely crucial to understand that all retailers find their goods from somewhere, and in general, they will markup the cost of that product 100%. That means if they purchase an item for $10, they will be selling it in their store for $20.

When a regular store has a sale, they will discount between 20-40% of the selling price, meaning that the minimum they will sell the product for will be $12, so they are still making a profit from the price that the item was purchased at. The only exception to this rule is when there is a liquidation sale, or a store is trying to shift hard to sell stock, in order to get some return on their investment.

As you can see, even if you are purchasing at discount from a retail store, it is still possible to purchase goods at a cheaper price by using wholesaler sources.

This means that if you are someone who is finds goods to resell in places like eBay or Craigslist, at markets or in classified ads, if you are not buying your items from a wholesale source, you are not getting the best deal to maximize your profit.

Additionally, when you buy in bulk from a wholesaler source, they are very likely to give you further discount based on quantity, giving you added margin for profit. It is easy to believe that the longer you and your wholesaler source are in business together, the more and more successful both of you will be.