How to buy wholesale clothing locally in the USA

Looking for a verified wholesale supplier but don’t know who to trust? 

This is where you will get the answer. 

But before that, let’s talk about the retail industry first. 

How big is the retail industry?

The US retail industry is huge, with retail sales reaching $7.38 trillion in 2024, and it’s growing at an average rate of 2% every year. This massive industry directly fuels the wholesale sector, which saw $7.8 trillion in annual revenue in 2023. 

With rising consumer demand, retailers are now actively seeking trustworthy wholesalers who offer the best prices and quality products and with whom they can build long-term relationships.

Until recently, retailers relied heavily on imports. But with rising duties from 10% to 49% on nearly all imports, bringing in products from outside the US has become increasingly challenging and costly.

So now the real question is: where can US retailers find verified wholesalers who are local, competitive, and aligned with their business needs?

The answer lies within the US itself. With many manufacturing companies moving operations back home, it’s time for the country to take pride once again in being “locally manufactured and sourced.” Thankfully, there are wholesale marketplaces right here in the USA filled with verified suppliers, ready to connect with retailers, distributors, and manufacturers. Below is a list of some of the top platforms to explore.

How to buy wholesale clothing

In this guide, we will find out;

• How to buy wholesale clothing – profitably and locally. 
• How can you find the best suppliers 
• Negotiate the best deals 
• And make long-term relationships with suppliers. 

No matter if you are starting an online store, a boutique, or looking for a supplier to resell, this practical guide will provide you with all the proven strategies used by successful retailers, including what not to do to avoid costly mistakes and how to source the best quality products from verified suppliers. 

What is wholesale clothing?

Wholesale clothing refers to selling clothes at 50-79% below the retail price. It’s a million-dollar industry where distributors and manufacturers sell clothes to resellers, retailers, or directly to consumers at reduced prices, providing significant profit margins to retailers when they sell to end consumers. 

Type of Wholesale Suppliers

As a retailer, you must understand the different types of suppliers to make sourcing decisions that you won’t regret later.

Based on the nature and niche of your business, you choose with whom you should go.

How to buy wholesale clothing step-by-step

Step 1: Define Your Target Market and Business Niche

Before you go to start your purchase, understand your own business first.

• What are your customer demographics?
• What are their preferences?
• What is their shopping behaviour?
• What are their triggers?

Once you get the answers to all these questions, move to the next step. 

• What should be my product quality?
• What pricing will suit my audience?
• How much initial inventory do I get based on market research? To align it with market demand

Once you get all the above answers, you can successfully move to step 2.

Step 2: Research and Identify Reliable Suppliers

In the second step, you will evaluate potential partners on the criteria of ;

• How good is the product quality
• What’s their pricing structure
• What is their MOQ (Minimum order quantity)
• What are their shipping capabilities

Based on these criteria, you will shortlist 3 to 5 suppliers to ensure you can maintain consistent inventory with short lead times and experience competitive pricing options. More suppliers mean that if one fails to deliver the inventory on time for any reason, you still have a backup plan. Additionally, you can choose who to build a long-term relationship with based on factors like lead times, quality, and consistency.

Step 3: Request Samples and Evaluate Quality

After selecting the suppliers, you won’t punch your whole order in the first meeting. Instead, you will request physical samples from your selected suppliers to avoid wasting money on large inventories.

Based on the supplier’s promises about quality, services, and pricing, you evaluate the material quality and construction details to make sure you get what aligns with the standard you set for your brand.

Step 4: Negotiate Terms and Finalize Agreements

Lastly, you will negotiate terms and finalize your agreement.

• What will be the pricing that works for both
• Payment terms 
• MOQs
• Shipping agreement 

Buyers who purchase in large quantities make long-term deals to get better prices while ensuring quality remains high.

Top Online marketplaces to buy wholesale clothing

B2B Wholesale Marketplaces

Faire 

Faire is a leading wholesale marketplace that connects retailers with verified 100,000 + suppliers. It offers a net 60-day payment term and a simple ordering process.

Alibaba 

Alibaba is another wholesale marketplace with global access to suppliers, mostly from Asia. Alibaba has over 200,000 suppliers but requires careful supplier vetting, which you can do with the platform’s verification program or through your own due diligence. 

Wholesale7 

Wholesale7 works with US, South America, and Asia manufacturers, offering quality checks and packing services.

This platform focuses on fast fashion and boutique clothing, helping over 20,000 retailers worldwide. There are no minimum order requirements, and shipping is free for orders over $8,99. 

Seebiz.com 

Seebiz is a B2B wholesale marketplace that connects retailers with reliable U.S. suppliers. It makes sourcing easy and efficient, and unlike many platforms, it doesn’t charge commission fees, helping businesses keep more profits. 

From unique fashion items to everyday essentials, retailers can find various products for their stores. 

Apart from the marketplace, it also offers an inventory management tool to manage your inventory across multiple vendors in one place. 

How to buy wholesale clothing for different business types

How to buy wholesale clothing for boutiques

Boutique owners don’t shop at random places because they want to differentiate themselves from competitors. For this purpose, they look for exceptional, high-quality items that set their stores apart from larger retailers. For successful boutique purchasing, you must build strong relationships with suppliers who provide exclusive or limited items, allowing for better profits and customer loyalty through unique selections.

How to buy wholesale clothing for resale operations

Resale businesses are a type of store or company that focuses on buying items and selling them to customers for a profit. 

Here are the main aspects of how they operate:

1- Priority on fast-selling products 

Resale businesses prioritize purchasing items that are in high demand and sell quickly. This is important for maintaining cash flow and ensuring that their investment in products pays off rapidly.

2- Bulk buying 

They often buy items in larger quantities, also known as bulk buying. This strategy helps them get better prices and ensures they have enough inventory to meet customer demand without running out of stock.

How to buy wholesale products for an online store 

Online stores operate in two ways;

• Either they buy products beforehand and keep the inventory
• Or they look for dropshippers, which allow retailers to sell products without keeping them in stock.

Which means when a customer places an order, the retailer purchases the item from the supplier, who then ships it directly to the customer. 

Retailers also request detailed product information and high-quality images from suppliers to attract customers.

Successful online retailers often use a mix of wholesale buying and dropshipping. Wholesale purchasing involves buying large quantities of products at a lower price, which can increase profit margins. By combining these two methods, retailers can better manage their inventory investments, reducing the costs of unsold goods, while still offering a diverse range of products to their customers.

Maximize your profits by choosing the right pricing method

What is wholesale pricing and pricing structure

Wholesale prices are the costs that retailers pay to buy products in bulk. These prices usually make up about 40% to 60% of the prices that customers see in stores (suggested retail prices).  

To figure out how profitable a product truly is, successful retailers do more than just look at wholesale prices. They consider all the extra costs they face when getting the product to their store. 

• Shipping fees (how much it costs to transport goods)
• Duties (taxes paid on imported goods) 
• Handling fees (costs for preparing and processing the products). 

All these extra costs are grouped together to find what’s known as the total landed cost. 

Most retail clothing brands aim for 30-50% of wholesale profit margins. 

You can calculate your wholesale profit margin using this calculator.

Some small-scale or boutique retailers usually target a markup ratio between 2.2 and 2.5 times the total landed cost of their products. This means that if a product costs $10 to bring to the store (including all extra costs), they might sell it for between $22 and $25.  

By keeping this markup, boutique retailers can cover their costs and remain profitable while competing with larger retailers.

People have different opinions about markups. How much cost should a retailer associate with an item? One Quora contributor shared his experience.  

Wholesale Pricing Methods

While setting your retail price against the wholesale cost you bear, you can use different pricing methods to set yours.

1- Keystone pricing formula

This method involves setting the retail price at double the wholesale price. That means the retail price you set is a markup itself.

Keystone Price = Wholesale Price / (1 – Markup Percentage) 

In this method, you don’t usually include overhead (additional/variable) cost. 

Source

2- Absorption pricing method

As its name suggests, you include all the additional costs (wholesale fixed price + profit margin) and determine your retail price using this method.

Wholesale Price = Cost Price + Profit Margin

That method is considered more profitable when you factor in all the costs, such as shipping, fluctuations, perceived value, demand, etc., and set the final retail price. 

Source

3- Differentiated pricing method

In this method, you sell items at different prices to different buyers based on factors like demand and season. Therefore, this is also known as demand pricing. For example, if it’s the Christmas season, you can earn a high markup on Christmas clothing due to higher demand. 

With this pricing, you can achieve higher ROI based on product demand.

Negotiation with your suppliers for better pricing

Before you negotiate with the supplier and stick to it, do your market research first. 

• Understand market pricing
• Set your budget
• And know your needs about what you exactly want

Then go negotiate with suppliers.

➡ Talk to multiple suppliers

➡ Research pricing

➡ Set your pricing strategy/method

➡ Get to know your supplier

➡ Think like a supplier

➡ Build collaborative relationships

➡ Negotiate terms

➡ Understand the mutual interests

➡ Bargain your pricing

➡ If everything goes smoothly – seal the deal

➡ If not – move to the next supplier

Legal Considerations and Business Requirements

Business registration and tax requirements

To buy wholesale, you need a valid business registration and tax ID. Most legitimate wholesale suppliers check these credentials before setting up accounts, ensuring both sides are protected in transactions.

Import regulations and compliance

International sourcing includes customs regulations, duty calculations, and compliance requirements. To facilitate cross-border transactions, importers collaborate with customs brokers and maintain detailed documentation.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Buying Wholesale

Not doing proper market research

Many new retailers buy inventory based on what they like instead of what customers want. Successful businesses focus on customer research and sales data to make smarter buying choices and reduce unsold stock.

Bad supplier vetting

Working with unverified suppliers can lead to problems like poor quality, late deliveries, and financial losses. Experienced buyers check supplier credentials, ask for references, and make small orders first before ordering bigger quantities.

To prevent such scenarios, look for platforms with verified supplier badges.

Poor inventory management

Keeping too much stock of items that don’t sell slows down cash flow, while not having enough of popular products means lost sales. Good inventory management finds the right balance between investment and turnover rates to maximize profits.

For this, use an inventory management tool to track stock levels and automate reordering across multiple suppliers. 

Conclusion

Before you go shopping for whole items, always make sure to do proper research. Without knowing your market, you might make decisions that ultimately lead to failure or loss. 

If you are looking for trusted and verified wholesale suppliers in the USA, go check out Seebiz B2B wholesale marketplace.