Wholesaling can be incredibly rewarding. However, when you’re first starting out, it’s important to carefully consider what wholesale items to sell. After all, your goal is to run a profitable wholesale business, right?
The good news is that you have various options to choose from that can result in substantial sales. Learning about the most lucrative wholesale items to sell can help you narrow down a handful of key business decisions and establish a model that is most likely to bring in revenue.
In this post, we’ll discuss important factors to consider when choosing wholesale products to sell. Then, we’ll list ten of the most income-generating wholesale products and explain what makes them so effective.
So let’s get started!
How To Determine The Best Wholesale Items To Sell
The products you decide to sell through your wholesale business can have a significant influence on your success. To earn the most revenue possible, careful research and consideration are necessary.
There are a handful of factors that you should take into account when determining the best wholesale items to sell.
Here are some key areas to consider:
- Profit margins: Profitability refers to how much money you make from selling a product. The higher the profit margin, the more money each sale will make.
- Seasonality: Seasonality means that some products are only in demand at certain times of the year. While some products sell well year-round, others do best during specific months or seasons.
- Competition: This is how many other sellers are offering similar products. While a market may be expansive and continuously growing, it’s important to consider how many other brands and companies you’ll be competing with. However, you can also look at what others are offering to set your pricing competitively lower.
- Size and weight: The size and weight of your products affect how much it costs to ship them, which, in turn, affects your bottom line. These two factors can also influence how much inventory space your products take up, which can contribute to your warehousing and storage expenses.
- Chances of reordering: Sellability refers to how likely customers are to buy a product again after they’ve already purchased it once. For example, while electronics are in high demand, they may not often be reordered. On the other hand, products with expiration dates, such as beauty items and cosmetics, are often reordered.
These are just a few of the factors you need to consider when deciding which wholesale products to sell. Once you understand their nuances, you’ll be better positioned to create a profitable wholesale business.
10 Most Profitable Wholesale Items To Sell
Now that we understand the importance of considering which wholesale products to sell, let’s take a look at some ideas to get you started. Below are 10 products that are most likely to transform your enterprise into a profitable wholesale business!
1. Clothing and apparel
There are a few key reasons why selling clothing and apparel can be profitable for wholesale businesses. For one thing, the global apparel market is huge and growing. In fact, it’s estimated to be worth $1.3 trillion – a number that’s expected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025.
For another, clothing and apparel are generally low-cost items. For example, if you sell t-shirts for $10 each and have a profit margin of 50 percent, you would only need to sell 10 t-shirts per day to make $500 in profit.
2. Luxury and designer items
There are a few reasons why luxury and designer products are amazing wholesale products to sell. For one, there is often less competition in the market for these items.
Additionally, luxury and designer items often have a high profit margin, meaning you can make more money per sale. Many people are willing to pay a premium for luxury and designer goods, so there is often a strong demand for these products, even during tough economic times.
However, there are also some drawbacks to selling luxury and designer goods. One challenge is that these products can be expensive to purchase in bulk. This means that businesses need to have a strong financial foundation in order to be successful in selling these items.
Additionally, luxury and designer items are often seasonal. Demand for them can fluctuate depending on the time of year, so it’s important to be aware of these fluctuations and plan accordingly.
3. Jewelry
Jewelry is a timeless product that will always be in demand, making it one of the best wholesale products to sell. It can be very expensive, so selling it at a discount can still result in a high profit margin.
It’s also not seasonal, meaning you can sell it year-round. It makes for an excellent gift, and you won’t have to worry much about the size and weight. Typically, these items won’t take up a lot of inventory space.
On the other hand, jewelry can be highly competitive. However, there are so many subcategories and niches that make selling these products for profit possible.
Jewelry also has a high markup potential. Wholesale businesses can charge a much higher price for jewelry than they could for other products.
4. Electronics
The global electronics industry is worth an estimated $2 trillion, making it one of the largest industries in the world. There are several reasons why selling electronic items is a good idea for establishing a profitable wholesale business.
With high markups, these products let you make a decent profit from each sale. Also, in this digital-first environment, there is a high demand for electronic items. People are constantly upgrading their phones, laptops, and other devices, meaning there is a constant need for new electronic products.
Third, competition in the electronics industry is relatively low. There are a few large companies that dominate the market, but there are also many small businesses.
Finally, electronic items tend to have a long shelf life. This means that you can buy them in bulk and store them until they are needed, without having to worry about them going out of style or becoming obsolete.
5. Beauty and self-care products
If you want to run a profitable wholesale business, selling beauty products is one promising industry to venture into. For starters, the global beauty industry is worth an estimated $532 billion, and it’s growing. This provides plenty of opportunities for businesses to get in on the action and make a profit.
There are several other reasons why beauty and self-care products are some of the best wholesale products to sell. Beauty and self-care products are generally high-margin items. For example, the average markup on cosmetics is 78 percent.
The beauty industry is relatively fragmented, with many small businesses competing against each other. This provides an opportunity for smaller businesses to gain market share by offering competitive prices.
Beauty products are also profitable wholesale products because it’s easy to communicate their benefits. Plus, you can easily package and ship them and there’s a plethora of sub-niches you can enter.
6. Pet Supplies
There are many benefits to wholesale businesses selling pet supplies. One of the most important is that it can be a very profitable venture. As with the other wholesale products to sell on this list, they’re always in demand, and there is a large market for them.
Competition is relatively low, and there are often opportunities to sell in bulk or at a discount. Seasonality is not usually an issue with pet supplies. and they’re generally easy to store and transport, making them ideal for wholesalers.
7. Footwear
Footwear makes it to the list of the most profitable wholesale items to sell. It’s a staple in everyone’s wardrobe, which means you won’t need to worry about demand.
What’s more, there are a variety of footwear options you can choose from, giving you the freedom to choose the niche you want to serve. For instance, you can create a profitable wholesale business that specialize in athletic shoes for fitness enthusiasts or cater to specific demographics such as children’s footwear.
This industry also boasts high profit margins, especially if you carry brands with strong reputations. Customers are often willing to invest in quality footwear, giving wholesalers more opportunities to capitalize on consumer preferences and boost revenue.
According to industry statistics, the footwear industry is continuously growing, with estimated revenues reaching up to $412.9 billion in 2024. Overall, this presents a lucrative opportunity for wholesale store owners.
8. Sports equipment and activewear
With the ever-growing popularity of fitness and wellness trends, there’s no better time to invest in sports equipment and activewear products. More and more individuals seek athletic gear and apparel to support their lifestyle changes and health pursuits.
Much like most items on this list, this niche also allows you to serve diverse market segments. For example, you can cater to retailers specializing in outdoor sports gear for adventurers, boutique fitness studios in need of trendy activewear, or even school sports teams requiring bulk orders of athletic equipment. There are countless possibilities to explore in this industry, making it part of our list of the best wholesale items to sell.
9. Home decor
The home decor industry is projected to grow at an impressive rate of 3.89% annually, reaching $949 billion in revenue by 2032. This industry encompasses a wide range of products, making it a lucrative niche in the wholesale industry. It also has a broad appeal across different demographic segments, from young professionals, to gift shoppers and families upgrading their living spaces.
Another opportunity this market offers is the seasonality of its products. In addition to year-round essentials, home decor includes seasonal decorations, such as holiday-themed items, seasonal accents, and items tailored for special occasions like parties and weddings. This demand makes them one of the most promising wholesale items to sell.
10. Health supplements
According to a recent study, more people are taking greater control of their health as a result of the global pandemic. As more individuals become proactive about their health and lifestyle, they are more inclined to seek out supplements to complement their diet and address their health concerns. This makes vitamins, health supplements, and other wellness items one of the best wholesale products to sell.
Thankfully, launching a profitable wholesale business and reaching a global audience of health-conscious consumers has never been easier. With online platforms like WooCommerce, you can showcase your inventory of health supplements and effortlessly attract customers through targeted advertising.
Launch Your Wholesale Business Using Wholesale Suite
Our comprehensive list of the best wholesale items to sell gives the best product choices so you can finally venture into wholesaling. After you’ve chosen your niche, it’s time to take action and launch your profitable wholesale business!
Wholesale Suite, our all-in-one WooCommerce solution can help you do just that! It features four powerful plugins to effortlessly transform your WooCommerce store into a profitable wholesale hub:
- Wholesale Prices Premium lets you set wholesale prices on your products, set bulk discounts, implement minimum order quantities, and more!
- With Wholesale Order Form, you can create bulk order forms to streamline wholesale orders and give B2B buyers a seamless purchase experience.
- Capture potential wholesale leads effortlessly with Wholesale Lead Capture. This powerful plugin creates a user-friendly registration form for WooCommerce, allowing you to collect important information from customers from the get-go.
- Wholesale Payments allows you to offer flexible payment terms and create custom payment plans to cater to the needs of your wholesale buyers.
With Wholesale Suite, you can launch your WooCommerce wholesale venture and build a profitable wholesale business effortlessly!
Conclusion
As we discussed in this post, the most profitable wholesale items to sell are those that have high profit margins, low competition, and high chances of reordering. Thankfully, there are many products that you can sell to build a profitable wholesale business. Some of the most popular and lucrative include:
- Clothing and apparel
- Luxury and designer items
- Jewelry
- Electronics
- Beauty and self-care products
- Pet supplies
- Footwear
- Sports equipment and activewear
- Home Decor
- Health supplements
Do you need help building and managing a profitable wholesale business? Download Wholesale Suite today to get started!
I’m starting a wholesale can food business in food desert area
Love it Nelton~!
Thanks. Well communicated
Thanks for stopping by Sebastian :)