# Wholesale delivery costs



## Serenity (Apr 5, 2014)

Hi everyone. 

As a soapmaker who is starting to sell my soaps wholesale, who would normally pay the delivery cost of the soap - retailer or wholesaler? As the soap is very heavy it could become quite costly.

Thanks for your input.


----------



## Lindy (Apr 6, 2014)

My customers pay the shipping.  They know and expect to pay it just as we pay shipping from our suppliers.


----------



## DeeAnna (Apr 6, 2014)

My clients pay the shipping too, but technically it depends on the contract you have with your client. 

Probably the most common shipping agreement for small manufacturers is "FOB" aka "free on board". In North America, the use of FOB without any modifying terms generally means the customer pays the shipping cost from the ship point, wherever that is, to the customer's receiving point.

In my case, FOB means I deliver the goods for "free" to the post office or UPS pickup point and the customer pays from there on.

To be very specific about FOB, however, I would need to specify "FOB Postville, Iowa, USA" to be clear. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOB_(shipping)


----------



## Lindy (Apr 6, 2014)

Mine is FOB my loading dock.


----------



## DeeAnna (Apr 6, 2014)

There ya go!


----------



## Lindy (Apr 6, 2014)

Of course if I do have to take it to the post office it is gratis


----------



## Serenity (Apr 7, 2014)

Thank you awesome ladies!


----------



## kmarvel (Oct 31, 2014)

Lindy said:


> My customers pay the shipping. They know and expect to pay it just as we pay shipping from our suppliers.



I am glad I found this thread.  I am about to sell some of my soap to a seaside boutique shop with a wholesale price.  Now I know who pays shipping.    

 I have never sold wholesale, so what would be a fair price to sell wholesale?


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman (Oct 31, 2014)

Your costs x 2. There are other threads with more detail, but it's all of your costs x 2


----------



## dixiedragon (Oct 31, 2014)

You may want to ask your customers if they have an account with FedEx, UPS, etc. It may be cheaper for them if you use their number.


----------



## kmarvel (Oct 31, 2014)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> Your costs x 2. There are other threads with more detail, but it's all of your costs x 2



Sounds good.  Thank you, Sir.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!     :wave:


----------



## DeeAnna (Oct 31, 2014)

"...It may be cheaper for them if you use their number. ..."

Yes, it can be cheaper for the buyer... but I dislike doing it because it can be a royal pain in the derriere. I don't ever ask customers if they want 3rd party or recipient billing ... I'll do it only if they specifically request it. In general, if the customer isn't placing a decent sized order, it's soooo not worth it to me to spend the extra time to set this up. But that's just my experience; perhaps others have had better results.


----------



## wetshavingproducts (Nov 6, 2014)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> Your costs x 2. There are other threads with more detail, but it's all of your costs x 2



Don't forget to pay yourself a living wage in the costs. It's not worth doing if you're making less than McDonald's. At least they'll pay your self employment taxes.


----------



## seven (Nov 6, 2014)

what constitutes a wholesale? any minimum amount?


----------



## DeeAnna (Nov 6, 2014)

A wholesale account is someone who is going to meet some minimum amount that is set at a point that is cost effective enough that you can justify accepting a lower price for your product. What your minimum is may be different than someone else's. It depends on the size of your business, how your manufacturing system works, and whether it is cost effective to accept very small orders at wholesale pricing. The minimum for a small single-proprietor soaping business might be, say, one mold's worth of soap bars or at least $50 or $100 of merchandise. Or something like that.

A tip from my own experience is your minimum needs to be high enough to weed out the retail shoppers who are simply bargain hunting. If you don't, you will be doing a whole lot of retail sales and retail customer service and only getting wholesale pricing in return. That gets old really fast, let me tell ya. 

A wholesale account is usually someone who is going to re-sell your product to the public and is responsible for collecting the state sales tax. It's important to ensure your wholesaler customers are legitimate retailers, otherwise you need to be collecting sales tax from them. An exception to this general rule -- I sometimes sell at wholesale to non-profits or public institutions who are buying my products to give away as gifts or awards. I know it's probably going to be a one-time purchase, but if the quantity is high enough, it can be worth my while to do this.

Last but not least, a wholesale account is (hopefully) someone who will make repeat purchases to further justify selling to them at a lower wholesale cost. That doesn't always work out, but that's the goal.


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 7, 2014)

wetshavingproducts said:


> Don't forget to pay yourself a living wage in the costs. It's not worth doing if you're making less than McDonald's. At least they'll pay your self employment taxes.


 
True - that part is in "All of your costs" which is x2 or x4


----------



## Lindy (Nov 8, 2014)

For me wholesale is a minimum of $250 with a few exceptions.  So far it has worked for me.


----------

