Maileen,

No matter what type products you try to wholesale, you'll be competing against companies who have been around since the particular product gained acceptance.

In many cases, there are jobbers who are in between the manufacturers and the wholesalers. You'd have to do business with the jobber, as they have contracts protecting their business. At the same time, they have contracts they sign with the wholesalers who buy from them.

As an outsider, the established wholesalers will make you about as welcome as a fox in a hen house. Don't expect the jobbers to agree to dropship for you, when they already have wholesalers doing more volume in a month, then you could hope to do in a year.

Everyone is protective of their territory, and wholesalers who only make a marginal profit aren't going to give up ground easily.

There may be some situations where you could get into wholesaling/dropshipping, but it will probably involve niche markets, i.e., you'll accept smaller orders than their present supplier. If they buy from a jobber, their minimum order may be the jobber's minimum, so you couldn't expect the jobber to dropship a smaller quantity for you, than they do for their established accounts.

In addition, the established wholesalers may get a volume discount that wouldn't be available to you as a start-up.

I know much of this as I'm in a specialized business that involves the type of transaction you are hoping to do. The difference is that my industry is promotional advertising. The company I am affiliated with places my customer's orders with Bic, Nike, Titleist, Jerzees, Swiss Army, Totes, Case, Fossil, and thousands of other suppliers you wouldn't know. The supplier than decorates their product with my customer's name & logo, and dropships the finished product to my client's designated location.

I earn great commissions, without having to pre-pay for merchandise, stock inventory, or handle sales tax collections and reports to the various states, cities, and counties where I ship the orders. I don't even have to do billing or collections, as it is taken care of by the company I am affiliated with.

Kaeser and Blair is currently handling over $75 Million worth of orders annually, so my orders receive the volume discounts as part of their total.

Good luck in finding wholesale sources, but don't be surprised if you discover very feww sources who will accept your orders and handle the dropshipment for you.

You might want to visit your local Economic Development Office, SCORE, or other business assistance center.

Dennis