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Fleeced, ripped-off, cheated, conned. We're all afraid of losing money
to wholesalers who turn out not to be the real deal. The horror stories can
certainly be very off putting - especially to those just getting started. The
trick is to spot it and stop it before it's too late!
So what are signs that you're dealing with a crook?
In our experience, there are 6 particular indications that you may not be dealing with a legitimate
wholesaler:
- The wholesaler doesn't sound business-like or professional when answering the phone. For
example, he will answer with a plain 'Yes?' or 'Hello?', without
identifying himself or the business name.
- The wholesaler doesn't request your business license or sales tax ID during the initial
contacts. Most true wholesalers will require one of these. While this is not a hugely important
deal, if you are looking at dealing in large amounts you will need to get registered and
should check that the wholesaler is registered as well.
- The wholesaler gets shifty when you request a product sample. Most wholesaler are only
to happy to offer a sample of their product (usually at a higher price) so if they do not
offer this be careful and question their reasons for not offering one.
- The wholesaler's claims to take a secure form of payment (credit card, Paypal etc...)
but later turns around and says they only accept wire transfer or western union. Not all
wholesalers that take western union and wire transfer are scammers, but this is the most
common way scammers operate and you should always steer on the side of caution if you are
asked to pay be these methods when not having dealt with or knowing the person first.
- Their website offers no physical address or contact phone for you to get hold of them.
Be blunt, ask them for a contact address and phone number and if it is ok if you come in
and have a look around their offices. If they are serious this will be no problem at all
for them.
- They claim they don't currently have stock in and still expect you to pay up front.
If this has been happening make sure you get some photographic evidence of their stock with
the days newspaper or something (while this doesn't always work, it means some one
must have stock that they know
Although these are not hard and fast rules, you should certainly proceed with caution if one
or more of the above apply to a new wholesale contact you have made. If
you have any tips to add or past experiences then we'd love to hear from you. Your experience
is valuable to the SaleHoo
community and I'm sure others would appreciate your comments.
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