Is Wholesale Right for My Handmade Business? All the Deets for Artists and Crafters!

Is Wholesale Right for My Handmade Business?

The down-and-dirty realities of wholesale (from someone actually doing it)

Wholesale gets hyped a lot in the handmade world.

It’s often framed as the magic next step:

• Bigger orders

• More legitimacy

• Less time selling, more time creating

• Passive income vibes ✨ (is anything really passive with handmade?)

And listen — wholesale can be amazing.

But it is not a shortcut, and it’s definitely not right for everyone at every stage. I’ve been doing wholesale since 2023 alongside pop-ups, markets, and online sales, and I want to be honest about what it really looks like — especially if you’re a handmade business like mine. I started my Faire catalog when I got COVID for the 2nd time and was quarantined in my Nephew’s bunk bed room for 7 days.

Want to apply to Faire? Check it out:

What wholesale actually means (not the Instagram version)

Wholesale means selling your products to shops at about 50% of retail, so they can sell it in their store at full price. Important note: Faire and Wholesale reps take an ADDITIONAL 15% off the top. So you would be making about 35% of what you would selling retail. Why would anyone do this? Keep reading….

In real terms, that means:

• You make less per item

• You rely on volume to make it worthwhile

• Your pricing, processes, and time management matter a lot

Wholesale is a business model shift — not just “selling more.”

Pros vs Cons, let’s start with the Pros:

1. Larger orders, fewer transactions

Instead of selling 1–2 items at a time, you might ship 24, 48, or 100+ items in one order.

That can mean:

• Less customer service back-and-forth

• Fewer individual shipments (for anyone who has sold a ton on line or Etsy during the holidays, they know the pain of 50 packages being shipped in 1 night)

• More predictable revenue when it’s working

2. Your work lives in cool places

Seeing your handmade work:

• in national park gift shops (I wish, these are super hard to get into- more to come on that someday)

• supporting other small businesses

• in boutiques across the country

3. Repeat buyers (eventually)

Good wholesale accounts reorder.

It might take:

• months

• a tourist season

• or a full year

…but once a shop finds a product that sells well, those reorders can become the backbone of your business.

Now the part people don’t love to talk about— The Cons!!

1. Your margins will feel tight — sometimes painfully tight

If you don’t know your true costs, wholesale will expose that fast.

You have to account for:

• materials

• packaging

• labor

• fees (Faire, credit cards, platforms)

• mistakes, losses, and learning curves

If you’re already underpricing at retail, wholesale will not magically fix that.

2. You work a lot upfront

Wholesale is front-loaded labor.

You often:

• produce a large order

• buy materials in bulk

• ship it all at once

…and then wait.

Payment terms can mean:

• Net 30 (you don’t get paid for 30 days)

• platform delays

• slow reorders

It’s not instant cash.

3. You don’t control the final customer experience

Once your product is in a shop:

• you don’t control how it’s displayed

• you don’t control pricing consistency

• you don’t control whether staff understands the story

You have to be okay letting go a little. I have found that many artists have a hard time letting go of the control of their work. They become attached to it and can’t handle someone else’s vision or ideas about it. That’s okay. Just important to work on setting boundaries and not taking this personal. Letting go of control can be very freeing in all aspects of life!

4. Not every shop is a dream account

Some stores:

• order once and never reorder (in my experience on Faire, this is about 65-75% of accounts never order again)

• disappear without explanation (maybe their shop closed, they ghost your emails, who knows)

• don’t pay attention to sell-through

Wholesale includes rejection and ghosting — even when your work is good.

What makes wholesale work for me

Wholesale works for my handmade business because of a few very specific things:

• My products are small, giftable, and easy to display

• I can batch-produce without losing the handmade feel

• My designs are location-specific (parks, places, travel)

• Tourist shops rely on repeat foot traffic

• I still do pop-ups and direct sales to balance cash flow

Wholesale is part of my business, not the whole thing. If you recently saw my revenue pie chart on Instagram, you’ll know that Wholesale was about 21% of my total revenue, so a big part, but not the biggest part.

Signs wholesale might be right for you

Wholesale could be a good fit if:

• you can produce consistently and at scale (You might need to hire help!)

• your pricing already supports healthy margins

• your product solves a retail problem (easy gift, impulse buy, souvenir)

• you’re okay trading margin for volume

• you want your work in physical stores

Signs it might not be (yet)

Wholesale may not be the move if:

• you’re still figuring out pricing

• every item is deeply one-of-a-kind

• production already feels overwhelming

• cash flow is very tight

• you hate repetition and batching

The tools, numbers, and resources that actually matter (for me)

I want to get specific here, because vague advice isn’t helpful.

The resources I actually use

• Proof to Product podcast – hands down one of the most grounded, realistic resources for product-based businesses and wholesale. It helped me understand pricing, growth stages, and what normal really looks like. Check it Out!

• Faire’s educational content – when Faire puts out webinars, seller education, or platform updates, I pay attention. It’s not perfect, but understanding how the platform works helps you make smarter decisions.

The reality of listing products on Faire

I currently have 500+ SKUs on Faire.

That did not happen overnight.

It took me about two years to get everything listed and optimized. And here’s the part people don’t talk about enough:

In reality, about 20 of those same listings sell over and over.

But your bestsellers will carry the business. Don’t be mad if the things that you wish were bestsellers don’t do well. Or if the Bigfoot keeps selling, argh! But you know, people want what they want!

Faire fees (the honest math)

Faire takes:

• 15% of every order

• Plus $10 if it’s a first-time order from a new retailer

Unless: you send a retailer directly using your specific Faire link or QR code

Reorders: what’s actually normal

On Faire, about 25% of my buyers reorder more than once.

That means:

• lots of one-off orders

• lots of testing from retailers

• lots of stores that try something and move on or forget, due to no follow up, maybe?

According to Google and industry data, that’s completely normal.

Where things change dramatically is in-person relationships.

When I meet buyers:

• at markets

• through direct outreach

• via real conversations

The reorder rate is much higher.

I have accounts that have:

• ordered consistently for 5–10 seasons

• over a 2+ year span

Those relationships are how wholesale becomes predictable, stable, and year-round. That’s the goal.

The emotional reality of wholesale Wholesale is about 95% “no thanks.”

Most people will:

• not respond

• politely decline

• already have something similar

• pass without explanation

Some will even:

• criticize your work

• question your pricing

• make comments that sting

You need thick skin to do wholesale. Rejection isn’t a sign you’re doing it wrong — it’s the baseline.

You will need marketing materials (and an easy button)

This is the part that surprises a lot of handmade sellers.

Wholesale isn’t just about having a good product — it’s about making it ridiculously easy for a busy shop owner to say yes.

How are they going to order?

This is the question you must answer clearly.

For me, Faire is the easiest option.

But: not every shop wants to use Faire, some shops can’t get approved, some prefer direct ordering

You need a backup. That’s where line sheets or catalogs come in.

Paper vs digital (what I’m actually seeing)

In reality, most buyers today want things digitally.

They want to: flip through on their phone, skim while standing behind the counter, forward it to a manager or buyer.

Long paper order forms and printed catalogs are becoming less practical.

A clean, digital line sheet or catalog:

• keeps their attention

• reduces friction

• makes follow-up easier

Paper still has a place at shows — but digital is doing the heavy lifting.

Follow-up is a huge part of wholesale

Wholesale doesn’t usually close in one interaction.

It looks like emailing back and forth, touching base after shows, answering quick questions, sending marketing emails.

Businesses are insanely busy.

If you think you’re busy, talk to a shop owner.

They want things to be fast, clear, and low-effort

Find the easy button: Something that lets them order right now, while they’re interested.

Your job is to:

• grab their attention

• not lose it

• remove every possible obstacle

Wholesale works best when ordering feels effortless for them — even if it took you a lot of work to set up behind the scenes.

Inventory, cash flow, and the unglamorous money stuff

This is the part that can make or break wholesale for handmade artists.

You have to invest in inventory

Wholesale assumes you can fulfill volume orders within a reasonable timeframe.

If you’re a handmade business, you can’t make 100 hand‑blown glass ornaments overnight or fire 200 pieces of pottery on demand.

That means you need inventory on hand, cash reserves to produce ahead of time, and systems that let you replicate work efficiently.

Wholesale favors products that can be made consistently, quickly, and without reinventing the wheel every time.

Lead times matter: lead time means, how fast can you ship?

My standard lead time is 7–10 days. OR 2-3 weeks for custom. Neither is wrong — but you must be clear.

Payment terms are a real thing- What does that mean?

• Net 30

• Net 60

That means: they do not pay upfront OR you may be waiting 30–60 days for payment

Sometimes that also means: following up, tracking invoices, chasing payments

You need basic systems in place

Before you say yes to wholesale, ask yourself: How will I invoice? How can they pay? (credit card matters) Will I charge processing fees? Who pays shipping? What are my order minimums? What are my reorder minimums?Have CLEAR policies in place about all of these!

Yes, it’s overwhelming at first— But if this sounds right for you, I would encourage you to start somewhere!