Bulk Wholesaler Phenomenon

Who is the wholesaler? One of existing vendor or someone new??

I suspect many artisan soapmakers, many of whom operate either as individuals, a family, or perhaps with one or two part-time or full-time employees might struggle with cash flow issues. They cannot afford to hold inventory of either raw materials, packaging materials, or finished good on their shelves. They need to sell one batch of products to obtain funds to purchase new raw materials and packaging for the next batch. Hopefully, they will have enough left over to pay for rent, utilities, and to put food on the table, not to mention paying the inevitable taxes. Thus, when a group with deep pockets comes along and agrees to purchase your full production run as soon as it is ready for release, I can see this as being attractive to some artisans.

A few years ago, interest rates were so low that the cost of carrying inventory was not too bad for small businesses. With the current prime interest rate at 8.5% with less creditworthy borrowers paying much more, I can see this "sugar daddy" arrangement being the salvation of some artisans. However, I am not saying that this is in the best interest of the shaving community, artisans and vendors long-term. When there is a void, something or someone will come along to fill that void.

I’ve been thinking about this and asking myself “is this any different from the artisans that sell on Amazon?”  And my thinking says yes, it’s different. Amazon gives artisans a broader exposure and, if they want, fulfillment service. I don’t know the details of what Amazon offers sellers but I assume the more services they want the more they pay but their selling price on Amazon will not be higher than their selling price on their own website or at participating vendor’s websites otherwise it would be a problem. So the difference that I see is that an artisan’s choice to sell on Amazon doesn’t result in necessarily higher prices to customers or vendors being locked out of carrying their brand. It’s still just the free market operating without any coercive monopoly control.

Maybe the added value of these wholesalers is they'll protect your business from unfortunate events... Like what may happen if you turn them down. 

That did cross my mind… nice bidness you got here, it would be a shame if something were to happen to it.

Who is the wholesaler? One of existing vendor or someone new??

Don’t know that at the moment but I would think sooner or later the details will all come out. 

I agree with RayClem that the bulk wholesale scheme might be attractive to some artisans for cash flow reasons but I don’t think they’re thinking it through. Sure, it might work out well with all the usual vendors getting in on it and customers happily paying higher prices or, it might be a disaster. Customers may boycott certain brands and put them out of business. If it’s such a great scheme, why are they doing it on the down low? Why aren’t they promoting it like their latest unicorn tallow soap base?

I like the market today. We have artisans with their own websites selling products, and several good vendors are helping us combine shipping and introduce new artisan products. Will see what this wholesaler makes difference..

Personally, my preference is to buy direct from the maker of the product whenever possible unless one of their authrorized dealers has the same product in stock at a lower price and/or is closer in proximity to me shipping-wise, like Pasteur in NYC (I'm in NJ - so they're a 1 day point).

My most recent soap purchases were a year ago and I bought direct from the makers since the versions of what I was buyer weren't available anywhere else at that time. Specifically Grooming Dept's Mumtaz and Pura and Arianna and Evans' St. Barts.

I like the market today. We have artisans with their own websites selling products, and several good vendors are helping us combine shipping and introduce new artisan products. Will see what this wholesaler makes difference..

The market today was pretty good and more predictable than ten or twelve years ago. I can remember new product drops selling out in minutes, artisan websites getting overwhelmed and crashing and pissed off people.  Then there were people buying multiple units of some coveted release flipping them for more money. Wild West.  I also try to buy from the artisan where possible, however, the world of online stores is much more complicated than most of us imagine. I used to work with a guy who’s wife had come up with an anti-snoring device and he explained some of the complexities to me.  For example, take an artisan soap maker who has come up with a marketing and branding plan for a line of soap and splash products. He’s got no experience in blending fragrances nor in making soap but that’s no problem because he’ll work with a nose who can provide him with various fragrance samples until he comes up with something satisfactory. Then he’ll contact a soap making company like Chicago soap making (or whatever the name of the outfit that makes Oleo) that has the expertise and capacity to make any recipe you like, splash too. He does a deal with them and has the fragrance shipped there along with artwork etc for branding and packaging. That company or a different one handles the fulfillment of orders and away you go, your a shaving soap artisan without ever having made a batch of soap or even seen it made. Now, is it any different to buy that brand “directly from the artisan “ than from a vendor?  I don’t know. I’d have to see the balance sheet. Now for an artisan using that business model I can see how the bulk wholesaler scheme could be attractive in streamlining the fulfillment piece.

Ok, here is the website of the bulk wholesaler. They’re based out of Italy.  You can go there and check out their brand list to see who’s participating. It’s a little eye opening. It looks like a lot of our shaving products just got more expensive.  Not just soap. 

https://www.barbieriuniti.com

Ok, here is the website of the bulk wholesaler. They’re based out of Italy.  You can go there and check out their brand list to see who’s participating. It’s a little eye opening. It looks like a lot of our shaving products just got more expensive.  Not just soap. 

https://www.barbieriuniti.com

...and these guys have a deal with each of these manufacturers that they won't sell through anyone else but them... Worldwide? Yikes... I see my go-to razor blades, on first quick glance.

This can't be good. Maybe it's time to stock up some more.

Ok, here is the website of the bulk wholesaler. They’re based out of Italy.  You can go there and check out their brand list to see who’s participating. It’s a little eye opening. It looks like a lot of our shaving products just got more expensive.  Not just soap. 

https://www.barbieriuniti.com

So if this is for sales in EU then, to be honest I understand it more from the standpoint of the US artisan.  I have to imagine that if they want to get some product sold in EU it must be a royal pain in the rear to deal with different foreign retailers, different customs requirements for various countries, different potential sales and tax reporting implications for what they send to each different country, etc. 
Could the potential upside of this be EU markets getting some US artisan products that they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten? Or is the bigger concern here that some EU products will become more expensive in the EU?