Elle Tipton Designer Handbags

Handbags are essential accessories for women. They say a lot about their owners, and some women even judge others by the bag they carry. As an example, Jennifer Hudson’s character in the movie “Sex and the City” had an obsession with a Louis Vuitton handbag.  This just goes to show how important and meaningful handbags can be. The problem is, retail prices for designer purses are steep, leaving many fashion conscious women prowling through recycle shops and discount stores. Have you thought of purchasing designer handbags at wholesale prices?

The popularity of designer purses is the reason some companies dedicate their whole business to the purchase and resell of handbags. You can find retailers selling name-brand purses in kiosks, swap meets, flea markets as well as in high end malls. How do they compete with the huge retailers, and oftentimes offer lower prices? Are they selling knockoffs?

Perhaps some are. However, there are also a lot legitimate mom and pop retailers out there. Some don’t even purchase to resell. For example, I know of one family who happens to have a lot of females in their immediate family tree who won’t buy anything except name-brand items. The women in that family formed a co-op for the purpose of buying wholesale. They applied for a sales tax ID (necessary when purchasing from legitimate wholesalers), and obtained a business license. After that they started going to the merchandise mart in their area (a place that offers wholesale goods to merchants) to purchase designer handbags (as well as shoes and clothing!)

Tips for Buying Designer Handbags at Wholesale Prices

Maybe you have considered buying wholesale, as well. If you are considering buying from a wholesale handbags dealer, here are some basic tips. If you already deal with a wholesale handbags dealer, you might still find some information that will give you a small advantage when dealing with him or her.

• Set up a legitimate business entity
• Consult as many wholesale handbags dealers as possible.
• Ask for catalogs, and pictures. Even if nothing else happens, you can get new and fresh ideas for your own designs by watching models that have worked.
• Get price quotes. Getting quotes from several wholesale handbags dealers will give you a better idea of the market conditions, and therefore, the prices you can get for your products.
• Discover minimum quantities. Some wholesalers will sell direct to the public with no minimum quantity. Oftentimes, these prices are higher than purchasing from distributors who require minimums, but still lower than normal retail prices.
• If the minimums are higher than you can afford (or want), show your catalogs at church, PTA meetings, social clubs, etc., and invite other fashion-conscious women to participate.

Already Buying Wholesale?

Already buying wholesale and selling retail? Conduct a study of the purchasing behavior of your clients during the last 2 or 3 years. This study should include the quantity of handbags bought, price per handbag, total purchase amount, the month when the purchase took place and frequency of purchase. This information should be analyzed for each handbag model you buy from the wholesale handbags dealer and resell at your store.

The purpose of this study is to let you know more about your purchasing and stock needs. You will find out what models are bought more often, and on which months you sell more. Also, you’ll find out which models are more profitable.

While everyone knows that some months are consistently better than others, they often forget to make this analysis for each model. You will find out which handbags are regularly sold over the whole year, and which ones are sold only in particular months.

With this information, you will be able to make wholesale handbags purchases in a much more strategic way. By keeping a constant supply of “backbone” models and getting extra stock at the right time for those seasonal models, you will avoid storage costs and buy realistic quantities. It will also avoid emergency purchases, which your wholesale handbags dealer might not be able to get.

Finally, by planning your wholesale handbags purchases, and setting a buying schedule, you will, in turn, make it easier for your wholesale handbag dealer to deliver you in number, time and quality. It’s a win-win situation that will benefit both of you over the years.