What is a "wholesale retailer"?

[i14d14]

So i ran across this website

Become a Wholesale Retailer | OBIA Naturals


From my understanding, these are utterly different thing, how could they be used together?

 

[Keith Bradford]

It seems they can be used together to persuade you to sign up for something without understanding it!

Perhaps this should be "wholesaler/retailer" ?

 

[Glasguensis]

I believe that here it is being used to mean someone who is a wholesale customer and a retail vendor.

 

[Keith Bradford]

Yes, that looks plausible. It's not a commonly-used term.

 

[RedwoodGrove]

There could be legal differences between being a retailer and a wholesaler and while the company wants to increase their volume they cannot legitimately solicit new "wholesale" representatives.

Also, many companies have reps who pay a fee to be able to purchase products for resale. The more they sell individually, the more they can purchase from the company at a lower per unit price. They also get sub-marketers to whom they as middlemen sell the products. They may then be deemed "wholesalers" at this point even though they started out as, and continue to be, retailers.

This is more or less the business model of hundreds of companies that do not market to the public in stores or on line.

 

[Cagey]

This is the first line of the application:

Wholesale Application
Thank you for your interest in retailing OBIA Naturals products! Please complete the application below and we will contact you with further details. If you have any questions or concerns, please send an email to wholesale@obianaturals.com.
​

This is an application that allows you to buy wholesale and sell retail. In my state, and I suppose in most states, there are differences between wholesale and retail in the the way taxes are collected.

I don't think "wholesale retailer" is a commonly used term, but maybe that's because I am not involved in this sort of business.

 

[RedwoodGrove]

Searching a little further on their website, I do find they have retail dealers at store locations. It still does not explain what a "wholesale retailer" might be. It sounds like an oxymoron.

 

[PaulQ]

A retailer is anyone who retails something - sells it on. The default meaning is usually associated with a shop of some sort selling in small quantities, but can be extended.

A wholesale retailer (which I cannot see differing from "wholesaler") is someone who only sells large quantities of goods. For example, he might sell you 500Kg of sugar, but certainly will not sell you 2Kg - that is the job of an ordinary retailer - i.e. a shop. To the wholesaler, 500Kg sugar might be a small amount.

Wholesalers obtain preferential rates from manufacturers/suppliers/importers and then ordinary retailers (business/shop owners) will buy the goods and sell them on to the public piecemeal.

A wholesaler (wholesale retailer - someone who only 'retails' in large quantities) may also sell to those who use the goods in large quantities but this is usually the province of a distributor, manufacturer, supplier or importer.

 

[sdgraham]

You might look at this site:
Welcome to Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale sells to everybody at wholesale prices and quantities of many items are typically large.