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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 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. A Tax ID is only necessary for US sellers who wish to buy from US wholesalers. If you live outside of the US, you will not need a Tax ID.
- The wholesaler 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, 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. To get around this problem, you can ask for photographic evidence of the supplier's stock, taken with that day's newspaper in the background. This doesn't always work, but it's worth a try!
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.
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