How to Sell Brand Names in Your Boutique

Clothing and shoe boutiques often sell brand names.

Most boutiques specialize in selling a specific type of item, such as baby clothing, fashion jewelry, gourmet items or men's shoes. Because they specialize in a particular niche, boutique owners often carefully choose which products and brands names they associate with. Selling brand names in your boutique, whether they are luxury, artisan or prestigious, can help you define your clientele and build a solid reputation for stocking quality products. If you want to buy wholesale brand name products to sell in your boutique, you will need to do several things.

Instructions

1. Obtain all of the business documentation needed in your state to legally operate a retail business. Without the required licenses and permits, brand names will not establish a wholesale account with you.

2. Make a list of the brand names you want to sell in your boutique, and perform an Internet search to find their official website addresses, phone numbers and emails. Alternatively, use a wholesale product guide or business directory.

3. Evaluate whether the brand names on your list are a good fit for your boutique -- most brands don't allow just anyone to sell their products. For instance, if you want to stock a luxury makeup brand, but you mostly sell drugstore and and discount makeup, your boutique probably isn't a good fit.

4. Contact the brands on your list that are suitable for your boutique. Most brands have a contact form on their website, or an email address retailers interested in establishing a wholesale account can send inquiries to. Some brands place a wholesale application on their website to streamline the approval process.

5. Avoid buying brand names from unauthorized wholesalers and distributors, even if such suppliers offer you a drastically discounted price. Going this route increases the chances of you encountering counterfeit, or knock-off, products.

6. Attend trade shows in your industry to not only preview upcoming collections and product offerings, but get wholesale buying information. Most industries, from food products to cosmetics and apparel, have trade shows, also called regional marts.

References

• Made Manual: How To Buy Wholesale Name Brand Clothing
• Baby Shop Magazine: Growing Your Boutique