Cheap Wholesale Products for Resale: 2025 Buying Guide

Wholesale is a $57 trillion-plus beast—expected to hit nearly $58 trillion in 2025 and continue growing by 6% to 7% annually. Scoping out cheap wholesale products for resale in that flood of inventory can feel overwhelming.

So how do you identify one worth investing in? And with so many wholesale marketplaces promising cheap products in bulk, which platform is most likely to have hidden gems?

There’s a lot to think about when buying wholesale: where you’ll source products, how many units you should buy, and what profit margins you should aim for.

Keep reading to learn where to buy affordable wholesale products to sell online—plus, best practices on vetting legit wholesale suppliers.

What are cheap wholesale products for resale?

Cheap wholesale products for resale are low-cost bulk items that retailers buy directly from distributors or manufacturers and then sell at a markup. The sweet spot is everyday goods that are inexpensive to produce, light to ship, and easy to move quickly.

“Cheap” in this context doesn’t mean poor quality—it simply means products with a low per-unit purchase price (usually under $5 to $20 per item when bought in volume).

Examples of cheap wholesale products might include:

• Enamel pins that run less than $3 a piece when you order 500
• Silicone spatulas or other kitchen gadgets, often under $5 in bulk
• Socks and tote bags that can land around $2 to $4 each with the right distributor
• Phone cases or charging cables, where even $1 to $2 per unit is common at scale
  

These products qualify as “cheap” because they combine a low upfront cost with steady buyer demand—giving you solid resale margins without tying up a ton of capital.

Benefits of cheap wholesale products

There are many benefits for online retailers who resell cheap wholesale products online, but the two most relevant benefits involve outsourced production and volume discounts.

1. Outsourced production

The product development process is complicated—from sourcing raw materials to assembling and testing products. The wholesale business model offers a chance to bypass the entire manufacturing process and go straight to selling.

2. Volume discounts

The more you buy, the less expensive each item gets per unit. That’s how wholesalers offer competitive prices retailers can’t get from buying individually.

For many small operators, wholesale forms the basis of their entire business model.

“For 14 plus years, we just sold the products in spas, and we took phone orders. So it was like 99% wholesale,” says Melissa Palmer, CEO of OSEA Malibu.

“Everyone always asks if we were profitable,” Melissa adds, “and my answer is always like, ‘How could we not be?’ It was our job. Like that was how we sustained our business. And it was a really small business. And we grew 10% a year. We were really proud of it.”

Best cheap wholesale products to sell in 2025

Here are some ideas to help you find cheap wholesale products to resell:

Vitamins and supplements

The global dietary supplements market was pegged at around $189 billion in 2024, with a jump to $203 billion expected by the end of 2025. We’re talking about products that are light, fast-moving, and cheap to stock in volume—think multivitamin gummy packs or single‑serve immune boosters. 

Wine

This one’s interesting: Wine production in California has recently dipped—only 3.2 million tons of grapes crushed in 2024, the smallest amount since 2008. But a lingering oversupply has triggered steep discounts for bulk wine buyers in 2025—a real “golden era of deals,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

If you’re looking to stock wine for less than $12 a bottle, now is the window to buy wholesale domestic wine before markets rebalance.

Eco-friendly items

Green is in, and a lot of people care about maintaining an eco-friendly lifestyle. In fact, they’re willing to pay a 9.7% sustainability premium to buy products that align with their values. 

Consider selling things like vegan leather goods, plastic-free beauty products, solar-powered devices, compost bins, and reusable cleaning tools. Plus, eco-friendly goods also make great wholesale products to sell from home—they’re light-weight, easy to ship, and you know customers are willing to pay for more.

📚Read: Eco-Friendly Products: 35+ Bestsellers For 2025

Electronics

Electronics are booming: The consumer electronics market is forecast to hit US $865 billion in 2025, up from $815 billion in 2024.

The smart home automation market alone is estimated to be worth more than $73 billion by 2029. Items like smart thermostats, security cameras, and voice assistants are in high demand as consumers seek to manage their homes from one device and save money on energy bills.

Wholesale channels are leaning into bulk component deals—think $2 phone cables or $5 chargers. These units are compact, impulse‑sell friendly, and margin‑rich.

Beauty products

Tariffs are stacking up; some industry lines are staring at average import duties near 25.8%, especially on products sourced from China.

Brands are scrambling to adapt with smart sourcing tactics. Think domestic lines or tariff‑resilient alternatives that can still land you sub‑$3 price points on key SKUs. 

And remember the “lipstick effect”—people still buy small indulgences even when the economy tightens. CNBC calls this the “treatonomics” trend.

Fashion

Fashion is still a heavyweight industry, projected to grow from $148 billion in 2024 to $162.8 billion in 2025. But shoppers are getting pickier. The fast-fashion machine churns out cheap basics, yet consumer demand is tilting toward sustainable options—think organic cotton tees, recycled polyester jackets, or fair-trade accessories. 

Wholesale buyers who focus on eco-friendly apparel get the best of both worlds: low per-unit costs (as little as $5 to $10 in bulk) and the ability to market ethical sourcing as a value-added benefit.

Types of wholesale suppliers

Choosing where to buy is just as important as choosing what to sell. Here are four types of wholesale suppliers to consider when you’re weighing options for your resale business:

Local wholesale suppliers

Local partners are the safe bet. They’re usually pricier per unit, but you’re buying peace of mind: quicker shipping, easier returns, and far fewer customs headaches. If your store thrives on reliable restocks, or you run a brick-and-mortar that can’t afford empty shelves, sourcing local is your go-to play. 

International suppliers

Going global—say, sourcing from China, India, or Vietnam—means chasing rock-bottom costs. But the flip side is longer lead times, freight costs that bite, and complex paperwork. Reliability ranges from flawless to frustrating. If you’ve got buffer room in your timelines and a system that can handle delays, international suppliers will pad your margins like nothing else.

Dropshipping suppliers

Dropshipping feels like magic: no inventory, no upfront buying, no warehouse rent. You just make the sale, and someone else ships the box. Sounds dreamy—until a customer waits three weeks for a package or gets a product you’ve never touched. 

Margins are thinner, too, since you’re paying for convenience. Still, dropshipping is brilliant for testing new products, running lean, or keeping risk minimal while you find your winners.

Direct manufacturers

This is the big leagues play. You go straight to the factory floor. Your costs plummet, and your customization options explode—but so do your commitments.

Manufacturers want minimum order quantities (MOQs) that will eat your spare bedroom alive. Communication can be tricky and lead times long, but once you’re in, you own the product and the margin.

If you’re still not sure how to choose between different suppliers, here’s a quick cheat sheet:

• If you can’t afford to miss a restock and want shelves filled yesterday, stick with local suppliers. 
• If your priority is margins and you’ve got the patience (and logistics muscle) to handle delays, international suppliers are your play.
• If you’re still experimenting, or you’d rather not gamble with warehouse space, dropshipping keeps you lean.
• If you’re ready to scale and put serious skin in the game, direct manufacturers are the endgame. 

How to choose and buy cheap wholesale products to resell

Use these steps as a guide to start your own business reselling cheap wholesale products:

1. Find and verify wholesale suppliers

Securing high-quality, communicative, and reliable wholesale suppliers is crucial to your long-term business success. Wholesale marketplaces like Faire allow you to filter brands by location, brand values, and product categories to make the process easier.

But anyone can set up a slick-looking site, so watch out for these red flags:

• No business registration numbers or verifiable company details. A legitimate wholesaler will list tax IDs, business registration numbers, or at least an address you can cross-check. If all you see is a Gmail address and a contact form, that’s a problem.
• Requests for payments through Western Union or wire only. Reliable suppliers almost always accept credit cards, escrow services, or PayPal. If they insist on irreversible payments like Western Union, it’s a classic scam tactic—you’ll have no recourse if the goods never arrive.
• Websites filled with stock photos. Look for original photography—pictures of the warehouse, packaging, or even a product shot with a timestamp or watermark. If every image looks like a lifestyle catalog, assume they may not have real stock.
• A lack of trade references or reviews you can actually verify. Good suppliers are proud of their track record. If they can’t give you other businesses to contact, or if all their reviews look copy-pasted, walk away.

If the basics don’t check out, resume your search elsewhere. It’s better to spend extra time verifying a partner than burning cash on a fake “wholesaler” with nothing to ship.

Understand payment terms and methods

Once you’ve confirmed legitimacy, the next step is verifying how they expect you to pay for bulk purchases. 

Wholesale suppliers use a few standard payment setups:

• Escrow. Funds are held by a third party until you confirm delivery. Safer for new buyers, though it adds small fees.
• Letter of credit (LC). Your bank guarantees payment once conditions are met; common in international trade when orders are big.
• Consignment. You pay only after products sell. It’s rare, but if you can negotiate it, it minimizes upfront risk.

Navigate minimum order quantities (MOQs)

MOQs are the minimum number of units a supplier will sell in one order. Suppliers set MOQs to keep production efficient, but they can feel like a brick wall for new resellers.

Here’s how to handle minimum order quantities:

• Negotiate lower MOQs by proving you’re a serious long-term buyer.
• Team up with other resellers to split a bulk order and share the costs.
• Seek out low- or no-MOQ suppliers, especially if you’re testing new products.
  
  

The bigger the MOQ, the more cash you tie up. And the more risk you take if the product doesn’t sell. Start small until you know what moves.

2. Test wholesale products

Once you’ve verified the supplier, you should verify the wholesale products themselves. The best way to do this is to order samples.

When your samples arrive, evaluate whether they’re durable and high-quality. What do the products look like in person? How do they feel? If the products are designed to solve a problem or do a task, can they do so easily?

Keep in mind that the best wholesale products are easy to use. The last thing you want is to order a complicated wholesale product and have to invest heavily in teaching potential customers how to use it.

3. Calculate profit margins

Your gross margin is the difference between how much a product costs and how much you can sell it for.

When you purchase wholesale goods in higher quantities, you can usually get them at a low cost per unit—and, as a result, increase your gross margin. This concept is referred to as economies of scale.

Before you commit to buying any wholesale products, use a profit margin calculator to confirm there’s enough money left in the pot when you’ve paid for it.

NYU Stern School of Business reports that a good profit margin for online retailers is around 42.78%. Treat this as the bottom level—the bigger the margin, the more profit you make when reselling wholesale products.

Remember there are other costs associated with reselling wholesale products—including your ecommerce platform, marketing, and advertising costs. Make sure there’s enough profit left over to cover these business expenses once you’ve paid the wholesaler.

Calculate shipping costs

When you buy wholesale products, you can choose from suppliers on the other side of the country or even the world. If you run an ecommerce business, consider the cost of receiving products from your supplier and shipping them to customers.

While it’s possible to make money on larger, heavier items like furniture, you’ll likely run into more logistical problems.

Small, lightweight products tend to be cheaper and easier to ship.For this reason, many businesses follow a simple rule: The product should be small enough to fit into a shoebox and weigh less than two kilograms (4.4 pounds).

Also, consider the product’s durability when evaluating your shipping strategy. For example, shipping handmade glassware or Bluetooth speakers is a lot more challenging than shipping jeans.

Durable products with fewer moving parts are easier to transport. Plus, they’re less likely to go wrong once in the customer’s hands, which will help reduce your returns rate.

4. Find the median retail price

It can still be challenging to turn a healthy profit if the price point is too low—even if you find wholesale products with a big margin.

If you purchase pencils for 10¢ and sell them for 50¢, for example, you’ll make 40¢ a unit—that’s a whopping 80% margin. However, you’d have to sell thousands of pencils to make a good income from your online store.

On the other hand, if the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of a product is too high, you’ll likely find it harder to land sales. People buying a $150 jacket have more complex decisions to make than those purchasing a $20 hat.

Check the MSRP before buying wholesale products, and start with products that retail between $15 and $200.

If you’re purchasing several products within that price range, you can even use products at different wholesale prices to upsell and cross-sell. For example, if someone is buying your $30 moisturizer, you could increase your average order value (AOV) by cross-selling a $10 sheet mask or upselling them to a more expensive cream.

5. Analyze the competition

A market is saturated when there are many retail businesses selling a particular product. It can be tough to stand out from the crowd if you’re operating in a saturated market, hence why it’s easier to buy wholesale products in a market that has low competition.

Check marketplaces like Amazon to gauge the competition and find bestsellers. How many businesses are already selling the product? Hundreds of thousands of listings indicate it’s a competitive market. But it could be your opportunity to swoop in if there are just a handful of brands selling that product on the platform.

Beyond checking Amazon, use Jungle Scout to see sales estimates and keyword demand. For broader market saturation, pull up Google Shopping insights to compare how many retailers are bidding on the same product.

6. Estimate market demand

It might seem like you’ve hit the jackpot if you find a cheap wholesale product that has low competition. But if very few other businesses are selling a particular product, it may be because nobody wants it.

You can determine the demand for a product by using Facebook Ad Library, which allows you to search for live ad campaigns on Facebook. If you can find a few businesses running plenty of ads for a product, there’s a good chance that the product is making them money.

If you’re struggling to find wholesale products with low competition and high demand, try searching for more niche products. The product’s uniqueness will differentiate it from others on the market, which can increase demand.

7. Check for seasonal market trends

Whether it’s the holidays, summer, or a major event, there are many products you can sell to cater to seasonal demand. That said, there are two main caveats:

1. Timing is key. Planning a seasonal ecommerce strategy often takes months—if not a full year.
2. Sales won’t be consistent. If you work hard to sell holiday-related products, your sales will plummet when the season is over.

If you’re relatively new to buying wholesale products to sell or want to grow your store year-round, avoid seasonal products and opt for evergreen products instead.

The best online marketplaces for cheap wholesale products

Explore these online wholesale marketplaces to get your online store started:

Faire

Faire is an online marketplace for small business owners. As of 2025, the platform is used by over 100,000 brands across more than 120 countries and hundreds of thousands of retailers in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Bulk purchases made on Faire sync seamlessly to your Shopify admin through the apps Faire: Buy Wholesale and Faire: Sell Wholesale. It’s free to join Faire, and brands pay a commission only if Faire connects them with new retailers through its marketplace. Brands can also extend additional benefits to the retailers they bring over, such as 60-day payment terms (for eligible retailers) and free returns on first orders.

Alibaba

Alibaba is the world’s largest B2B marketplace globally, serving brands in more than 240 countries and regions. It is arguably the best place to find cheap wholesale products from suppliers and distributors in China.

Alibaba offers a dedicated dropshipping portal that allows Shopify stores to push product information, sync inventory, and manage orders via their My Store tab.

TradeIndia

TradeIndia boasts more than one million registered users who find reliable suppliers and cheap wholesale products they can resell through their own company.

Worldwide Brands

Worldwide Brands (WWB) is one of the oldest B2B wholesale supplier directories online. It lists more than 16 million wholesale products and costs $299 to gain lifetime access to the directory.

Turn cheap wholesale products for resale into a profitable business

There’s a lot to consider when buying cheap wholesale products for resale, but success starts with choosing a winning product. Evaluate your profit margins, competition, and consumer demand before committing to any product. Then find a reputable wholesale supplier and test the products before placing a large order.

If wholesale marketplaces are too saturated, consider using Collective to connect with Shopify brands and sell their products without buying inventory upfront. You can also reach out to Shopify brands using the platform to offer your own wholesale products. Both approaches offer smart ways to connect with merchants who sell unique products to retailers.