Wholesale has been a quietly powerful part of my illustration business from the early days and it’s something a lot of illustrators should consider adding in especially if they already have an online / Etsy shop selling products directly to customers.

If you’re already selling, you might as well be wholesaling!

Wholesale is essentially just selling your existing products in larger quantities, at a lower price per unit, to shops who then sell them on. You don’t need a massive range, loads of stock, or to be in fancy stores. You just need good products with a proper margin and the willingness to find some stockists.

If you are making work consistently, packaging it nicely and posting it to customers then you can definitely wholesale!

Getting seen: using Faire and approaching independent shops

One of the easiest ways to dip your toe into wholesale is through a platform like Faire. I know marketplaces can be a mixed bag, but for me Faire has been a useful tool for getting in front of independent shops all over the world and expanding my stockists.

It removes some of the friction, admin, payments, minimum orders, reorders and discovery, and allows shops to browse your work in a low pressure way. 

Alongside that, directly approaching independent shops that feel aligned with you is a good bet especially if when you walk into a shop and think “my work would make sense here” follow that feeling up;

A short email, a link to your work and a PDF catalogue, these shops are run by busy people running a small businesses and they will know if you would work in the mix or not.

Packaging: small details, big difference

Packaging matters more in wholesale than retail, because you’re not there to explain your work in person.

Branded stickers, header cards, belly bands, or a consistent look makes your work feel more professional and giftable, which is what most shops are looking for.

For me it’s clear biodegradable sleeves, backing cards and branded stickers. Protecting the print so it works in a busy shop environment and letting the customer or gift receiver know who I am so they can look me up if they are interested to see more.

Make a simple PDF catalogue using your images

You don’t need a fancy line sheet to begin with. A clear, well designed PDF catalogue is more than enough.

• Think of it as a visual menu of what you offer

• product photos

• sizes and formats

• wholesale prices

• minimum order

• ordering info

If you already have good images for your website or Instagram, you’re halfway there. Put them into a clean document, group products into small collections and make it easy for someone to quickly understand what you do, update this every few months as your range grows.

Wholesale and retail prices: the scary but important bit

Pricing is usually where people get stuck. You need to start by working out exactly how much a product has cost you including your time, shipping and packaging etc.

A very common starting point in wholesale (Which I still follow) is cost price x 2 = wholesale price, then wholesale price x 2 equals retail price. You need to have enough margin to make a profit when you sell your product to a shop and likewise shops need to have enough margin to make a profit on your product when they sell it in theirs. 

So if you sell a print for £20, a shop buys it for £10 and likely it cost you £5 all in with printing packaging sticker etc. 

Important point your retail price must be consistent across your platforms, shops can choose to sell the item for more but it’s very important that you aren’t undercutting them as that’s not how wholesale works and is bad for relationships. 

Wholesale forces you, in a good way, to really understand your numbers.

I found this uncomfortable at first, but it pushed me to value my work and design products that could support both retail and wholesale without burning me out.

Slowly build from there

Start with a small, manageable range. See what sells. Notice what gets reordered and let that guide what and how you design

Wholesale is brilliant because it compounds. One good shop can reorder 4 -  10 times a year. Ten good shops can quietly form the backbone of a steady income.

I’ve always preferred slow, steady growth to sudden big leaps. It gives you time to adjust production, improve packaging, raise prices when needed and actually enjoy what you’re building.

Keeping in touch: spreadsheets, lists and gentle follow ups

This part isn’t glamorous, but it’s important.

Keep a simple spreadsheet of

• shops you’ve contacted - current stockists and dream stockists etc

• when they last ordered

• and when you last spoke

This makes it so much easier to gently follow up, let people know about new work or reach out before busy seasons.

Over time you can build a small mailing list just for shops and galleries. This becomes your way of announcing new collections, restocks and lookbooks without having to start from zero every time.

 Most of my longest running stockists started with one small order and a very normal email exchange.

Pro tip: Add new product samples into reorders so that your regulars can see what’s new!

A wide range of price points and why it matters

Different retailers serve different customers.

Shops often want lower priced, easy to gift items, cards, small prints, pins, postcards.
Galleries might be looking for higher end prints, limited editions, framed work.

Having a wide range of price points means more shops can say yes.

It also protects your business. If someone can only afford to place a small opening order, you still have something for them. And if a gallery wants a more premium product, you have that too.

I’ve found that building a product ecosystem, small, medium and higher end, makes both retail and wholesale more sustainable.

Final thoughts

Wholesale isn’t about becoming a big brand. For me, it’s about widening access to my work, building long term relationships and creating a steadier income stream that supports the more unpredictable parts of being an illustrator.

If you’re already selling your work in any form, you’re much closer to wholesaling than you think.

Start small. Learn as you go. And let it grow alongside you.

If this post was helpful, let me know, and if there’s anything specific about wholesale you’d like me to expand on, pricing, emails, production, mistakes I’ve made, leave a comment!

Jacqueline :D