What does it mean to buy something like beads wholesale?
The word “wholesale” is thrown around a lot these days and is often used as a substitute for “cheap” but that’s not really the true meaning of the word. Normally when you buy beads or wire or gemstones or anything from a bead supply store you’re buying small quantities from the store. The store, in turn, bought larger quantities from a wholesale operation somewhere. By buying larger quantities the store was able to get a lower price per bead, which they can then mark up a little bit and sell to you. This is how most retail stores, not just bead jewelry stores, work. Retail stores are the “middle man” for selling one or two items to people. Wholesale bead companies usually do not deal with the general public, don’t have a showroom and only deal in big quantities of bead sales. When you buy things wholesale you often don’t pay sales tax on the items because it is understood that you will eventually sell the items and collect sales tax instead. Where do wholesale companies get their beads
