Thousands of individuals earn an income by selling online through various websites such as eBay or Amazon.com. Buying products wholesale and reselling for profits is enabling an increasing number of people around the world to become self-employed. Alternatively, consumers may buy direct from wholesale sources in order to save money on their general purchases. With the upcoming holiday season, shoppers will be searching for the best deals and biggest discounts. The best discounts, however, can be found directly from the wholesaler or manufacturer.

When people hear the word wholesale, they assume that it is only for those who are involved in the retail business. It is true that some wholesalers only sell in bulk or require legitimate business information, preventing the average consumer from purchasing from such companies. However, a large number of wholesalers do sell items individually and to the general public.

Whether you wish to shop at the lowest priced wholesale sources or you are interested in starting your own retail business, it can be a difficult task to find true quality wholesale companies, as opposed to the middlemen. Wholesale middlemen are those websites and companies who claim to be real wholesalers selling a huge variety of products, but in fact, make money by getting in between you and the real manufacturer or wholesaler. This will result in the customer paying higher prices. As a casual shopper, you will be saving less; as a retailer, your profit will be lower and you may then have to charge higher prices, which makes you less competitive.

It can be extremely time consuming to locate the 'real' wholesale websites on the internet. Thankfully, there are websites who compile a list of wholesale companies and contact information and provide it to the public for a small price. Unfortunately, the large majority of these websites are also quite worthless. Many of these sites will list the same middlemen wholesalers mentioned, or simply provide a database of outdated information or links to wholesalers selling outdated and useless products. An extremely limited number of these directories provide links to legitimate, direct wholesalers.