Best Wholesale Directories and Marketplaces

Wholesale Marketplaces for Ecommerce Sellers

Faire

Faire is the largest online wholesale marketplace for independent brands, with over 100,000 brands selling to over 700,000 retailers globally. Product categories include home goods, beauty and wellness, food and beverage, apparel, jewelry, stationery, kids products, and pet supplies. Faire's strongest advantage for new ecommerce sellers is its buyer-friendly terms: net-60 payment on your first order from each brand (you receive the products and have 60 days to pay), free returns on first orders from each brand, and no buyer fees. The platform earns its revenue by charging brands a commission, so everything is free for the buyer.

Minimum order requirements on Faire vary by brand, but many set minimums as low as $100 to $150, with some offering no minimum at all. This makes Faire excellent for testing new products without large upfront commitments. Faire also offers a "Faire Direct" feature where brands share custom wholesale links with preferred retailers for reordering outside the marketplace, often at better terms. The main limitation is that Faire focuses on independent and boutique brands rather than mainstream name brands, so if you are looking for Nike, Apple, or other major brand wholesale, Faire is not the platform.

Tundra

Tundra positions itself as a commission-free wholesale marketplace, meaning neither the buyer nor the seller pays a transaction fee. This results in lower wholesale prices compared to platforms that charge brand commissions, because brands can pass those savings through to the retail price. Tundra carries over 30,000 brands across food and beverage, beauty, home, health, pet, and office categories. The platform offers free shipping on most orders over a brand-specific threshold, and many brands offer net-30 payment terms.

Tundra's product selection skews toward consumer packaged goods (CPG), food, and beverage more heavily than Faire, making it particularly useful for sellers in those categories. Minimum orders are generally low, often $50 to $200 per brand. Tundra also features a "samples" section where you can order individual units from many brands to test quality before committing to wholesale quantities.

Handshake by Shopify

Handshake is Shopify's wholesale marketplace that connects Shopify store owners with wholesale suppliers. The platform is free for both buyers and sellers and integrates directly with your Shopify store, allowing you to import product listings and manage inventory through your existing Shopify admin. Handshake curates its supplier base, which means a smaller selection than Faire or Tundra (around 5,000 brands) but generally higher quality and more consistent product standards. The platform is best suited for Shopify sellers who want a streamlined sourcing-to-store workflow without juggling separate wholesale and retail systems.

Bulletin

Bulletin is a wholesale marketplace focused on women-founded, BIPOC-founded, and sustainability-focused brands. The product selection is smaller and more curated than Faire, with categories covering beauty, wellness, home, fashion accessories, and food. For sellers who position their store around ethical, sustainable, or diverse-owned brands, Bulletin provides a sourcing channel that aligns with that positioning. Minimum orders are typically low ($100 to $250 per brand), and many brands offer introductory discounts for first-time wholesale buyers.

B2B Sourcing Platforms for Manufacturing

Alibaba

Alibaba is the world's largest B2B platform with over 200,000 suppliers, primarily manufacturers and trading companies in China, Vietnam, India, and other Asian manufacturing countries. Unlike the wholesale marketplaces above, Alibaba connects you with factories that produce goods to your specifications rather than pre-made branded products. This means lower unit costs (typically 50% to 80% below US retail), full customization for private label products, and access to virtually any product category. The trade-offs are higher minimum orders (500 to 5,000 units), longer lead times (30 to 90 days), and the complexity of international shipping, customs, and quality control. Our complete Alibaba guide covers the buying process in detail.

Global Sources

Global Sources is a B2B platform competing with Alibaba that differentiates itself through stricter supplier verification. Every supplier on Global Sources is vetted through on-site factory audits, making the platform more reliable than Alibaba for finding legitimate manufacturers. The trade-off is a smaller supplier base. Global Sources is particularly strong for electronics, mobile accessories, fashion, and gifts. The platform also runs trade shows in Hong Kong that bring their online suppliers together for in-person sourcing.

ThomasNet

ThomasNet is the largest directory of US manufacturers and industrial suppliers with over 500,000 listed companies. Unlike Alibaba, ThomasNet is a directory rather than a marketplace, meaning you find suppliers on the platform and then contact them directly. ThomasNet is the primary tool for finding US-based contract manufacturers, custom fabricators, and industrial suppliers. Search by product category, capability (CNC machining, injection molding, custom packaging), or geographic location. The platform is free for buyers and provides supplier contact information, capabilities descriptions, and certifications.

Maker's Row

Maker's Row focuses specifically on connecting brands with US manufacturers for consumer products. The platform covers apparel, accessories, home goods, beauty, and food manufacturing. Maker's Row is more curated than ThomasNet and focuses on manufacturers who work with small to medium brands rather than large industrial contracts. Many manufacturers on Maker's Row accept minimum orders of 50 to 500 units, which is unusually low for custom manufacturing. The platform charges a monthly subscription ($29 to $99/month) for buyer access to manufacturer contact information and RFQ tools.

Wholesale Directories and Databases

SaleHoo

SaleHoo is a paid wholesale directory ($67/year or $127 for lifetime access) that lists over 8,000 vetted suppliers including wholesalers, dropshippers, and manufacturers. SaleHoo staff verify every supplier before listing them, which reduces the risk of scams that exist on larger, unvetted platforms. The directory includes supplier reviews from other members, product profit margin data, and a market research lab that helps identify trending products. SaleHoo is particularly popular with dropshipping sellers because it labels which suppliers offer dropshipping services.

Worldwide Brands

Worldwide Brands is a one-time purchase ($199 lifetime) wholesale directory that claims to list only certified wholesalers and dropshippers who have been verified as legitimate. The directory includes over 16 million products from thousands of suppliers. The strict verification process means a smaller supplier base than open platforms like Alibaba, but higher reliability. Worldwide Brands is best for sellers who want pre-vetted wholesale suppliers without spending time on supplier verification themselves.

Wholesale Central

Wholesale Central is a free wholesale directory that connects buyers with distributors and wholesalers across general merchandise categories. The platform is advertising-supported, so suppliers pay for listing prominence rather than buyers paying for access. Product categories include apparel, electronics, health and beauty, home goods, and closeouts. The supplier vetting is less rigorous than paid directories, so use standard verification practices before placing orders.

Choosing the Right Platform for Your Business

New sellers testing products with small budgets ($500 to $2,000): Start with Faire or Tundra for low-minimum wholesale orders with buyer-friendly terms. The net-60 payment on Faire effectively gives you free inventory financing for your first orders from each brand.

Established sellers building a private label brand: Use Alibaba or Global Sources to find overseas manufacturers for custom products. Combine with ThomasNet or Maker's Row if you want US-based manufacturing for premium positioning or faster turnaround.

Sellers wanting curated, vetted suppliers without research: SaleHoo or Worldwide Brands provide pre-verified supplier lists for a one-time or annual fee. These are worth the cost if your time is more valuable than the subscription price.

Sellers in niche categories: Attend industry-specific trade shows to find suppliers that do not list on general wholesale platforms. Many specialty manufacturers and artisan suppliers only sell through trade shows, direct contact, or niche industry directories.