Computer/Electronics Wholesale Account

[nzwasp]

Hello,

Does anyone know which wholesaler / distributor memory express or tigerdirect use?

[codetrap]

Probably techdata.

[hampstor]

Yes I actually do know most of the tier-1 distis that those companies use, but why do you want to know?

[firebane]

There is actually quite a few different ones like Supercom, Synnex and a few others.

Regular people can't get access to most of them but a couple of them do allow access for general public like Tech Data

[nzwasp]

I wondered what it takes to get an account with a wholesaler in this country.

[hampstor]

Originally posted by nzwasp
I wondered what it takes to get an account with a wholesaler in this country.

To setup accounts with any of the Tier 1 distributors, such as Techdata, Ingram Micro, Synnex, D&H Canada, Supercom (They are considered a mix of Tier 1 and Tier 2) you will have to contact each distributor directly.

Generally this is what you need for each disti :

- Biz License
- Certificate of Incorporation
- $100-250 setup fee
- Alberta Recycling Authority ADS Exemption #
- If you plan to dropship to anywhere in Canada, than for each province you will also need to provide HST/PST Exemption certificates, and the ECO fee exemption / certificate #
- Commitment to spend at minimum $50,000 a year

If you want NET payment terms, you will also need to provide credit references and they normally only accept references from large tier 1 distributors. Otherwise, you will pay with a credit card and they will charge you more for using a credit card (if you try and argue regarding the additional costs, they will just terminate your account).

Some products do not require manufacturer authorization to purchase and resell (ie: Asus, DLink, Netgear, Linksys, APC, etc.)

Some products require manufacturer authorization to purchase and resell, for example:

To sell Lenovo:
- Creation of Lenovo Partner account and provide the ID to the distributor

To sell Microsoft:
- Creation of Microsoft Partner Network ID, and complete the required forms/certifications for the products you wish to sell

To sell Citrix:
- Have an IngramMicro account
- Meet Citrix Silver Partner Level (have a certain number of certified staff in your organization, and maintain those certs annually)

etc.

As your revenue increases, than you will move to lower price brackets, be eligible for MDF/Co-Op funds, backend rebates, VIR etc.

You will unlikely be able to compete with MemEx/NCIX on price as they are on much lower price brackets, elliglbe for the mdf/coop/back end rebates/VIR etc.. It's a really tough market to get into now. The tier 2 distributors are really struggling, let alone the smaller mom and pop shops.

MemEx/NCIX (even Futureshop, Bestbuy buy from the Tier 1 distributors) sometimes deal direct with a manufacturer, or if they deal with a distributor they will be on a significantly lower price bracket + they will get MDF/coop funds/backend rebates ontop of that. Also, they get free freight on some of their orders and do not pay handling fees on their orders.

[Zero102]

^^^
This x1000

The last place I worked we barely ordered enough to keep accounts with supercom and ingram micro. Our company tried to spark up more business with them by offering to let us buy personal stuff on the company account (deducted from our pay of course), but every time we checked the pricing we could get through them, it came out cheaper to buy from NCIX and have it shipped to our houses.

Unless you are dropping a LOT of money each year you will not be able to beat the big store pricing by going direct to the distributors.