I spend a lot of time researching reputable wholesale suppliers for Silhouette Cameo and Cricut small business crafters. But, everyone always wants to know where they can buy vinyl wholesale! Let’s talk about that today.
To understand how to buy vinyl wholesale, we have to look at the flow of the vinyl before it gets in your hands. First, a manufacturer makes the vinyl. This takes place in large factories with large equipment. Some well known manufacturers of vinyl are Siser, Chemica, 3M, Orafol, Avery, and more. Next, the manufacturer sells vinyl to distributors. These distributors buy large rolls of vinyl and cut them down to size. Distributors also often have large warehouses. (Note: Some manufacturers have their own distribution centers.) Now, the vinyl is sold to retailers who sell the vinyl to end consumers either online or in a brick and mortar store.
How to Buy Vinyl Wholesale
- Make sure that you are a registered business in your state or county. Vinyl manufacturers will not sell to hobbyists.
- Be sure that you do not have any conflicts of interest. This means that you will only sell vinyl, not sell products made with vinyl. Unfortunately, this is a deal breaker for most crafters. Most vinyl distributors will not allow you to buy wholesale vinyl and sell handmade projects directly to consumers.
- Have a written plan that you can share with the manufacturer detailing how and where you will sell the vinyl.
- Reach out to the manufacturer of the vinyl you would like to buy wholesale. You’ll be expected to purchase several thousands of dollars of vinyl for your first order and, in most cases, meet monthly minimums. Some specifics for popular manufacturers: Orafol – the opening order is around $100,000. Siser – the opening order is around $10,000 with monthly minimums of around $5,000.
Let’s Recap
If you want to continue selling handmade products – you’ll need to continue buying vinyl from your favorite distributor. If you would like to abandon selling handmade products and become a vinyl retailer – make sure your paperwork is in order and contact your favorite vinyl manufacturer.
Links to Distributors
Which business do you prefer: making and selling handmade products or selling vinyl to other crafters? Let me know in the comments.
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I think the trick is to search for vendors that sell vinyl in lengths longer than 12″ or 24″. I buy Oracle 631 in 12″ X 10 yd. rolls for around $13.00. It’s not a wholesale price but its less expensive per foot than what suppliers charge for the more common 12″ or 24″ lengths.
Thanks for sharing, Anne!
Where do you find that for $13??? I’d love to know!
Thanks!
I think I will stick with making and selling handmade crafts. Thank you for ALL that you do.
Thanks for sharing! (And it’s always a pleasure!)
Thanks for explaining the supply chain for vinyl. I much prefer being on the creative side of vinyl. I’ll purchase from a distributor and then make things to sell to consumers. There is no creativity in cutting a 50yd roll of vinyl into smaller rolls.
Thanks for sharing, Karen!
So true cutting all hours of the day to get it ready for the consumer is back breaking, but when you have someone order something special and you get it printed and cut ready for them to pick it up and their face lights up to me it is all worth it.
Very interesting, thanks for the info. I too have wondered where I can buy things wholesale for my crafts and products. I’m currently looking at buying cardstock at wholesale. Looking for deals on Michael’s isn’t always an affordable alternative, plus I’m interested in buying cardstock larger than the standard 8×11 and 12×12 sizes.
Hi Ana! Contact paper manufacturers for wholesale pricing.
Very interesting, helpful information. Thank you!
My pleasure!
There is a seller on Ebay that has been great and has what I think are great prices. Nova Rhinestone. And the shipping is lightning speed. Her Ebay id is marilyn1957. You get a coupon with your purchase for vinylsuperstore.com. I find Siser Easyweed is cheaper on Ebay and the glitter vinyl is cheaper on the website if you order $75 to get free shipping.
April
Thanks for sharing!
What if i want to have a business designing SVG files. Would I be able to be a vinyl distributor? (I assume that wouldn’t be a compromise of interests?)
You would have to ask the distributor, but I don’t think that would be viewed as a conflict of interest.
I prefer to sell my handmade goodies. Thanks for this information.
Wow, that was informative. I imagine those high minimums keep alot of possible sellers at bay. Thanks for the info!
Always happy to share information!
Bummer for us crafters! I love using vinyl on my crafts. I buy mine from a guy on Amazon. I get 5 rolls of 12″ x 60″ for about $25. I probably shouldn’t share my secrets 😉 but if you (you as in anyone reading this) are getting a better deal maybe you could share, too! 😉
Thanks for sharing, Lorri!
Starting a small business selling goods at local craft fairs in VA. Would you be nice enough to share the name of the Amazon store u order from? It would be greatly appreciated… Thanks in Advance…
Great info! I was wondering about this. And, can you tell me about the vinyl holder in the picture? Thanks!
It’s from a trade show.
We have 2 retail stores and I was wondering what was the best way to purchase to sell? We are a discount store. Are there any shows you can go to and buy? Thanks
Contact the manufacturers. And, yes, there are plenty of trade shows. Here’s links to dates of one of the largest ones: http://www.issshows.com/index.shtml
WOW! Thank you so much for this info! I am a screen printer that does occasional vinyl and was looking for a wholesaler when I found this blog. Sucks that we cant buy for a cheaper price, but that’s the way the world turns I guess. I will be saving your site to check out your other stuff, but I really just wanted to thank you for doing the research I just set out to do and saved me a ton of time!! You are very informative and I appreciate your time!
Hi Patrick! Thanks for the kind words! 🙂
So it is my dream to open my own little craft store in my hometown, I really want to carry siser and oracal vinyl because I really enjoy the product and want to share it with others in my area. Are you saying in order for me to become a retailer of these products that I will have to spend $100,000+? Or is that just the distribution price? I know that I will never have that much to pour into my little craft store.
Oracal is much harder to order direct due to the high minimums – you may have to go through a “middleman” distributor. For Siser, it is about $60K a year to stay a distributor. Hope that helps!
HI, love this little article about being vendor. I would love more info on this, I have contacted some people at Siser. The problem Im noticing right now is that those companies dont want to talk to me since I dont have the business running yet. and I dont want to get the loan first bc I want to make sure that this is even doable. Make sense? We have lot of sign places here in town BUT they are expensive. We have two places that sell at good price but they are far from me, I live in HUGE city. I was thinking that maybe we could use another place. Anyway I can speak to you more about this?
Yes, it is a catch 22. While you start your business, you may need to buy from a “middle man” distributor. Then, once you are started, you reach out to distributors.
Othe last l bought vinyl from ( ordered on the 23 of Feb, and still have not shipped ). They also create things with vinyl to sell. So some how there is a way to sell creations and vinyl.
It’s highly frowned upon, although I know a few do it.
How can we find the “middle man” distributors? I have done vinyl designs for years but would much rather sell the vinyl. There are a lot of hobbyist in the town I’m from..I think a vinyl front store would be great, Just not tangible with a 60-100 k investment:(
Hello! Anyone already a Siser distributor can be a middle man. Look for someone who sells large rolls, buy from them, and cut down into sheets or smaller rolls.
So, if I wanted to become a vinyl retailer, I can buy from any Siser distributor (someone in my area), cut the rolls down, and resell? Or do I need to first contact Siser directly before reselling their product? I am confused about the chain (distributor, manufacturer, retailer, etc.) and what a retailer can / can’t do with the resale of vinyl.. AH, HELP!
Correct. Many smaller vinyl stores do this. You wouldn’t need to contact Siser – but you could not advertise yourself as an Authorized Dealer.
Siser and Oracal connected me with a distributor but I am finding out that they are not the cheaper companies to buy from. It just takes research and lots of calls to see where you get the cheapest of each type of vinyl.
Even to buy from the distributor you have to be approved from Siser and they contact the Distributor once you have made it passed the Siser company they give your information to them and they contact you once you have been approved. Then you go through an orientation and learn about Siser. Once set up you have to purchase a large sum of product that yes we get lucky enough to cut. Siser sets the price for you to sell the product at. Buyer beware if you are getting Siser product very very cheap they may say it is Siser but it may not be. I have customers that got a great sale on what a company said it was Siser it took her from Thanksgiving till almost February to receive it. In December when she notified them that she wanted her money back because of how long they stated that it was labeled and fixing to ship. Not true. When she received product and none of the HTV stuck to the shirt when heat press was used. No refund lost her money. There are no markings on the product to let you know it is not Siser. Oracal does mark on the back of theirs. I am learning as I go and guess I can say I have been lucky with both companies. They are there for me when I need them or have any questions. My next authorized retailer badge as I call then is with Starcraft that was another month waiting and filling out paperwork but received word last Thursday.
If you bought from middle man could you then sell crafts and vinyl ?
Yes, you wouldn’t be bound by any terms and conditions to the distributor, but you will pay a higher price.
If you were to buy from a distributor, could you resell it or is that frowned upon?
Yes, you can. This is how many small vinyl shops start out.
The best place I’ve found to buy vinyl from is signwarehouse.com They are quick at shipping, have a huge supply, and have great customer service. I haven’t found a distributor that sells for less either. I’ve been looking for the last couple hours to see if anyone has outdone their prices yet, and I still haven’t found anyone.
Thanks for sharing!
I would love to have a vinyl retail store. I’m just not sure it would be real profitable. Thank you for the information.
Bummer! No use in starting a store that you don’t think would be profitable.
I have been lucky enough to be able to open a vinyl store just this year. We started working on it December 1,2017. There was red tape like one guy at Siser didn’t like my name but one guy passed it to another and here we are today. I am lucky there isn’t a store for about 80 miles west of a big city and everywhere else over a 100 plus miles away. It is a lot of hard work and there is a lot of red tape sometimes. On one product I had to give almost a resume of my work history and how I came to opening the store. Then another with questions after I sent that then waited about 3 weeks to find out I am now a authorized reseller on another product. My hardest one is Cricut I have emailed and done this several times trying to find out how to carry everything crafters need for their Cricut such as blades, Matt’s etc. one thing about my store is I do teach people how to use their machines if they are having problems or do better hands on with a little help instead of watching and starting over YouTube.
Thanks for sharing!
Anna, can I contact you to get more information about how you started.
I’m currently in the process of setting up my business which not only sells my own custom signs, but I also will provide mobile workshops for several crafts, sell wood blanks and cutouts, and also stencils which will have the option of requesting custom stencils. I do not want to offer just Mylar material because if it’s required bridges, but want to offer ones that are for one time use, specially Oracal Oramask 810. This Oramask is the priciest of all 4 that are available; however, in my experience it causes less problems that arise when using the 813 and even the 811 (paint pullling up when removing and also wood splinters). Obviously, my purchase will be from a distributor, but is selling the vinyl as stencils to customers going to be an issue?
No, it shouldn’t be.
Thank you so much for this post. I would love to open up a vinyl shop on my side of town. The closest one is 35-40 miles away. Is there any specifics you should approach a potential middle man with? or do you just say “Hello. I am looking to open a business.” Would they feel as if it would be competition even if they are on a different side of town?
I doubt you’ll have good luck with a local store supplying your vinyl for sale at your nearby store. I’d look for a large online seller and ask if any price breaks are available for you if you order in bulk.