wholesaler
Americannoun
-
wholesalers
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Explanation
A wholesaler is a person or business that sells items to retail stores, which then sell them to individual customers for a higher price. You could also call a wholesaler a distributor. Anyone who sells goods to other businesses, rather than directly to customers, is a wholesaler. The bookshop in your town and the big-box store in a strip mall are both retailers; they buy goods from wholesalers, who sell them large quantities of books or patio furniture, etc., to be resold to individual shoppers.
Vocabulary lists containing wholesaler
"Curtis Aikens and the American Dream" and "Go For It!"
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 10
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Investing in heat-countering measures has become essential to maintain the existing workforce and attract new recruits, said Yutaka Kono from Konoe, the specialist wholesaler of screws and surveying equipment where Tabuchi works.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
Citadel Securities, the largest retail wholesaler, said that SpaceX had the highest retail order activity it had ever seen for an IPO auction.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 12, 2026
Alderney Electricity is the main wholesaler for the island's fuel, which is shipped from the UK via Guernsey.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
The San Diego County Water Authority serves as a wholesaler, delivering water to 22 cities and other agencies that serve 3.3 million people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
I hurried down to the door, introduced him hastily to the wife of an Amsterdam wholesaler, and got him upstairs.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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Two wholesalers interviewed by AFP on condition of anonymity said they are still sourcing from Iran, notably via Omani ports.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
But rather than slash prices, the WSJ’s Jennifer Williams reports, the company opted to cut back on discounts, pull some products from shelves and sell fewer shoes to wholesalers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
The company reduced sales of its namesake foam clogs to wholesalers and cut back on direct-to-consumer discounts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
He said the company engaged in "organised, planned, unlawful activity" and "misled wholesalers, retailers and consumers".
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
On one occasion, Borgenicht realized that his only chance to undercut bigger firms was to convince the wholesalers to sell cloth to him directly, eliminating the middleman.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.