wholesaler

American  

[hohl-sayl-er] / ˈhoʊlˌseɪl ər /

noun

1. a business that sells products primarily to manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and other client companies rather than to end-use consumers, usually for less than the retail price.

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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.

Example Sentences

Craig Beauregard used to pick up a few gold bars when they went on sale at Costco, but now when he visits the wholesaler, he only sees silver.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Motor vehicle and parts wholesaler sales climbed 6.1% as supply-chain challenges eased.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

The water will move from one area to the other through the pipelines of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the regional wholesaler that imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026

Twelve kilometers from the hotel zone, crossing empty streets with minimal traffic, residents in the well-off neighborhood of Fluvial Vallarta wandered through the parking lot of a Costco wholesaler.

From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026

Her father, Charles Ford, was a produce wholesaler.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• broker
• dealer
• exporter
• operator
• retailer
• seller
• shipper
• shopkeeper
• trader
• trafficker
• vendor