How We Define Wholesale: Who We Can Sell To
One of the most common questions we get asked, particularly at this time of year, is “Who can you sell to?” Since we are a “wholesale” business, the answer to this question is a bit complex.
North Carolina Farms is a wholesale company that sells to:
- Other businesses
- Schools
- Nonprofits
With wholesale clubs like Sams and Costco, the word wholesale has come to mean “low prices on high volumes.” When we say we are a wholesale company, we mean that in the traditional sense of “low prices on high volumes to be retailed by others.”
In short, we sell business to business. Let’s look at some examples.
You can order from us if you fall under any of these categories:
- You have a greenhouse business
- You are a school
- You are a nonprofit or tax-exempt organization
- You are in the process of building a business, and you are ordering plants with the intention to sell them
We cannot take your order if:
- You are the end-user of the product you’re ordering
- You are ordering the product without intention to sell
- You are ordering the product to decorate your yard, porch, or home
Our website asks you to confirm that you are a business or tax-exempt organization multiple times throughout the ordering process. This process helps us make sure you fall into one of those categories.
You do not have to have a nursery license (another question we get often), but you do need to intend to sell the product in order to qualify for our tax-free sales model.
The “Why” Behind Wholesale
Because we are wholesale, we are legally obligated to only do business with other businesses. Laws prevent us from selling in the retail market because we are not set up to charge sales tax. If we sell to a homeowner or the end-user of the plant and we do not charge sales tax, we are breaking the law.
What can you do?
We highly recommend reaching out to locally-owned garden centers near you. If they don’t have what you’re looking for, but we do — let them know about us! They might be willing to order in some items for you.
