Faire Wholesale Pricing: How to Build Margin Arithmetic That Survives Scrutiny
Most Faire pricing problems are set before the first order: a wholesale price chosen by feel, then defended forever. This is how to build a pricing architecture that works for the retailer, the marketplace and you.
By Joshua Kelvin — Founder, Distinct Founder
01Three parties have to make money, not one
A wholesale price is a three-way constraint. The retailer needs a margin that justifies shelf space and the working capital tied up in your stock. The marketplace takes commission. You need what remains to cover landed cost, fulfilment and overhead with something left over.
Brands that price by copying a competitor, or by halving their consumer price, discover the problem later — usually when volume finally arrives and every order is marginally unprofitable.
02Build the number from the inside out
Work in a fixed order and the arithmetic stops being guesswork.
- Landed cost per unit — manufacturing, freight, duties, packaging, and per-unit share of any tooling or minimum-order write-off.
- Fulfilment cost per wholesale order, including pick, pack, cartons and shipping you absorb.
- Marketplace commission at the least favourable rate you may pay on that product.
- The retailer's required margin at a suggested retail price their customer will accept.
- Your remaining contribution margin — and whether it survives a discount, a return or a freight increase.
03Suggested retail is a strategic decision, not a doubling
Suggested retail sets the market position of your product in every shop that stocks it. Set it too low and retailers cannot make the margin work; set it above what the category supports and the product sits unsold, which quietly ends the account.
Ground it in what comparable products actually retail for in the shops you want to be in, then work backwards to a wholesale price that leaves the retailer a healthy standard margin. If the arithmetic does not close, the problem is cost or product configuration — not the retailer's expectations.
04Use pack configuration and minimums instead of discounts
Discounting to win first orders trains buyers to wait for the next promotion and erodes the price your existing accounts paid. Case packs, tiered pack sizes, curated starter assortments and seasonal exclusives all let you adjust the commercial offer without touching the base wholesale price.
Minimums deserve the same care. Too high and small independents — often your best long-term reorder accounts — cannot test you. Too low and orders cost more to fulfil than they contribute. Set the minimum where a first order is genuinely low-risk for a small shop and still worth packing.
05Hold one price architecture across every channel
As soon as a second marketplace is added, differing commission structures tempt brands into different wholesale prices. Buyers compare, and inconsistency reads as disorganisation at best and bad faith at worst.
The workable approach is a single wholesale price architecture designed to absorb the highest commission in your channel mix, with channel differences expressed through pack configuration, exclusives or promotional timing — never through base price erosion.
06Review the arithmetic on a schedule
Landed cost drifts. Freight moves, packaging changes, suppliers reprice, and a margin that worked eighteen months ago quietly stops working. Re-run the calculation on a fixed cadence rather than in response to a crisis, and plan increases in advance so they can be communicated to accounts with notice and a reason.
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