Investors who have the financial resources to allow them to take a long-term approach to their investment decisions are often qualified as a “wholesale investor”. As there is no established secondary market for selling those units, investors are expected to hold the units for the term of ownership.

Retail funds are investment funds intended for ordinary investors, as opposed to institutional investors. Retail funds include many classes of mutual funds and ETFs available for transactions through brokers or directly from the fund company.

Institutional investors do not use their own money, but rather invest other people’s money on their behalf. Retail investors are investing for themselves, often in brokerage or retirement accounts.

A distributor works closely with a manufacturer in order to sell more goods and gain better visibility on these goods. Distributors find wholesalers who will resale their products. A wholesaler works more closely with retailers to match their needs through buying products in bulk at a discount.

Amazon is not a wholesaler, it’s an online retailer. The purpose of Amazon.com and most other retailers is to make a profit on the products they sell with a markup. Sellers on Amazon are also retailers that buy from wholesalers or direct from manufacturers, add a margin and resell the products on Amazon.

TYPES OF WHOLESALERS The three categories used in the Census of Wholesale Trade are: 1) merchant wholesalers; 2) agents, brokers, and commission merchants; and manufacturers’ sales branches and offices.

Walmart (WMT) is a giant in the retail space. It is the second-largest retailer on the planet, behind Amazon (AMZN). As a seller of many vastly different products, Walmart has an extensive supply chain that consists of 2,800 suppliers worldwide. Being a supplier for Walmart is a profitable and unique relationship.

Walmart China “firmly believes” in local sourcing with over 95 percent of their merchandise coming from local sources. In America, estimates say that Chinese suppliers make up 70-80 percent of Walmart’s merchandise, leaving less than 20 percent for American-made products.