Wholesale braiding hair: where braiders buy in bulk

The five ways to buy

Most braiders use two or three: one cheap source for the shades they go through every week, and a fast one for the rest.

Your local beauty supply

The easiest wholesale account is the one you already have. If you buy the same packs every week, ask the manager for a price by the case or for a regular order. Come with a number: how many packs of which shade you buy in a month. A store that knows you’ll be back often meets you on price, and puts your shades aside when a delivery comes in.

Beauty distributors for pros

Professional beauty distributors sell only to people in the trade, and check your documents before your account opens. In a state that doesn’t license braiding there is no license to show: ask the distributor before you go whether it takes a braider registration, a business license or a resale certificate instead. Read the sign-up page first: not every distributor carries braiding hair, and some don’t ship to every state.

The brand’s own program

Some brands sell direct in tiers. New Village Braid, for example, lists three on its own page: retail with no minimum, bulk at 50 pieces for 20% off, and wholesale at 200 pieces for 50% off, by application, with the buyer paying shipping. If one brand makes most of your installs, look on its site for a wholesale, bulk or pro page, or write to it and ask.

Online bulk sellers and multi-packs

Online stores sell braiding hair by the dozen or the case, and marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart sell multi-packs. They are handy for a shade your store doesn’t stock or a booking tomorrow. Buy from the brand’s own store, or a seller that names the brand, the fiber and the pack contents, and check the return policy before you order a case.

A resale certificate, and when it applies

A resale certificate is a form from your state’s tax office that lets a business buy goods it will resell without paying sales tax on them; you then collect the tax when you sell. To issue one you usually need your state’s sales tax permit first.

Texas is an example. Its resale certificate is Form 01-339: a taxable item bought for resale is tax-free when the seller accepts one properly filled in. If you use the item yourself instead of reselling it, you owe the tax on it. You need a Texas sales tax permit if you sell goods or taxable services there, and the Comptroller says to allow 2 to 3 weeks for it.

For a braider that matters: hair you sell a client as a product is resale, but hair you use up in a service may count as your own use, depending on your state. Ask your state’s tax office or an accountant before you buy tax-free. A permit can also oblige you to file returns.

Compare the cost per bundle, not per pack

A “pack” means different things. New Village Braid sells one 75 g bundle per pack, a 3X pack holds several, and some brands sell a whole head in one. Before you compare two sellers, work out:

• Price per bundle: the pack price divided by the bundles in it. Check the grams on the label too.
• Shipping: add it to the order and divide by the bundles. A low price with paid shipping can cost more than your store.
• The minimum: a better price on 200 pieces is only better if you’ll use 200 pieces before the shades change.
• Pre-stretched or not: hair that isn’t pre-stretched costs less, but you stretch and feather it yourself before the appointment. Count that time.
• Your cost per head: price per bundle times the bundles the style takes. The counts for every size and length are in How many packs of braiding hair?

Before you place a bulk order: a checklist

• The shades your bookings use. Go through the last month’s appointments and count packs by shade and length. Order those; buy the rest as clients ask. Which fibre each style takes is in Best braiding hair.
• One brand per shade. Shades with the same number differ from brand to brand, so a braid from a second brand can show.
• Storage. A dry, closed shelf or bins out of the sun, sealed packs flat so they don’t crease, and labels you can read at a glance.
• Returns. Read the seller’s policy for unopened packs and wrong shades before you pay, and keep the packing slip.
• Counterfeits. Fake packs of popular brands circulate. X-Pression’s maker in Nigeria has warned that some of the fakes sold under its name are highly flammable, and it added a sticker you scan to check a pack. Buy from the brand or a seller you trust, and be wary of a price far below everyone else’s.
• Who pays for it. Decide whether the hair is in your price or charged per pack before you stock it: Does your price include the hair?
• The rest of the shelf. Combs, gel and the sanitation kit are on the hair braiding supplies checklist.

Questions braiders ask