An electronic wholesaler is someone who sells electronics to retailers at wholesale prices. These are obviously much cheaper than the retail prices and thus they can receive a lot of business. They buy in bulk from the manufacturer and are therefore able to sell the products at a much cheaper price. Some manufacturers will sell their products directly to the consumer. They effectively bypass the middle man when trading with the consumer.

Wholesaling is defined as the sale of merchandise to retailers, commercial businesses or other wholesalers. The United Nations Statistics Division considers wholesale to be the resale of both new and used goods to commercial companies or the brokering of buying goods on behalf of another retailer.

A wholesaler will usually be responsible for sorting goods into large blocks for sale. They will then sort these into smaller blocks and mark them for distribution. They may also be responsible for grading the produce and checking for quality. A wholesaler will usually sell from its own independent premises, although some operate on specialized markets.

Many products are sold wholesale, but electronics feature in particular. These can include cell phones, computers, DVD players, CD players, MP3 players, MP4 players, MP5 players, radios, car stereos, digital cameras, digital camcorders, digital photo frames, video games and other accessories.

In historical terms, a wholesaler was usually to be located close to the markets that they targeted. However, with the rise of the internet wholesalers are often found near the actual place of manufacture. Mainland China, Taiwan and South East Asia are all becoming popular locations. India is also catching up as a fast producer of consumer goods, but lacks the economic base to capitalize on widespread wholesaling.

China is fast becoming the leading world electronics wholesaler, overtaking the United States and Russia. This is down to many reasons. Firstly, China has the largest manufacturing base in the world. Secondly, China is able to manufacture products at a much lower costs than companies based in the western world.

Thirdly, China has long enjoyed access to global markets, particularly the European Union and the United States. These already established trade links gave China the edge over its competitors. Fourthly, China imports top of the line Japanese technology in order to compete with western distributors. Finally, the development of the internet has allowed the much smoother transition of goods and services and has led to the rise of the e-wholesaler.

One example of the new breed of internet based wholesaler is Chinavasion. This is an ecommerce company that is registered in Hong Kong. It sells consumer electronics all across the world from its base of operations in Shenzhen, China. It was one of the first companies to use the internet to sell goods to consumers at a global level. It claims to be the largest of the electronic wholesalers operating in China. It serves over 275, 000 registered buyers and its products have been reviewed by a wide range of western media. It buys products from OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) manufacturers and then passes them on to drop shippers and sells on its website.