B2B Wholesale Marketplaces - Stats from A Vendor

You think you're confused? We're all confused. It seems a few times a week my customers ask me if they should be buying our fair trade jewelry on this site or another. Or should they order direct at www.dunitz.com? They want to know how all these sites differ. Since I am not a buyer, I can't share with you how these sites operate from a buyer's perspective. I can share with you how they vary from a vendor's.

FAIRE is the market leader when it comes to B2B gift buying. Their site is the most sophisticated and their fees are the largest for vendors.  An opening order comes with a commission of 25%. Reorder commissions are 15%. Dunitz is on FAIRE. 

Technically FAIRE is the vendor. They collect money. And they pay us on the terms we agree upon with them.  FAIRE collects all resale tax information from buyers.

We choose to have all FAIRE orders paid out on Net 30. The other options for vendors is to be paid in 2 or 3 days at an additional cost of 3%.

If you can prove a relationship with a store (in the form of an invoice during the previous two years, or email communication, or registration on your back-end) FAIRE will remove the commission fee. One way to expedite this process is to upload your entire customer list to the FAIRE system. FAIRE says they don't use our lists for any reason other than to help prove prior relationships.

 

ABOUND seems to be #2 in order generation. It definitely is a smaller organization that has a more mom & pop feel about it. An opening order on ABOUND comes with a 15% commission. Reorder rate is 8%. Dunitz is on ABOUND.

Similar to Faire, ABOUND is the vendor. They collect money. And they pay us on the terms we agree upon with them.  ABOUND collects all resale tax information from buyers.

We choose to have all ABOUND orders paid out on Net 45, which really translates to Net 60. The other options for vendors is to be paid in 2 or 3 days. In this case, I believe vendors pay ABOUND higher commissions. 25% on first orders. 15% on reorders. If you're going to sell on ABOUND, double check this.

If you can prove a prior relationship with a store on ABOUND, they will wave the commissions.

 

 

MSA Marketplace is a proprietary B2B website only available to Museum Store Association members. MSA buyers can place orders on this site, which is operated by Brandwise. The marketplace collects orders. It is the responsibility of the vendor to ship, collect payment and obtain resale #s. (In our case we need to collect tax information for the State of California where we are based.)  Brandwise (on behalf of MSA Marketplace) sends us an invoice monthly to be paid of 3% of orders placed.  Vendors pay this 3% whether orders are shipped complete or not, or at all. This fee is split between Brandwise and MSA. Dunitz & Company is a proud member of MSA and our catalog is available to buyers on this portal.

FTF Marketplace is scheduled to launch in March 2022. The FTF Marketplace will be operated by Markettime. Since Dunitz & Company is a verified member, our catalog will be available on this portal. My understanding is that any bonafide wholesale buyer will be able to place orders on this B2B site. The benefit to them is they will know all vendors have been screened for their ethical business practices. Similar to MSA Marketplace, the FTF site will collect orders.  All processing, payment collections and tax data is the responsibility of the vendors featured on the site.  For this service, Markettime will bill 5% on orders written, whether they ship complete or not, or at all.  This fee will be split between Markettime and FTF. (BTW, Markettime recently purchased Brandwise. Sadly their systems currently are different. Translation: Vendors need to re-create completely new pages for each of these sites.)

Juniper is a new B2B marketplace that launched earlier this month. This site is the brainstorm of International Market Centers. That's the group that operates the home and gift shows in Las Vegas, Atlanta and High Point. Initially this portal was designed to promote the exhibitors and lease-holders at these shows. Now they are adding to their arsenal by pursuing other vendors. Yes, they are now pursuing us. Dunitz & Company over the years has exhibited at Las Vegas, Atlanta and High Point. Currently, not. 

Juniper's fee for collecting orders is 8% for those that do not exhibit at their shows. (It's 4% if you exhibit at their shows or lease showroom space in one of their buildings.)  There is no concession if a vendor has a prior relationship with a buyer. No matter what, any order collected on Juniper comes with the commission. Unlike MSA and FTF, the Juniper portal charges on orders actually shipped.  

Juniper is young and they are definitely working out some processing kinks so they can be competitive with sites like FAIRE and ABOUND that offer Net 60 payment terms for buyers.  Juniper Credit will launch soon.  What does that mean?  Juniper will take on the risk of payment on invoices for a fee. If a vendor wants to be paid in 2 days, or 30 days, they will pay 2.5% or 4.5% respectively.  Translation. For Dunitz & Company, assuming we agree to Net 30 terms as we do on FAIRE, Juniper will take a 10.5% fee on any order written for us on their site.  As of writing this blog post, Dunitz & Company is not on Juniper. Stay tuned.

 

Tundra - Yes, here's another B2B site. Honestly, I have not researched this one completely.  My impression is my colleagues who have signed up to sell on Tundra have been less successful.  Tundra does not charge vendors commissions for collecting orders.  My understanding is a vendor must pay advertising fees to be seen by buyers that log in.  If you're reading this and you shop and/or buy on Tundra please let me know how it works for you. 

DUNITZ & COMPANY is our proprietary site we built so you can work with us directly. It is the easiest for us to manage. We can offer more options on our own site.  Managing all of the others is a bit cumbersome. Want to order a bunch of Starry Night earrings for your store? On our site you can.  On the other sites, we can only make "assortments" available. Managing special orders and back-orders is easily done when working direct. With restrictions on other sites, it is more difficult. We also have some items we offer with lower margins. Our Judaica Collection is an example. We can't afford to list these designs on FAIRE and pay 25% commission. We've also learned that with FAIRE and ABOUND, they expect orders to ship almost as quickly as they are received. We need to limit what we offer on these sites to the items we stock deep and can ship super quickly.

 

Do I think everyone, everywhere is creating a B2B buying website to snag a piece of the pie? Yes. At the end of they day, I'm thrilled to obtain new business where-ever it comes from.  It's like that old story of which credit card I prefer. Visa or Amex? Truth is it's all good. I like it all. I'm not going to eliminate one because they charge me a larger fee. Are some of these B2B sites easier to use than others? Yes. Might I prefer one over another? Yes. Am I happy to have business come in from any of them? Yes. The bottom line is no matter where you shop, I appreciate you shopping Dunitz & Company's fair trade jewelry.

Please share with me your experiences with these sites. I'd love to hear from you. And thank you for being our customer. -ND

Christmas Windows We Adore - Now & Then

We love discovering Dunitz & Company fair trade jewelry in our client's retail stores. And this time of year, we adore seeing their Christmas windows. Here are some of our Christmas favorites. Most are from 2021. Some are from years past.

 

Eyes Gallery, Philadelphia PA

 

HumanKind fair trade, San Luis Obispo CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Myers Fashion etc., Alpena MI

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Sun, Rhinebeck NY

 

Bead Wear, Towson MD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World's Window, Kansas City MO

 

LuzLuna Imports, Half Moon Bay CA

 

 

 

 

 

Flavours of Life, New London CT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sterling Butterfly, Martinsville IN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Fort Davis TX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bohemian Rose, Bath ME 

Bay Gift Vault, Crisfield MD 

Creative Women of the World, Ft Wayne IN

Have seasonal windows we've missed? Please send me a pic and I'll gladly share your display in this post. And I'll add your website or facebook link as well. It is our pleasure to share info on our clients who support us by selling Dunitz & Company fair trade jewelry. We love you and appreciate you. -ND

November is for Thanks. Our Small Fair Trade Business Thanks You.

And like that, it's November. And November is for thanks. It's been a tough time for so many small fair trade businesses like ours. The trials and tribulations presented by Covid did not fall lightly on Dunitz & Company. And I know it's been a tough go for so many others. I thought this was the perfect time to prove the glass is always half full, not half empty. In no particular order, and on behalf of Dunitz & Company, here is a bunch of thanks. [And if you want to know why this pic to the right is so special, you'll need to read to the end!]

 

 

We're thankful for our customers, many who keep coming back time and time again. Clearly they wouldn't be reordering if our fair trade jewelry didn't sell. We also know there are so many choices out there. And we're thankful they do keep coming back. When brick & mortar stores began opening up again earlier this year, we were overjoyed that so many of our existing customers restocked with our designs. (This collage was made in 2015. It certain shows how much we appreciate you all!.)

 

We're thankful for our clients who have collaborated with us to create custom designs for their stores. There are too many to name. We did write a blog post not too long ago, where we singled out many projects. Click to check it out here. You might get some good ideas for your store! The earrings featured to the right are offered by ZeeBee Market in Saint Louis.

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our artisan colleagues in Guatemala who continue to produce high quality jewelry that our customers want. Even with Covid, we've managed to keep things going and people working. (You can see I put together this collage before I stopped coloring my hair.) These are some of the folks I work with in Guatemala. We make a difference for them. They make a difference for us.

 

 

 

We're thankful for the Small Business Administration and the loans and in some cases forgiveness they provided for some of that loan money during Covid times. The extra slush has helped Dunitz & Company as we say "keep our head above water."

 

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our supportive fair trade colleagues. There are those that share ideas instead of hiding them. Ones that give you shout-outs from time to time, just because. This year we've collaborated on several projects with HoonArts, Sevya and Baskets of Africa. Our most recent collaboration was a joint gift to Fair Trade Federation for their virtual auction fundraiser.

 

 

 

We're thankful for our newest company mascot that brings love and humor to our office daily. We're speaking of Bella the weimaraner. She joined us in March from the Los Angeles Shelter.

 

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our often messy office, which allows us to get our work done in a safe place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our office landlord who reduced our monthly rent during these crazy times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our neighbors who pawn off their used boxes and packing materials on us. We love not spending money on packing materials when we don't have to. And we also like knowing by recycling, we are saving our planet just a little bit. Our neighbors run a small vegan grocery.

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for the support organizations we're part of that continue to educate the masses about the merits of fair trade. Fair Trade Federation, Fair Trade Los Angeles, Green America.

 

 

 

We're thankful for our museum store clients and our membership at Museum Store Association. (My love of fine art, my art history studies and my new found love as a portrait artist feed my love of working with museum stores even more.)

 

 

We're thankful for the new "wholesale rep" websites (in the absence of trade shows,) that have sprung up and grown in recent times. FAIRE and ABOUND have allowed us to find and connect with new retail stores. This new way of connecting with retailers may mean we won't have to travel to trade shows as they now become available again.

 

We're thankful that some of our customers are now selling Dunitz & Company jewelry online. We always knew they'd have success. I think the downtime from Covid allowed many of our clients to grease up their websites. Did you know we have a store locator function on our websites? If we don't have a retailer in any given area, these websites will pop up as options to purchase our designs. [Note: To be listed on our store locator, you need to have purchased from us within 6 months.]

 

We're thankful for Etsy. Our sales on Etsy wouldn't support us. However, the retail business we've garnered during Covid lock down on this site has allowed us to cover some of those bills that never stopped coming in. If you have an Etsy shop and you're looking for expert help on how to boost your sales, we highly recommend Dave DeNard. Watch his YouTube videos and consider some of his virtual classes. Thank you, Dave.

 

 

 

 

We're thankful that more buyers are finding our retail site we fondly call Shop Dunitz. Seriously, we don't drive that much traffic to our retail site. And when we do, it makes us dance a little happy dance.

 

 

We're thankful for the colleagues and friends that allowed us to interview them during these crazy Covid times for our blog. It's hard to believe just how long this pandemic has been going on. It was way back in June 2020 that I interviewed Lindsay Woodruff of Pachamama Market. In February 2021 I featured designers that work in Guatemala including Anne Kelly (Mayan Hands), Caryn Maxim and Jennifer Webster (Mayamam Weavers) and Alison Havens (Yabal.) Yes, I shared my own stories too. In June 2021, I interviewed Elisha Chan, Executive Director of Fair Trade LA. Please check out these posts. Everyone had something worthwhile to say. If you think I should interview you, let me know know.

We're thankful for our fans and followers on Facebook and Instagram. We don't always know if you're watching.We definitely appreciate your likes and comments. Keep them coming. And post pics wearing your jewelry. We love being featured in Stories. We do have a few super fans. So to all of you, thank you.

 

Did I say November is for thank yous? I'm sure Dunitz & Company owes a bunch more thanks to a bunch more people than what I've shared above. In any case this is definitely a good start. These definitely have been tough times. And, I'm thankful for all the good I've shared and encountered during them. Stay well my friends and Thank You! 

The morning after completing this post, I was driving to meet a friend for breakfast. The car in front had the perfect license plate. It was as if the universe was speaking back at me. The light changed. I got stuck behind the red light as the perfect plate sped ahead. Phew, I was catching up again. And then a car scooted in front of me. Needless to say I was disappointed I didn't capture a photo. A bit later down the road, I was caught by another light. And there in the left turn lane was the car, with the perfect plate. Snap. Snap. It gets better. The reason I sometimes snap plates is because my niece posts a lot of "good ones" on her Instagram. You know, It's a way to connect with her. I didn't realize until I was actually texting her a pic of this plate later in the day, that the car ended up being under the sign "Rocco's." And then I knew the universe was also speaking to her. Rocco was her much beloved pit pull who passed away very recently. He was sending Thank yous from heaven. -ND

Fair Trade Recipes for the Sweet Tooth

Most of you know I'm passionate about my fair trade jewelry business, Dunitz & Company. Did you know I also love baking? I often scour the internet for recipes that use fair trade ingredients or could use them. Perhaps you've seen Dunitz & Company's Pinterest Fair Trade Recipe board with some of my discoveries? More than anything, I have a sweet tooth. If you share my love of dessert, you might want to try some of these recipes.

 

I adore all things coconut. When I discovered this recipe from This Week for Dinner, I knew it had to go on the to-do list. As long as you have ingredients, you'll only spend about half an hour making a batch. You can easily use fair trade ingredients in the recipe. Chocolate. Cocoa Powder. Sugar. Vanilla. Even Coconut.

Still like things very chocolatey, but without the coconut? This recipe from Alexandra's Kitchen adds espresso. Don't eat these before you go to bed. I haven't baked these yet. And I think they'd be the perfect breakfast food. Fair Trade coffee is really easy to find. If you're reading this post, I'm assuming you already know that.

These fair trade Chocolate Mocha Brownies are a great way to eat something delicious and feel good about what your banking. You can use lots of fair trade ingredients with these. I discovered this recipe at Fair Trade Foundation based in United Kingdom. I'm always impressed by the support for fair trade in UK. Here at home, I still need to explain to many people what fair trade is. I think they're ahead of us here in UK.

 

So you want something sweet and crunchy while you huddle in front of the television? This recipe from Fair Trade Winds for spiced popcorn should do the trick. They even offer up resources for the olive oil (Serrv), spices (Frontier Co-op), sugar (Wholesome Sweeteners) and cocoa powder (Equal Exchange) you might choose to use.

Here's a surprise. I always opt for white chocolate over milk chocolate. That's why this recipe for Banana White Chocolate Brownies really appealed to me. Bananas allow these to be really chewy. And they are definitely for those of you who like things sweeeeeeet! The Glamorous Glutton, based in UK, was my source for these. Have you ever bought fair trade bananas before? Now when you see some in your local grocer, you can consider baking these.

Fair Trade Judaica offers up this Honey Cake recipe, perfect for the holidays. Think fair trade honey for this one.  African Bronze, a member of Fair Trade Federation comes to mind for a resource. I haven't made this recipe before. It is on my list. And I adore that it calls for raisins too. 

Salt in My Coffee, a blogger from Maine has a great recipe for gluten free peanut butter blossoms. She promotes fair trade with these cookies with using fair trade dark chocolate. YES! She also provides ideas for substitutions in the recipe. Prefer honey over sugar. You can do that. This is another recipe I haven't made before. I will try it soon. Want some?

Looking for a fabulous fair trade rug? check out Bunyaad. (They also sell Dunitz & Company jewelry in their retail store.) Since you're reading this blog post, you'll probably be most interested in their rice pudding recipe I recently discovered. This recipe is simple to make. Looking to serve a bit of the exotic from your kitchen? This is a Pakistani favorite.

 

 

 

 Sweets for breakfast? I love that Fair Trade Certified's mixed berry scones are made with.....drum roll....fair trade strawberries and blueberries.  And fairly sourced sugar too. On occasion, I've actually discovered fair trade berries at Costco. When I do, they go into my cart. Let me know if you try this recipe.

And finally, you need something yummy to wash this all down! StyleWise Blog provides a recipe for a fair trade ginger tea hot toddy. You can use fair trade tea and honey to make this one. I'm not entirely sure if you can find fair trade bourbon. If you find some let me know.

Now you have my list of 10 fabulous fair trade recipes to soothe your sweet tooth. Sometimes at Dunitz & Company, it's just fun to talk about something other than jewelry. If you have a favorite dessert where you use fair trade ingredients, I hope you will share it with me. I'm always game to bake something new. And don't forget to follow our Pinterest fair trade food & recipes board to get more ideas from us.-ND