How to approve wholesale customers, step by step.

A simple way to decide

1. 1Write down what qualifiesTwo or three sentences: who you sell wholesale to, and what proves it. Decide once, so every applicant is judged the same way.
2. 2Check what they sentThat the business exists, that a license is current with the board that issued it, and that a certificate names the same business. Those checks are yours to make.
3. 3Answer within a dayA buyer who waits a week buys elsewhere. Answer from your inbox the day an application comes in.
4. 4Say no kindly, with a reasonTell them what was missing. A good buyer will fix it and apply again.

Not everyone needs to wait

• Buyers you already know: let them straight in from a list of their emails.
• A group you trust, such as your own staff: an application that approves on its own.
• Everyone else: by hand, as above.

Keep it tidy afterwards

Look over your approved buyers now and then. Someone whose license has lapsed, or who no longer buys from you, can be taken out of the group, and can apply again later. Someone who keeps applying without qualifying can be blocked from that application.

How GateVentory does each step

• Each new application is emailed to up to five addresses, with Approve and Reject buttons, and the documents attached if you choose.
• Rejecting asks for an optional note, which is emailed to the applicant. Your last note is kept for next time.
• Lists of known buyers come in as a CSV or Excel file, or as emails pasted in. Anyone on the list who applies with that email is approved at once.
• Each application approves by hand or on its own, and a buyer can be removed or blocked from it.

See Wholesale applications.

Read next

• What to ask on a wholesale applicationThe questions worth asking on a wholesale account application, the documents to request, and what to leave out so good buyers finish the form and apply.
• Wholesale applicationsBuild your wholesale account application, approve or reject buyers from your inbox, and let only approved buyers see their prices and order from your store.
• For brands and distributorsA wholesale ordering portal for brands and distributors: bring in your vendors' catalogs, approve your buyers, and send each vendor its own orders to ship.