Decide what you should buy
Write down the item you intend to sell, your creative contribution and what the supplier will provide. Review Etsy’s Creativity Standards before choosing stock. A wholesale listing does not establish Etsy eligibility. Materials for your own making, a product manufactured from your design and finished goods for resale require different decisions. Keep that decision in your product-and-role record.
Then check the account, payment and delivery options available for your situation. Decide which steps you can manage directly and which need purchasing assistance. Give each participant a defined responsibility before money changes hands.
If your role or the product basis remains unclear, complete the product-and-role decision before paying for a sample or committing to stock.
Confirm the variant, pack size and minimum order
Save the supplier link with a dated screenshot. Record material, dimensions, colour reference, finish, included accessories and the exact variant. Ask what the displayed price buys: one piece, one pair or a pack. Confirm the minimum order quantity (MOQ), whether it applies per variant and which quantity earns the quoted price.
Illustration only: you need 120 components, supplied in packs of 20. Six packs provide 120 pieces. If the minimum is four packs per colour and you want two colours, you must buy eight packs, or 160 pieces. At an assumed 18 currency units per pack, goods cost 144 before other charges. Revise the mix or budget before proceeding.
Approve a sample against written criteria
Request the exact variant and customisation you plan to order. Agree the sample cost, transport and checks before purchase. Compare dimensions, finish, colour and function against the specification; record photographs and any differences. Catalogue images alone cannot establish those details.
Give the accepted sample a reference and date. State which features the production order must match and which variations you accept. Request a replacement or revised sample when a critical feature changes. Keep rights, marketplace eligibility and any specialist safety checks as separate decisions; sample approval only accepts the features actually checked.
Authorize a versioned purchase quote
Request a written quote listing the supplier, product references, quantities, unit or pack prices, currency, domestic transport, agreed purchasing charges and production timing. Identify deposits, balance payments, quote expiry and the agreed process for shortages, defects or substitutions. Mark estimated charges clearly.
Approve a named version, such as “Purchase brief v2, 15 October”, with the sample reference and maximum authorized spend. Specify who may place the order and which changes require your approval. Keep the payment and order confirmations beside that version. An early freight estimate remains provisional until the packed shipment and destination have been confirmed.
Connect supplier dispatch with receiving
Before dispatch, give the supplier the agreed receiving address and an order reference to put on every parcel. Ask for the dispatch date, parcel count, contents by variant and domestic tracking details. For several suppliers, keep a separate expected-arrivals line for each order.
Agree the receiving checks in advance: parcel count, visible damage, quantity or a specified product check. Ask for a receipt record showing arrivals, discrepancies and supporting photographs within that scope. Hold affected goods while deciding how to resolve a mismatch. Consolidation should use the goods actually received and released.
Confirm the final parcel and delivery quote
Choose packing after receiving results are available. Obtain the final parcel count, dimensions, gross weight, contents and destination details. Request a delivery quote that states the service, charge basis, included handling, estimated transit and treatment of duties or taxes. Confirm any missing information and who will handle required destination formalities.
Approve the final quote and packing instructions before release. Save the parcel list, dispatch reference and tracking with the purchase record. Use those confirmed costs in your stock-cost sheet and account for any remaining timing uncertainty before promising a customer delivery date.
Use the purchasing and consolidation preparation notes to discuss purchasing assistance, parcel grouping and delivery with EtsyCollege directly by email or WhatsApp.