This Worldwide Brands review features a complete overview of the key pros and cons. At the end, you’ll easily be able to determine if their wholesale directory is the right fit for your business style.
Let’s be honest, selling online is only lucrative if you have the right products (or services) to sell. For that reason, many entrepreneurs turn to wholesale directories like Worldwide Brands to source products to sell on an ecommerce website or third-party marketplace (e.g. eBay).
But wait, how will you make any money if everyone is using Worldwide Brands to source products?
Lets dig in and find out.
What Is Worldwide Brands?
For starters, Worldwide Brands is a fairly large wholesale directory service with over 17 million genuine and certified products. However, they’re not a direct supplier nor do they have products to sell.
The good thing to take away here is that these dropshippers, wholesalers, liquidators, and importers are willing to work with smaller home-based online sellers.
How Does Worldwide Brands Work?
After you pay for the membership and create an account, you are granted full access to the Worldwide Brands directory, forums, and support.
You can find products using the search tool. The search tool is fantastic because you have various options and filters to narrow down your search (e.g, brand, supplier location). There’s also an option to search by product category.
For example, let’s pretend you want to search for video games. The search results page will list all of the suppliers that sell video games. Each supplier page will include their contact information, products they sell, and other basic information.
Once you narrow it down to a supplier you’re willing to work with, you’ll be able reach out to them and start the process.
That’s about it. It’s a simple process. It beats searching for suppliers on Google or having to cold-call them.
Editors Note: You can’t physically order products through the Worldwide Brands dashboard. In other words, Worldwide Brands acts as a middleman and gets you in touch with the supplier.
Dropshipping Vs Wholesale
These are two business models that you can build your business around using Worldwide Brands or any other similar service. Here’s a simple breakdown:
- Dropshipping: You list an item and make a sale first. You then buy the product you just sold from a supplier at a lower cost, and the supplier ships the item directly to the customer.
- Wholesale: You buy inventory in bulk (e.g. 100 units) at a wholesale or discounted price. The supplier ships the items to a location of your choice. You store the inventory at your house, office, or warehouse. The item is listed for sale. Once the item sells, you safely package and ship the item to the customer.
Both models have a set of pros and cons. The biggest advantages of dropshipping is low to no startup costs and minimal overhead costs. The biggest advantages of buying in bulk is lower product costs and the ability to see and examine the product before it’s shipped to the customer.
In most cases, newer sellers start off with dropshipping and then transition to wholesale. But it’s a preference at the end.
Is Worldwide Brands Legit?
Worldwide Brands is a legitimate company that offers exactly what it promises: access to their wholesale directory. It’s not a scam. Now, whether it’s worth the money is a completely separate question.
In fact, the suppliers found on Worldwide Brands have been featured on the Travel Channel, Practical Ecommerce, National Geographic Channel, Brides, and Entrepreneur. In addition, Worldwide Brands has been listed in the Home Business Magazine as a top ecommerce opportunity.
Worldwide Brands Pricing
The cost of Worldwide Brands is a one-time fee of $299 for a lifetime membership. There are no other hidden fees with Worldwide Brands. The membership fee has to be paid in full using a credit card or PayPal.
However, the suppliers may have additional fees (e.g. dropship fees, shipping costs, taxes, etc.).
Discount: There’s a $50 off discount, which would bring down the membership fee to $249. The discount is already included in this link and every other link on this page.
Worldwide Brands Pros
These are the key pros for the Worldwide Brands membership:
1. Over 17 Million Products
The Worldwide Brands directory includes over 17 million genuine products that could be sold anywhere, including third party marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon.
Some of the popular product categories include movies & media, clothing, consumer electronics, health & beauty, home & garden, pet supplies, sporting goods, supplements & nutrition, tools, and toys.
There is a huge number of products available. This alone is worth the membership cost. However, not every single product is going to be profitable to sell. And that’s something to consider when deciding on a niche or product line.
2. Lifetime Membership
The membership cost is a one-time payment for the lifetime membership. Worldwide Brands doesn’t charge any other fees.
Even though it’s a one-time fee, coughing up over $200 is a hefty fee for those starting out. Thus, it’s important to figure out if you’ll be able to afford the cost.
That being said, there’s costs associated with starting any business. The Worldwide Brands membership cost is chump change when compared to the costs of starting a physical business.
3. Works Well With Most Businesses
Worldwide Brands works for dropshipping and wholesale. The suppliers available through Worldwide Brands can dropship the products directly to customers or ship the products in bulk to you.
So, if you’re not comfortable with dropshipping, you have the option to buy in bulk. Most business owners like to see the product before their customer does. This ensures everything is in order.
The good thing about Worldwide Brands is the fact that it works with any type of business that sells products. So whether your business sells toys or household items, there’s a supplier that you’ll be able to connect with.
4. Legitimate Suppliers
Every supplier undergoes a strict verification process before it’s added to the Worldwide Brands directory. This ensures the legitimacy of suppliers and eliminates scams. This is an added benefit of the membership.
Sure, you can find suppliers on Google or Alibaba. But, how many of those suppliers are legitimate and sell licensed, genuine products? It’s a risk that I wouldn’t want to take.
5. Helpful Resources
There are a number of helpful resources for finding the right niche, selling online, and using Worldwide Brands services correctly. There’s also a separate resources page dedicated to answering questions about dropshipping and wholesale.
Their resource pages are added benefits of the membership. It feels like they want you to succeed using their directory.
6. Rave Reviews
Worldwide Brands has excellent reviews on Trustpilot, which is a large independent review website. At the time of this Worldwide Brands review, it has a near-perfect rating of 4.9/5.
Personally, I don’t care much for reviews, specifically when it involves a service like Worldwide Brands.
Why?
Well, if I end up having success using Worldwide Brands, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have the same results. So, just because John gives Worldwide Brands a five-star rating, doesn’t mean you drop everything you’re doing and sign up.
What I do like about these reviews is the fact that you can see both the good and the bad. It at least gives you some idea of what you can expect.
Ready to see if Worldwide Brands can help you find products to sell? Go to www.worldwidebrands.com.
Worldwide Brands Cons
And, as expected, there are some potential drawbacks of using Worldwide Brands for your business. Here are the key cons:
1. Profit Margins
Anyone that opens a retail-type business is looking to profit in some way. If not, then you’re not in the right business.
It’s not a secret that profit margins are slim with dropshipping and wholesaling. This is especially true when selling on commission thirsty, third party marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon.
Profit margins are can be slim for sellers that have their own stores as well. It all comes down to product selection and the ability to find a method of absorbing or reducing unnecessary fees.
In order to have a decent profit, you’ll have to sell in higher volume. Kind of like dollar stores, which have low profit margins but high volume of sales.
2. It’s A Wholesale Directory
Sure – the suppliers listed in the Worldwide Brands directory are not the ones you’d find selling on eBay for a few dollars.
What you’re doing is paying over $200 for a supplier directory. There’s no other way to put it.
Other than doing some of the work for you (e.g. verifying suppliers, research, etc.), there’s no other real benefit of using Worldwide Brands or any other similar service.
However, if you find value out of it, then it’s worth it as long as your budget allows it.
3. USA Suppliers
A majority of the suppliers in the directory are operating in the USA. While this is a plus for sellers based in the USA, it’s a big turn off for sellers overseas.
Unless you’re selling to the North American market, international sellers will find very little value in Worldwide Brands. Buying in bulk and having the suppliers ship directly to you would more than likely cost more than the product itself. International shipping is expensive, especially when combined with import fees.
4. Resale Certificate
Larger orders usually require a copy of your resale certificate. This is a normal requirement for legitimate businesses, and you should already have the proper business documentation. Not a big deal, just something to keep in mind.
Can I Make Money With Worldwide Brands?
Maybe.
The thing about the internet is anyone can make money with a little effort. We’re not saying to drop everything and use Worldwide Brands. Rather, it’s possible to make money if you pick the right products to sell.
Nobody can guarantee that you’ll make money using Worldwide Brands. The only people that can guarantee that is liars and scammers.
Who Is Worldwide Brands For?
After thoroughly testing Worldwide Brands, I came to the conclusion that it’s for the following:
- Sellers that plan on selling on their own online stores and third party marketplaces (I would try to keep the selling on marketplaces to a minimum, if possible).
- Sellers that can absorb the membership cost.
- Can’t find products to sell.
- You understand the concept of dropshipping and wholesaling.
- Sellers that have the proper business documentation to operate a business.
- You can get around low profit margins and high competition.
Who Is Worldwide Brands Not For?
- It’s not for the impatient or experienced sellers that are capable to build connections on their own.
- Worldwide Brands is not ideal for sellers that plan on selling solely on third-party marketplaces. The fees on these marketplaces are high, making it very difficult to make an actual profit.
- Obviously, if you can’t afford the membership cost, it’s not something you should sign up for.
Conclusion: Is Worldwide Brands Worth It?
Sure – Worldwide Brands is not for everyone. And, for good reason: lower profit margins.
It’s more geared towards sellers that can’t build relationships and find products to sell.
However, if you value your time and want to shift more time to other parts of your business, Worldwide Brands is more than likely worth the investment. If that’s the case, I’d strongly recommend Worldwide Brands.
Personally, I would use a service like Worldwide Brands in combination with other sourcing venues (e.g. SaleHoo – see SaleHoo review or Worldwide Brands vs SaleHoo comparison).
If you feel Worldwide Brands is for you, don’t forget to use this $50 off coupon.
Worldwide Brands
Worldwide Brands is a competitive wholesale directory. The directory features over 17 million products from 8,000 different suppliers.
Product Brand: Worldwide Brands
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FAQs About Worldwide Brands Review
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about Worldwide Brands we’ve heard from our users.
1. Can I cancel my Worldwide Brands membership?
Yes, there’s a 60-day refund policy. After that, you can no longer cancel the membership for a refund. For whatever odd reason, support must be contacted at least once before any refund requests are approved. I imagine it’s to confirm whether or not you’re actually trying to make it work.
2. Is Worldwide Brands a scam?
No, it’s a legitimate company that offers a real wholesale directory.
3. How fast can I start selling?
Today, tomorrow or next week. It depends on how quickly you find suppliers that you want to work with. Moreover, it depends on the supplier and their turnaround times.
4. How does Worldwide Brands find suppliers?
They have a whole team dedicated to finding new suppliers by attending trade-shows and reaching out to manufacturers. All suppliers undergo a verification process before they’re listed on Worldwide Brands.
5. Is Worldwide Brands worth it?
Maybe. It’s almost a 50/50 toss up. If you have problems finding reputable suppliers, then yes. If you already have products you’re selling and have a way of sourcing products through other means, then probably not.
6. Do I need a resale certificate?
The suppliers will more than likely ask for the certificate. It’s not something Worldwide Brands will need. If you have a business (online or in-person), you’ll need to have a resale certificate for IRS purposes.
