Cell phone wholesalers should perform due diligence checks on potential new customers before accepting orders. Wholesalers want to reduce their business risk and ensure compliance with relevant laws. New buyers can expect to answer questions in three main areas.
1. Are they who they say they are?
Prospective buyers based in the US will be asked for a reseller’s state permit and tax exemption certificate, also called a resale certificate. Most US states require a resale certificate, but the certificate itself varies. Some states use a streamlined certificate, others use a uniform certificate, and others have their own form. Consult your local authority to find the form that applies in your place of business.
Wholesalers will ask international buyers for basic company information, such as the owner’s name, address, and associated social media and website information to validate that the prospect is a functioning business. Additionally, wholesalers will ask whether the buyer has permission to sell phones in the relevant country.
US and international buyers will be asked for their business license, owner’s information, and billing and shipping information. Wholesalers may also perform business entity searches to validate the business’s information.
2. Are they already in the business of reselling electronics?
With increasing regulatory emphasis on knowing the customer, it’s a best practice for wholesalers to ensure that they are working with customers who are in the business of reselling devices. So wholesalers will attempt to evaluate how well-established prospective buyers are in the device wholesale industry. They may ask for third-party information, such as other businesses that the prospect resells to.
Wholesalers may ask whether the prospect is using a freight-forwarding service. If so, they will collect the prospect’s airway bills to ensure they know the final destination of the devices.
3. How are they selling and using the phones?
American wholesalers know that federal sanctions limit the legality of doing business with other entities based in, or reselling to, sanctioned countries. The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) maintains the list of sanctioned nations. Wholesalers will seek to confirm where the foreign entity is based and where it resells to. They may ask for an attestation from the buyer specifying how the devices will be used.
4. Are they a retailer or wholesaler?
The final point of interest is whether the buyer is a wholesaler or a retailer. This helps wholesalers determine the appropriate pricing and marketing strategy for their customer base.
These are the primary areas of inquiry for wholesalers evaluating prospective buyers. As a new buyer, be prepared to answer questions along these lines and provide relevant documentation. It’s all part of the process of establishing what will be, hopefully, a productive and lasting business relationship. When you’re ready to choose your next wholesaler, consider WeSellCellular, a market leader in iPhone reselling, with some of the most meticulous grading standards in the industry.
