Wholesale? Distribution? What's the Difference?

There are really only a handful of wholesalers and distributors left in the book industry. Partners has two divisions: Partners Book Distributing (PBD) is the wholesale division; Partners Publishers Group (PPG) is the distribution division. PBD has been in business since 1984. PPG has operated since 1997.

Wholesalers:

• Wholesalers sell primarily to retail outlets whether it be independent bookstores or chains such as Barnes &Noble.
• Wholesale discounts tend to be in the 55% range with publisher paying inbound freight charges to the wholesaler. (Note: some wholesalers will ask publisher to pay freight both ways- Partners does not).
• Wholesalers are usually non-exclusive.
• Wholesalers generally do not make sales presentations to the retailers. Partners will, however, present regional titles to buyers at independents and to all the book chains with whom we conduct business.
• Wholesalers generally do not market or promote books to the consumer.
• Wholesalers will stock certain quantities of titles but will not warehouse your entire inventory.

Distributors:

• Distributors sell to both retail and wholesale outlets. In the case of the book industry, a distributor sells to the largest retailers (Barnes & Noble) and to the largest wholesalers (Ingram and Baker &Taylor - the only other remaining 'national' wholesalers are Partners and Bookazine).
• Distributors generally look for a 65-70% discount off the retail price (PPG asks for a flat rate 65% discount with the publisher paying inbound freight to PPG without additional fees aside from participation in advertising programs with customers).
• Distributors generally want exclusive agreements (at least to the book trade).
• Distributors will catalog your titles, make the sales presentations, and do presentation followup.
• Distributors provide some assistance and direction with promotional and marketing programs (this varies greatly and so do the costs). In most cases, the more marketing the publisher itself does, the greater the sales effect generated.
• Distributors may or may not warehouse entire inventories.

Both distributors and wholesalers expect the publisher to provide books on a returnable basis and, depending on the arrangement, usually pay based on store sales on 90-180 day terms (after this initial period, the publisher is paid monthly for the prior 90 day sales period less any returns). There is often a percentage held back to cover potential returns from stores.

Both wholesalers and Distributors will provide sales reporting at various levels of detail.

This is a capsule summary of the wholesaler/distributor differences/similarities. Generally, for regional titles, an effective wholesaler is sufficient. For national titles, distributors will provide broader market coverage.

Please feel free to call us (517-694-3205) or e-mail with questions.