How to follow up a wholesale enquiry before it goes cold

A shop two towns over emails on a Tuesday. They've seen your candles at a market, they love them, and could you send your wholesale details? You send the price list that evening, feeling quite pleased with yourself.

Then nothing. A week. Two weeks. You check your spam folder. You wonder if the prices put them off, and you start drafting an email that says "just following up" and then stop, because it sounds desperate.

What usually happened is simpler. They didn't say no. Your price list landed in an inbox next to twenty other suppliers, and it gave them a job to do: work out what to order, what it costs, and whether it sells. So the fix starts with the first reply, not the follow-up. Make yes easy by suggesting the order for them, then follow up twice, each time with something useful, and then leave it with a date in your diary.

Why a price list on its own goes quiet

A shop buyer reading your price list has a sum to do. What's my margin on each one? What's the least I can order? When would it arrive? How do I pay? If any of that is missing, they have to email back and ask, and that email is easy to put off.

A price list asks the buyer to build an order. Most buyers are busy running a shop, the same as you. If you hand them an order that's already built, all they have to do is say yes, or change it.

What to put in the first reply

Answer the questions before they're asked, and keep it short enough to read on a phone:

• The trade price next to the retail price, so they see their margin without a calculator
• Your minimum first order, in pounds or units, whichever you use
• How long delivery takes and what it costs
• How they pay: up front, on invoice, or something else
• A suggested starter order, priced up

That last one is the part most makers skip, and it does the most work.

Here's a first reply you can adapt:

Subject: Wholesale for [shop name], with a starter idea

Hi Sam, Thank you for getting in touch, and I'm glad you liked the candles at the market. Our wholesale price list is attached. The short version: candles are £9 trade and sell for £18. The minimum first order is £150, and we deliver within 10 working days. If it helps, here's what I'd suggest for a first order: 6 each of our three best sellers (Fig, Sea Salt and Smoked Oak). That's 18 candles, £162 trade, and they'd sell for £324 in your shop. Happy to swap scents, or post you a sample first so you can see the quality. Jo

Sam, Jo and the prices are made up for this example. Use your own numbers, and do the sum for them.

Follow-up one: about a week later

If you haven't heard back after five to seven working days, send something they didn't have before. Don't send a nudge with nothing in it.

Subject: A photo of the starter box

Hi Sam, I thought it might help to see what the 18 candles look like together on a shelf, so here's a photo. The offer of a sample still stands. If you send me the best address, I'll pop one in the post this week. Jo

A photo, a sample, a display card, a short note about how the candles are made. Anything that helps them picture it in their shop.

Follow-up two: two or three weeks later, about timing

Shops plan their stock around the seasons, so a date tied to theirs gives them a reason to decide. Give them a real date that matters to their shop, not to yours.

Subject: Christmas stock, if it's on your list

Hi Sam, If you're planning Christmas stock, I'd need orders by Friday 20 November to be sure of delivery before December. If now's not the right time, no problem at all. I'll get in touch again in the new year with the spring scents. Jo

Make the date honest. If you could still deliver later, say what changes, such as the scents you'll have left.

Then park it with a date

Two follow-ups is enough. After that, write the shop's name and a date three months from now in your diary, and get in touch then with something new: a new range, a seasonal edition, a price that's changed. A shop that wasn't ready in October may well be ready in February.

If they reply with a no, ask one short question: "Was it the price, the minimum, or the timing?" The answer tells you what to change for the next shop.

What commonly goes wrong

• The enquiry came in on Instagram and the thread got lost. Move it to email as soon as you can, so you have one place to look.
• Two shops get different prices because you sent an old list to one of them. Keep one current price list and date it.
• You say yes to a shop next door to an existing stockist. Ask where they are before you send prices, and think about whether both can do well.
• A sample goes out and you never mention it again. Note the date you posted it and follow up a few days after it should have arrived.

The free way to keep track

If you get a handful of enquiries a month, an email folder or label called Wholesale and a calendar reminder for each follow-up is enough. Set both reminders the moment you send the first reply, so you don't have to remember. A sheet of paper with the shop name, date and a tick for each follow-up does the same job.

It gets harder when enquiries come in from your website, your email and your Instagram at once, or when two people answer them.

Where Workden fits

In Workden, the follow-ups go on one task list for the whole shop, with a nudge when something has gone quiet, so a wholesale enquiry doesn't drift while you're busy packing orders. Enquiries from your website's contact forms arrive as new contacts ready to follow up. Email the buyer from Workden and it goes out as you, and when they write back the reply lands on their page, so whoever picks it up next can see what was asked and what was promised.

It's £10.99 a month for your whole team, with a 14 day free trial. If your enquiry turns into a quote, how to follow up on a quote without feeling pushy picks up from there.

Questions makers ask

Should I send free samples to shops?

It's worth it for a shop that's a good fit and has asked for one. Offering a sample in your reply gives the buyer an easy next step that isn't an order yet.

What should my minimum order be?

Low enough that a small shop can try you without much risk, and high enough to cover your time and postage. Put it in the first reply, so nobody has to ask.

What if they ask for sale or return?

Some shops prefer it, especially for a maker they haven't stocked before. If you agree, put the terms in writing first: how long, who pays postage back, and what happens to damaged stock.

Sources

Checked 17 October 2026.

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