Start a small appliance wholesale business from home

Independent homeware and gift shops, convenience and discount stores, online sellers, and trade buyers such as property managers or hospitality suppliers.

You buy at a trade price and sell at a margin, usually with minimum order sizes. Repeat orders from a handful of reliable shops matter more than one-off big deals.

• Negotiating with suppliers
• Spreadsheets and basic bookkeeping
• Building relationships with shop owners
• Organised stock and order tracking

• Check that every electrical product carries a recognized safety certification mark (such as CSA or cUL) before you sell it
• Check energy efficiency and labelling rules, including bilingual packaging, with the relevant federal and provincial bodies
• Check provincial electronics and appliance recycling or stewardship fees that may apply to you
• Commercial general liability and product liability insurance, and who handles warranty claims and returns
• Check whether your municipality requires a home-based business licence and whether storing stock at home is allowed
• Tied-up cash in unsold stock, and GST/HST registration once you pass the small supplier threshold

Startup costs are typically around $3,000 to $15,000 CAD, depending on how much stock you buy and where you store it. Cash can get tied up in unsold stock, so plan your first orders carefully.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated at around $3,000 to $15,000 CAD, depending on the shops you supply, order sizes and your product range. The estimate assumes at least about 10 hours a week of work.

Check that every electrical product carries a recognized safety mark such as CSA or cUL, plus energy labelling and bilingual packaging rules. Also check provincial recycling fees, insurance, home-based business licensing, and GST/HST registration once you pass the small supplier threshold.