The wholesale handbag business, like many other businesses, has its own "secrets".

While there is a lot of money to be made in the handbag business, it's important for resellers to know some very important well kept secrets about the business.

For starters, many of the established top designers, such as Louis Vuitton and Channel, only sell directly to established accounts such as department stores like Macy's and Bloomingdale's, or directly through their own sales channels (corporate owned boutiques, Amazon seller account, etc.)

Whenever you see a retailer, or a wholesaler, selling designer handbags, you need to question as to how they obtained these handbags.

One of the biggest secrets of the handbag business, is that the majority of authentic handbags being sold by small retailers, are actually overstock or store returns from department stores.

Department stores will sell their overstock and store return handbags by the pallet to liquidators, wholesalers (such as myself), and to retailers.

The challenge with purchasing handbags by the pallet, is that you cannot select individual handbags, you must take the entire contents of a pallet.

If you ever wondered how Marshalls, TJ Maxx, or Burlington Coat Factory, can sell brand name handbags at highly discounted prices, it's because they are purchasing overstock pallets from department stores, or from the brands directly.

Another "secret" kept closely guarded by many resellers, is that some resellers travel to outlet stores around the country, purchase last season handbags at clearance prices, and then resell those bags at their stores, or on eBay.

While purchasing store return handbags can be the lowest priced method for purchasing bags, keep in mind that store return products are items that were returned to the department stores by shoppers, so the items can be heavily damaged.

There are retailers who purchase store return handbags, refurbish them, and then sell the handbags to their customers. As long as the refurbishment is disclosed to the customer, and the customer is paying a fair price, this can be a win win situation for both the seller and the buyer.

Keep in mind that various handbag wholesalers can have different relationships with department stores, handbag manufacturers, and handbag brands. Each wholesaler can have access to different handbags, and at different prices, so it's worthwhile to explore all available wholesale suppliers.

Just make sure that you only buy legitimate and authentic handbags!