How to create a line sheet from your Shopify store

You have a Shopify store selling products unique to your brand, and it’s doing well. You’re sure you can scale up the production end of your business to match the increase in demand, and you’ve already received some queries from retailers who are keen to stock your product. They’re asking you to send over a line sheet, and you’re trying to figure out what goes into creating one.

What is a line sheet?

A line sheet is a very important part of your wholesale business. It should include key information about your product, photos, wholesale prices, your suggested retail price, and your terms and conditions. Line sheets are also handy when you’re heading to trade shows or pitching to interested retailers, as you’ll be able to hand them out. If you are selling Wholesale on Shopify, you may find it very useful. 

And to save you the trouble of building a line sheet from scratch, we’ve built a line sheet generator just for you.

How to use our line sheet generator

To use our line sheet template, you’ll need to log into your Shopify store.

Choose your products

1. We understand that not every product is suited for wholesale and you may be carrying a large variety of products. So we’ve included a search function in our line sheet generator that lets you pick and choose items for wholesaling.
2. If you wish to use a different style code for wholesale purposes, we have you covered.

Set your wholesale price

1. Once you’ve selected your products, it’s time to tackle wholesale pricing. Pricing for wholesale can be tricky business, especially if you’re growing your business from retail.
2. When you’re trying to decide on your wholesale price, the easiest way to do that is to divide your retail price by half. But if your costs are too high, a retail price that leaves you with a comfortable profit can become a loss when you halve it to get your wholesale price.
3. As an alternative, you may want to consider the absorption pricing method when you’re deciding on your retail price.

If you feel your existing retail price is too low to support wholesale, you’ll need to look into raising prices.

Set your minimum order amount

When you’re selling retail, you have no control over how much your customer buys.

By moving into wholesale, you’ll be the one who decides how many of every product your customers have to purchase to enjoy your wholesale discount. Basically, your minimum order amount allows you to make up for your reduced prices by selling larger volumes, which in turn should encourage economies of scale.

Having minimum order quantities also means you’ll be able to discourage buyers who are looking to shop at the lowest price, while building a strong relationship with clients who truly value your products.

Set your drop date

Your drop date is the date your products are available for purchase. So on your end, you need to ensure that you have enough products on hand to cater to both wholesale and retail demand.

If you have enough products in stock and you don’t have to worry about perishable products, you can always leave your drop date as immediate. However, if you’re dealing with perishable products or you’re already running low on stock, it might be time to set your drop date some time in the future after taking your lead time into account.

To ensure your drop date is somewhere in the near future, check out these tips on reducing your lead time.

Draft your payment terms

In our line sheet generator, there’s a box on the top right corner for writing notes about payment terms.

Payment terms are usually either upon shipment of the order, Net-30, Net 60, or Net 90. Net terms just means you expect your customer to pay for the invoice in a specific number of days. But do bear in mind that setting Net-30 payment terms doesn’t mean you will get paid on time, as debtors may still pay late, regardless of when your payment terms are due.

So if getting paid within a certain time frame is really important for your business, you may want to limit your net terms to a shorter period. For more information on payment terms and invoicing, we have some tips on creating effective invoices.

In addition, you can also add other incentives to get retailers to sign on with you, such as the opportunity of having exclusive rights to your brand within a certain vicinity, or by throwing in some great photos retailers can use for their online store.

And with this, you’re done with creating your line sheet with our line sheet generator! Now, all you have to do is package it with an introduction letter, and send it off to some potential retailers.

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See also:

Wholesaling to the right retailer - It’s a match!

Which Sales Channel is Most Profitable for your Brand?

3 common B2B sales objections and how to tackle them

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