Direct answer
How do I find stockists for my product?
Find shops that already sell comparable products to the customers you want. Start with stockist pages from three similar brands, note the recurring shop types, then search one specific category in each place you can supply. Keep independently buying shops whose prices and range fit yours, and approach the owner or buyer with your wholesale price, minimum order and lead time ready.
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Search a shop type where you can supply
Name the kind of shop you want on your list and the town or district. You can run one preview search without signing in; verify each result before outreach because prospect details and fit scores may be incomplete or wrong. The first field is left blank on purpose: this page cannot know which shop type sells your product.
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Stockist, wholesale buyer, distributor: three different conversations
A stockist is a shop that buys your product and sells it to the public under its own roof. A wholesale buyer is the person inside that shop, or inside a group of shops, who makes the decision. A distributor buys in order to resell to shops rather than to the public, and an agent sells on your behalf for commission without ever owning the stock.
The distinction changes who you look for and what you offer. Approaching a distributor with a single-shop pitch wastes both people's time, and approaching an independent shop on distributor terms usually prices you out of your own deal.
A useful starting point is a comparable brand's stockist list
Brands that sell through retail often publish where to buy them. Look for the Stockists, Where to buy, or Find us in store pages of three or four brands selling something adjacent to your product at a similar price. Those pages show the kinds of shops associated with the category, but they do not prove that a shop buys direct, still carries the product, or works with small suppliers. Verify each prospect separately.
Read the lists for the pattern rather than working through them as a list. If the same kind of shop appears on all four, that is the shop type to search for in your own area. If one brand's list is all museum shops and another's is all garden centres, you have learned that your category sells through more than one channel, and each one needs its own approach.
Then search that shop type one area at a time
Once you know the shop type, place is the cheapest filter you have. A shop in the right district already serves roughly the right customer, and you can visit it, ship to it cheaply, or claim a real connection to the area in your first line.
Search somewhere you could genuinely supply this season rather than the whole country. Widening the search before the approach is producing replies only sends a message that is not working to more people.
Worked example: turn three stockist lists into one local search
Imagine a maker selling a refillable desk lamp at a recommended retail price of 120 and a wholesale price of 60. Three comparable design brands publish stockist pages. The maker does not copy every shop. They mark the shop types that recur and find independent design stores, museum shops and premium stationery stores on all three lists.
The lamp is visually led, giftable and priced above ordinary stationery, so the maker starts with independent design stores rather than all three channels at once. They search one city they can supply in fourteen days, reject chain branches, shops whose highest comparable item is far below 120, and stores with no lighting, desk or gift range, then keep five businesses whose published range makes the fit explainable.
The first message can now name the fit instead of claiming it: the shop already curates compact desk accessories at the same price level, the lamp has a six-unit opening order, and delivery is fourteen days. The example is fictional and the figures are not a benchmark. Its point is the sequence: infer a specific shop type, search a supplyable place, qualify on visible evidence, then contact a person.
Four checks that decide whether a shop can say yes
Does it appear to buy direct? Independent shops may have local buying authority, while chains and franchises may use central purchasing or approved suppliers. Check the shop's public information or ask who handles new-product buying before treating it as a qualified prospect.
Does the price position match? Compare what the shop already charges for things like yours against the retail price your wholesale price implies. If your product would be the most expensive thing on that shelf by a distance, the fit fails on arithmetic before taste is involved.
Does it already carry the category? A shop with a shelf for your category has a buyer who understands it. A shop with nothing like it is an argument you have to win before terms can even be discussed.
Is there room and buying rhythm? Small shops buy in seasons and have finite shelves. A shop that has just taken on two new suppliers in your category is a later conversation, not a refusal.
Have four commercial terms ready before you contact anyone
Many buyers will want to know your wholesale price, opening-order quantity, lead time, and policy on unsold stock. Having those terms ready keeps the first exchange focused.
Work out your own floor first. Decide the wholesale price you can actually supply at once packaging, delivery and your own time are counted, and check the retail price it implies against what that kind of shop already charges. If those two numbers leave the shop too little to be interested, the problem is the pricing rather than the list.
Write to a person, and make one sentence unrepeatable
For an independent shop, the buyer may be the owner. Use a name only when the business publishes it on its website, social account or another reputable public source; otherwise address the shop without guessing.
One sentence has to be about their shop and could not have been sent to anyone else. Everything after it is standard and reusable: what the product is, the wholesale price, the minimum order, and the lead time. That is the whole first message.
Sources and definitions
Related resources
- Work out the wholesale margin before you quote
- Try CarryLeads free
- Check whether a stockist location is still open
- Worked example: find gift shops to sell to
- Selling food? Find cafes and restaurants to sell to
- Find and qualify wholesale buyers
- Write the pitch email itself
- Find local business leads without buying a list
- Browse all the guides
- Build the wholesale line sheet buyers ask for
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a stockist and a distributor?
A stockist holds a product for retail sale to end customers. A distributor buys products to resell to shops; its margin and services vary by agreement. Which route fits depends on your capacity, geography, margins and support needs.
Where can I find a list of shops that stock products like mine?
Start with the stockist or where-to-buy pages on the websites of brands comparable to yours. Those pages show which shop types appear around the category, but they do not prove that a shop buys direct, still carries the product, or accepts new suppliers. Read several lists for the pattern, then verify every prospect separately.
How many stockists should I approach at once?
Start with a batch small enough that you can verify every shop and write a specific first sentence. There is no universal right number; reduce the batch if research or follow-up becomes rushed.
Should I offer sale or return to win a first stockist?
It removes the buyer's risk by moving it to you, so it can open a first door, but you are then funding stock that may come back. Decide in advance how much stock you can afford to have sitting in shops, and treat it as a deliberate cost of entry rather than a standing term.
Can I approach shops before I have wholesale pricing?
Not usefully. Wholesale price, minimum order and lead time are common early questions, and having them ready reduces avoidable back-and-forth.
Does CarryLeads work without a Shopify store?
Yes. The web app offers one preview search without sign-in. After Google sign-in, each account gets five free results and editable outreach copy. The Shopify app is a separate route for merchants who prefer to work inside Shopify Admin.
Does the tool contact the shops for me?
No. It finds and scores shops and prepares an editable draft, then stops. You send it yourself, because you are accountable for the claim, the recipient, and the outreach rules that apply where you are.