Wholesale Pricing for Nigerian Brands Selling to Boutiques

Wholesale pricing for Nigerian brands selling to boutiques starts with your true cost per piece, adds a margin you can live on, and then checks that a boutique can mark it up and still sell at your recommended retail price. If those three numbers don't fit together, you fix the cost or the design before you sign a stockist deal, not after.

Boutiques in Lekki, Wuse or GRA Port Harcourt buy from you so they can resell at a profit. Your job is to make that profit possible without giving away your own. This guide sits alongside our wider look at growing African fashion brands online, and focuses only on the money side of stockist deals.

What is the difference between wholesale and retail price?

Your wholesale price is what the boutique pays you per piece. Your retail price (sometimes called RRP, recommended retail price) is what the end customer pays in the boutique or on your Instagram page.

The gap between them is the boutique's margin. It pays for their rent, staff, generator fuel, shop fittings and the risk of pieces that don't sell. When a boutique owner says "your price is too high," they usually mean that gap is too small, not that your clothes aren't worth it.

A simple rule many fashion businesses use is that retail sits at roughly double the wholesale price. Treat that as a starting point to discuss, not a fixed law. Some boutiques want more room, especially for slow-moving pieces like heavily embellished gowns.

How do you work out your real cost per piece?

You can't price wholesale safely until you know what one piece really costs you. Many brands count fabric and tailor pay, then forget everything else. List all of it:

1. Fabric and lining, including the waste from cutting Ankara or Adire so the print lines up.
2. Trims: zips, buttons, interfacing, stones and thread.
3. Labor: your tailor's rate per piece, or your staff wages divided by pieces made.
4. Overheads per piece: workshop rent, power, data, packaging and your own time, divided across a month's output.
5. Delivery to the boutique, if you pay for it.

For a full worked breakdown of each line, see the guide on costing an Ankara dress. Once you have a cost figure you trust, wholesale pricing becomes simple arithmetic.

How do you build a wholesale price that leaves room for the boutique?

Work from both ends and meet in the middle.

Step 1: Add your margin to cost

Decide what you need to earn per piece after all costs. Multiply your cost by a factor, for example 1.5 or 1.8, to get a draft wholesale price. The factor depends on how many pieces a boutique orders and how much work each piece needs.

Step 2: Work backward from retail

Look at what similar pieces sell for in the boutiques you are pitching, and on your own page. That is your realistic retail price. Divide it by the boutique's usual markup factor, often around 2, to see the most a boutique will pay you.

Step 3: Compare the two numbers

If your draft wholesale price is below the boutique's ceiling, you have a deal. If it is above, you have three options: cut cost, simplify the design, or keep that style for direct sales only.

Here is an example with made-up figures to show the math. These are not market prices, so use your own numbers.

Line	Example figure
Full cost per dress	₦20,000
Your factor	1.6
Draft wholesale price	₦32,000
Expected retail in the boutique	₦70,000
Boutique ceiling at a 2x markup	₦35,000
Result	Wholesale at ₦32,000 works, with a little room to negotiate

Should your wholesale price change with order size?

Yes. Many brands use tiered pricing so that larger orders earn a better rate. This rewards boutiques that commit, and it smooths your production.

A simple setup looks like this:

• Minimum order: a set number of pieces per style, across a size run, at your standard wholesale price.
• Larger order: a small discount per piece once a boutique passes a higher quantity.
• Reorders within the same season: no new minimum, so a boutique can top up best-selling sizes.

Write the tiers on a one-page line sheet with photos, style codes, sizes, wholesale price and RRP. Send it as a PDF on WhatsApp rather than typing prices into chat, so there is one clear record.

What terms should you agree before stock leaves your workshop?

Price is only part of the deal. Agree these points in writing, even in a short WhatsApp message both sides confirm:

• Payment: full payment upfront, part payment, or payment within a set number of days. Newer brands often ask for upfront payment until trust is built.
• Sale or return vs outright purchase: with sale or return (consignment), you only get paid for what sells. That pushes the risk back to you, so your wholesale price should be higher.
• Price protection: the boutique agrees not to sell below RRP, and you agree not to undercut them on Instagram with constant discounts.
• Size runs: which sizes go in each pack. Boutiques often want more of the middle sizes, so ask what sold last season.
• Delivery and damage: who pays the dispatch rider or courier, and what happens if a piece arrives stained.

Fit matters too. If pieces come back because sizes run small, the boutique orders less next time, so share a size chart that matches your patterns.

How do you keep your own direct prices consistent?

Once boutiques stock you, your website and Instagram prices need to respect your RRP. If a boutique sells a dress at full price while your page runs a heavy sale, the boutique loses customers to you and stops reordering.

Keep a monthly view of what you sell through each channel, wholesale and direct, so you can see which one actually earns more after costs. The guide to simple monthly reporting for small fashion businesses shows a lightweight way to track this.

If your direct sales include buyers outside Lagos or abroad, the fit tools you add to your own store become part of your costs too. Our guide to which ZeDaq.ai plan fits a Nigerian brand explains the plans in dollars, starting with a Free plan and paid plans from $14 a month, each with a 3-day free trial and no card required.

FAQs

Should I show wholesale prices on my public website?

No. Keep wholesale prices on a line sheet you send to approved stockists. Your public site should show retail prices only, so boutiques and shoppers see the same RRP.

Can I offer different wholesale prices to different boutiques?

You can, but keep it tied to clear rules such as order size or payment terms. If two boutiques compare notes and find unexplained gaps, you can lose both relationships.

What if a boutique asks for a lower price than my cost allows?

Thank them and explain your floor. Offer a simpler style, a smaller size run or a different fabric that meets their price, rather than selling at a loss.

Is consignment a good way to start with a new boutique?

It can open doors, but you carry the risk of unsold stock. Limit the number of pieces, agree a review date, and price consignment stock higher than outright wholesale.