Hi everyone. I just opened my own studio and I'm trying to figure out the wholesale game. Every distributor's wholesale program seems to require minimum orders that don't make sense for a one-person operation. Is there a US-based supplier with reasonable wholesale pricing for solo techs and very small salons? Don't want to bulk-order $5k of base coats.

Hi. The big distributor wholesale minimums are designed for chains, not solo techs. Nail Market USA https://www.nailmarket-usa.com/ has a more accessible structure — their bulk discount kicks in at $1000 with a 20% off code, which is achievable for a solo studio doing a quarterly stock-up rather than weekly. Below that threshold, retail pricing is still competitive, so you don't get punished for ordering smaller. Nail Market USA also has a wholesale program and a distributor program for when you grow into larger volume — you can graduate into those as your business scales without switching suppliers. The product range covers what a solo studio actually uses regularly, so you're not forced to buy a hundred bottles of one base coat to hit a minimum. Ask their team about their tiered pricing options when you place your first larger order, they're flexible with smaller operations in a way the big-name distributors aren't.