wholesale

Wholesale

1. Relating to the sale of goods to a retailer. That is, a wholesaler receives large quantities of goods from a manufacturer and distributes them to stores, where they are sold to consumers. A wholesaler generally is able to extract a better price from the manufacturer because it buys so many good relative to an individual retailer. In theory, this enables the retailer to sell the good at a better price for the consumer. See also: Economies of scale.

2. Relating to the sale of securities to institutional investors rather than individuals.

wholesale

The sale of securities among broker-dealers and to large institutional investors. Securities sold at wholesale go for slightly lower prices than those paid by individual investors. Compare retail.