Reign for B2B marketplaces. B2B wholesale marketplace.

Reign is the WordPress theme for building a complete community site: social network, courses, member directory, marketplace and job board on one install. A B2B marketplace needs the marketplace half and the directory.

WCFM is the engine we point to, with the StoreMate WCFM kit and the WCFM marketplace build guide as the route. Pricing tiers, net terms and quotes come from extensions on top, and you should check each with a real buyer on staging. BuddyNext, free to install, can add a supplier updates feed and a buyer support space if you want one.

Our own services marketplace, WP Sell Services, fits when the product is custom work such as design or engineering, with milestones and commissions. For physical wholesale it is not the right tool. The marketplace picker helps you decide and the plugins page shows the split.

A buyer's week is about reordering. They log in, check the usual lines, adjust quantities and place an order against their terms. The site's job is to make repeat orders faster than an email thread. New lines get noticed through a short updates post from the supplier.

A supplier checks incoming orders and quote requests, replies to questions, updates stock and posts about new products or lead times. Suppliers appreciate seeing which buyers are active, since it tells them where to spend effort.

Your week as the operator is approvals, disputes and quality. You check new buyer applications, resolve invoice queries and watch for suppliers whose responses are slow. In B2B, slow replies cost more than anything else.

Vetting is what makes a wholesale marketplace worth joining, and it is also where deals stall. A buyer who waits a week for approval buys elsewhere. The aim is a process that is thorough enough to be meaningful and quick enough to feel professional.

Ask for what you can check. For buyers, a company name, a registration or tax number, a trading address and a contact person are usually enough to start. For suppliers, add proof of the right to sell the goods and the terms they offer. Say exactly what you need in the application.

Set a reply time and keep to it. Promise an answer within a working day or two, and assign one person to the queue. Send a clear message when you approve, explaining what the buyer can now see and how to place a first order.

Use staged access. A newly approved buyer might see prices but have a lower credit limit until their first orders are paid. Terms and limits come from extensions on the commerce plugin, so test each rule with a real account before you rely on it.

Review regularly. Look at buyers who never order and suppliers who never ship, and ask why. Remove accounts that have no purpose, so the marketplace stays a place where serious parties meet.

If your buyers are large enterprises with procurement systems, check their requirements before you build; some need integrations that go beyond a WordPress site. If you sell consumer products, the handmade page or digital products page fit better.

If you are a single manufacturer selling to your own distributors, a private shop with approved accounts may be enough, with no marketplace at all.