Shopify Wholesale Apps in 2025: What Actually Works (Honest Review)
After building 7 custom wholesale systems for Shopify merchants and analyzing 553 Reddit posts about B2B pain points, I’ve seen every wholesale solution succeed—and fail.
In this guide, I’m going to do something unusual: give you an honest review of all the wholesale options, including competitors to what we’re building.
Why? Because the “best” wholesale solution depends on your specific situation. And you deserve to know what actually works before investing time and money.
What we’ll cover:
- Manual/DIY approaches (free but time-intensive)
- BSS Commerce B2B & Wholesale Solution (market leader with serious issues)
- SparkLayer (premium option with hidden requirements)
- Wholesale Gorilla & Wholesale Pricing Discount (single-feature apps)
- Shopify Plus B2B (enterprise solution)
- What we’re building (and when it makes sense vs alternatives)
Real merchant context:
We were told BSS is THE app to help us get this going. Wrong. - Merchant, September 2025
I’m struggling to set this app up and I think it’s why my wholesale orders are trickling through. I can’t get any live help because all the times are 3-5am or 9-11pm Central Time. - Merchant, September 2025
Let’s dive in with the honesty these merchants deserve.
The Wholesale Solutions Landscape
Quick Comparison Table
| Solution | Monthly Cost | Setup Time | Best For | Major Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual (DIY) | $0 | 2-3 hours | <10 customers | Doesn’t scale, manual bottlenecks |
| BSS Commerce | $25-100 | 2-4 weeks | Budget-first, Asia timezone OK | Complex setup, support issues, theme-dependent |
| SparkLayer | $100-300 | 1-2 weeks | Separate B2B portal | Expensive, some features require Plus |
| Wholesale Gorilla | $50-100 | 1-2 days | Basic quantity discounts | No payment terms, pricing-only |
| Wholesale Pricing Discount | $50 | 1-2 days | Simple tiered pricing | No checkout customization, no terms |
| Shopify Plus B2B | $2,000+ | 2-4 weeks | Enterprise, $1M+ revenue | Expensive, Plus required |
| Effizient Wholesale | $75-125 | 10 minutes | All-in-one, US/EU support | New (beta Q1 2026) |
Now let’s go deep on each.
Option 1: Manual/DIY Approaches
Cost: $0/month (apps) + 10-20 hours/month (time)
What This Looks Like
In Part 1 of this series, I documented the manual approach in detail:
Core strategy:
- Tag wholesale customers (
wholesale,wholesale-tier-1, etc.) - Create discount codes (WHOLESALE20, WHOLESALE-TIER1, etc.)
- Use draft orders for custom pricing
- Manually track payments in spreadsheets
- Manually send invoices via email
What Works
- ✅ Zero app cost - Uses only built-in Shopify features
- ✅ Full control - You manually review every order
- ✅ Flexible - Can customize anything per customer
- ✅ Works for 5-10 customers - Totally viable at small scale
What Breaks
- ❌ Discount code leakage - Wholesale codes shared on coupon sites (revenue loss)
- ❌ Manual bottlenecks - 15-30 min per order (order entry, invoicing, tracking)
- ❌ No payment tracking - Spreadsheets get out of sync
- ❌ No automation - Every invoice, reminder, reconciliation is manual
- ❌ Doesn’t scale past 15-20 customers - Time investment unsustainable
Real merchant experience:
We ship 70% to consumers, 30% to retail partners. Right now, we’re duplicating order flows and inventory updates. Nightmare. - Merchant managing dual operations
When to Choose Manual
Choose manual if:
- You have <10 wholesale customers
- Orders are monthly (not weekly)
- You’re comfortable with spreadsheet tracking
- Budget is zero
- You have 10+ hours/week for wholesale admin
Upgrade when:
- You hit 15+ wholesale customers
- Spending >10 hours/week on wholesale tasks
- Discount codes are leaking (retail customers using them)
- Losing track of payments (cash flow suffering)
Time cost calculation:
- 15 wholesale orders/month × 20 min each = 5 hours/month order processing
- Payment tracking: 3 hours/month
- Invoice creation/sending: 2 hours/month
- Total: 10 hours/month = 120 hours/year × $50/hour = $6,000/year opportunity cost
Verdict: Manual is free on apps but expensive on time. Perfect for starting out, unsustainable by month 6-12.
Option 2: BSS Commerce B2B & Wholesale Solution
Cost: $25-100/month (Essential $25, Advanced $50, Platinum $100) Setup Time: 2-4 weeks (reported by merchants) Shopify App Store Rating: 4.8 stars (4,000+ reviews)
What BSS Commerce Offers
Core features:
- Tag-based customer and product pricing
- Volume/quantity breaks (unlimited)
- Customer registration forms (multi-step capability)
- Tax exemptions and VAT handling
- Order minimums and maximums
- Net payment terms (Advanced tier only, $50/mo)
- Public API for automation (Platinum tier only, $100/mo)
- Multi-currency support
- Shopify POS integration
Pricing tiers:
- FREE: Development/test stores only (all features)
- ESSENTIAL ($25/mo): Quantity breaks, registration, auto-tagging, custom notes
- ADVANCED ($50/mo): + Custom pricing, tax exemptions, discount codes, order limits, net terms, shipping customization
- PLATINUM ($100/mo): + Conditional form logic, price per variant, custom price lists, import/export, API access
What Works
- ✅ Affordable - $25-100/mo is accessible for small businesses
- ✅ Comprehensive feature list - Tiered pricing, quantity breaks, forms, tax handling
- ✅ Multiple tiers - Pay for what you need
- ✅ Mature product - Been around since 2018, App Store presence
What Breaks (Critical Issues)
Based on recent merchant feedback (Sep-Oct 2025) and our Reddit analysis:
1. Setup Complexity (Weeks, Not Hours)
Merchant quote:
I’m struggling to set this app up and I think it’s why my wholesale orders are trickling through. - September 18, 2025
What merchants report:
- Setup takes 2-4 weeks (not the “quick setup” promised)
- “Difficult to make product work out-of-the-box, particularly with product variants”
- “Running into many issues, instability, inconsistencies”
- Requires deep Shopify theme knowledge
Why this happens:
- BSS uses theme modifications (not Shopify Functions)
- Theme-dependent architecture breaks with theme updates
- Complex conditional logic in pricing rules
- Variant handling is fragile
2. Support Nightmare (Asia Timezone Only)
Merchant quote:
I can’t get any live help because all the times are 3-5am or 9-11pm Central Time. - September 18, 2025
The problem:
- BSS support is Asia-based only (Vietnam timezone)
- US Central Time: Support available 3-5am or 9-11pm
- EU merchants: Similar timezone mismatch
- “Issues arising from app updates are solved extremely slowly”
- “Only small steps towards solution each day before communication stops”
Real impact:
- Merchants blocked during setup (can’t launch wholesale)
- Revenue impact: “Orders trickling through” while waiting for support
- $950 EUR/year customer (Platinum tier) still gets slow support
3. Revenue Blocking
Merchant quote:
I think it’s why my wholesale orders are trickling through. - September 18, 2025
What’s happening:
- Price loading performance issues
- Checkout flow breaks with certain configurations
- Orders fail silently (customer abandons, merchant doesn’t know why)
- Not just inconvenient—actively costing merchants money
4. Technology Limitations
Architecture:
- Theme modifications (not Shopify Functions)
- Theme-dependent = breaks when you switch themes
- No checkout customization (can’t hide payment methods for wholesale)
- No accounting integration (QuickBooks, Xero)
- No credit limit enforcement
Comparison to modern apps:
- Shopify Functions (official API, future-proof, works on all plans)
- BSS uses legacy theme modifications (fragile, theme-dependent)
When to Choose BSS Commerce
Choose BSS if:
- Budget is primary concern ($25/mo is your max)
- You only need basic quantity breaks (not payment terms)
- Asia timezone support works for you (you’re in Asia or can work 3-5am)
- You’re comfortable troubleshooting theme conflicts
- You don’t need checkout customization or accounting integration
Don’t choose BSS if:
- You’re in US/EU timezones (support will frustrate you)
- You need fast setup (budget 2-4 weeks, not days)
- You need payment terms AND want reliability (Net 30 is Advanced tier + reports of issues)
- Your theme changes frequently (theme-dependent architecture will break)
- You need revenue-critical reliability (merchants report orders trickling)
The Reality Check
BSS Commerce is the market leader by reputation (“THE app” merchants are told to use) but not by merchant satisfaction.
Pattern from Reddit analysis (Sep-Oct 2025):
- 3+ dedicated complaint threads in 6-week period
- Merchants posting publicly after private support fails
- Using words like “struggling,” “nightmare,” “wrong”
- Actively seeking alternatives
Merchant quote:
We were told BSS is THE app to help us get this going. Wrong. - September 30, 2025
Our take: BSS Commerce is affordable and feature-rich on paper, but complex to implement and poorly supported in US/EU timezones. If you’re in Asia, have time for 2-4 week setup, and only need basic features, it can work. But expect frustration.
Pricing vs time trade-off:
- BSS: $50/mo + 20 hours setup + ongoing theme troubleshooting = $50/mo + $1,000 setup + $200/mo support time
- More expensive apps: $100-125/mo + 30 min setup + zero support time = $100-125/mo total
Option 3: SparkLayer
Cost: $100-300/month (based on features and volume) Setup Time: 1-2 weeks Shopify App Store Rating: 4.9 stars (200+ reviews)
What SparkLayer Offers
Core features:
- Separate B2B storefront (dedicated wholesale portal)
- Tiered pricing and customer groups
- Quote requests and custom pricing
- Reorder functionality and order history
- Payment terms (limited implementation)
- Multi-currency B2B
- Draft order conversion
Positioning:
- Premium wholesale solution
- Separate B2B experience (not shared retail/wholesale storefront)
- Focused on “professional” wholesale operations
What Works
- ✅ Mature product - Been around since 2018, established player
- ✅ Good design/UX - Professional B2B portal experience
- ✅ Separate storefront - If you want B2B-only portal, this delivers
- ✅ Quote workflow - Request for Quote (RFQ) functionality
- ✅ Responsive support - UK-based team, better timezone coverage than BSS
What Breaks
1. Expensive ($300/month for Full Features)
Pricing reality:
- Basic features: $100/month
- Full feature set: $200-300/month
- Volume-based pricing (higher order counts = higher price)
- $2,400-$3,600/year total
Comparison:
- 3x cost of BSS Commerce
- 2-3x cost of most wholesale apps
- Only 10x cheaper than Plus (vs 20-30x cheaper for other apps)
2. Some Features Require Shopify Plus
Hidden requirement:
- Payment customization (hiding credit card for wholesale) requires Shopify Scripts
- Scripts only available on Shopify Plus
- So: SparkLayer ($300/mo) + Plus ($2,000/mo) = $2,300/month total
- Not always clear from marketing which features need Plus
3. Complex Setup (1-2 Weeks)
What merchants report:
- 1-2 week setup time (better than BSS, but not “plug and play”)
- Requires Shopify theme knowledge
- Custom CSS often needed for branding
- Integration with existing store requires planning
4. Legacy Technology
Architecture:
- Uses Shopify Scripts (deprecated, being sunset 2025-2026)
- Requires Shopify Plus for some features
- Not built on Shopify Functions (modern, future-proof API)
When to Choose SparkLayer
Choose SparkLayer if:
- You strongly prefer separate B2B portal (not shared storefront)
- Budget supports $200-300/month
- You need professional quote workflow
- You’re already on Shopify Plus (Scripts available)
- UK timezone support works for you
Don’t choose SparkLayer if:
- Budget is <$200/month
- You want shared retail/wholesale storefront (one Shopify store)
- You need fast setup (hours, not weeks)
- You want future-proof Shopify Functions architecture
- You’re not on Plus and don’t want to upgrade
Verdict: SparkLayer is the premium option for merchants who want a separate B2B portal and have budget for $300/month. Good product, expensive, some features require Plus.
Option 4: Wholesale Gorilla & Wholesale Pricing Discount
Cost: $50-100/month Setup Time: 1-2 days Focus: Single-feature apps (pricing only)
What They Offer
Wholesale Gorilla ($50-100/mo):
- Tiered pricing
- Quantity/volume discounts
- Registration forms
- Hide prices from retail customers
Wholesale Pricing Discount ($50/mo):
- Tag-based customer pricing
- Tiered discounts
- Volume breaks
- Product-specific pricing
What Works
- ✅ Mid-range pricing - $50-100/mo is affordable
- ✅ Easy setup - 1-2 days (much faster than BSS/SparkLayer)
- ✅ Good quantity discount features - Flexible volume pricing
- ✅ Works on all Shopify plans - No Plus required
What Breaks
- ❌ No payment terms - Can’t do Net 30/60/90
- ❌ No checkout customization - Can’t hide payment/shipping methods for wholesale
- ❌ No credit management - No credit limits, no payment tracking
- ❌ No accounting integration - No QuickBooks/Xero sync
- ❌ Pricing-focused only - Not all-in-one solution
The App Stack Problem
What happens in reality:
Merchants need to stack apps to get full wholesale functionality:
- Wholesale Pricing Discount ($50/mo) - For tiered pricing
- Sufio ($30/mo) - For professional invoices
- Payment customization app ($20/mo) - To hide credit card for wholesale
- Manual payment tracking (5 hours/month = $250/mo opportunity cost)
Total cost: $100/month (apps) + $250/month (time) = $350/month
Fragmentation pain:
- 3-4 different app logins
- Data doesn’t sync between apps
- Manual work to connect dots
- Each app updates independently (can break integration)
When to Choose Single-Feature Apps
Choose Wholesale Gorilla or Wholesale Pricing Discount if:
- You only need basic tiered pricing or quantity breaks
- You don’t need payment terms (Net 30)
- You don’t need checkout customization
- Budget is $50-100/month
- You’re okay manually handling invoicing and payment tracking
Don’t choose if:
- You need payment terms (you’ll need additional apps)
- You need checkout customization (can’t hide payment methods)
- You want all-in-one solution (avoid app stack complexity)
Verdict: Good at what they do (pricing), but incomplete. You’ll need 2-3 additional apps for full wholesale functionality.
Option 5: Shopify Plus B2B
Cost: $2,000+/month ($24,000-$30,000/year) Setup Time: 2-4 weeks (Plus migration + B2B setup) Requirements: Must upgrade to Shopify Plus
What Shopify Plus B2B Offers
Core features:
- Native tiered pricing and customer-specific catalogs
- Payment terms (Net 30/60/90) built-in
- Company accounts with buyer-specific permissions
- Purchase order tracking
- VAT collection and tax exemptions
- Credit limits and approval workflows
- Shopify Scripts for checkout customization (being deprecated)
- Shopify Functions for modern extensibility
Positioning:
- Official Shopify solution (no third-party app risk)
- Enterprise-level B2B functionality
- Scales to high volume
What Works
- ✅ Official Shopify solution - No third-party app risk, native integration
- ✅ Comprehensive B2B features - Everything you need for complex B2B
- ✅ Scales to enterprise - Handles high volume, complex workflows
- ✅ Multi-currency B2B - Localized catalogs, regional pricing
- ✅ Company accounts - Multi-user permissions, approval workflows
- ✅ Future-proof - Shopify invests in Plus features first
What Breaks
- ❌ Expensive - $2,000-2,500/month = $24,000-$30,000/year
- ❌ Plus required - Can’t use on Basic/Shopify/Advanced plans
- ❌ ROI threshold - Only makes sense at $1M+ revenue
- ❌ Overkill for most - 80% of merchants don’t need Plus-level features
- ❌ Setup complexity - 2-4 week migration to Plus, then B2B setup
The ROI Calculation
When Plus makes sense:
| Revenue | Plus Cost | % of Revenue | Makes Sense? |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100K/year | $30,000/year | 30% | ❌ No |
| $500K/year | $30,000/year | 6% | ❌ Probably not |
| $1M/year | $30,000/year | 3% | ⚠️ Maybe (if B2B is >30%) |
| $2M+/year | $30,000/year | 1.5% | ✅ Yes (if you use other Plus features) |
What you’re paying for:
- B2B features: ~$300-500/month value
- Shopify Scripts (deprecated): ~$0 (going away)
- Launchpad: ~$100/month value
- Wholesale channel: ~$200/month value
- Priority support: ~$100/month value
- Automation: ~$100/month value
- Total value IF you use all features: ~$1,000/month
Reality: Most merchants upgrade to Plus for B2B but only use 20-30% of Plus features. You’re paying $2,000/month for $300-500/month of value.
When to Choose Shopify Plus B2B
Choose Plus if:
- Revenue is $1M+ and B2B is significant portion (>30%)
- You need enterprise features (multi-currency B2B, company accounts, complex approvals)
- You’ll use other Plus features (Scripts, Launchpad, automation)
- You have budget for $30,000/year
- Wholesale is mission-critical (official Shopify solution = zero third-party risk)
Don’t choose Plus if:
- Revenue is <$1M
- You only need basic B2B (tiered pricing, payment terms)
- Budget is tight ($30,000/year is 3-30% of revenue)
- You’re just starting wholesale (test with apps first)
Merchant quote:
Shopify Plus is just too expensive – i.e. $30,000 per year - Reddit merchant
Verdict: Plus B2B is the gold standard if you have revenue and budget. But for 80% of merchants, it’s overkill. Use apps until you hit $1M+ revenue.
Option 6: What We’re Building (Effizient Wholesale)
Cost: $75-125/month (Starter $75, Growth $100, Scale $125) Setup Time: 10 minutes Launch: Beta Q1 2026, early access available
Full Transparency: Why We’re Building This
After building 7 custom wholesale systems for merchants (at $25,000-50,000 each), we kept seeing the same gap:
The gap:
- Manual approaches work until 15-20 customers (then break)
- BSS Commerce is affordable but complex setup + poor support
- SparkLayer is great but expensive ($300/mo) and requires weeks
- App stacks are fragmented (3-4 apps, manual data sync)
- Plus is overkill ($30,000/year for $300/month of value)
The opportunity: Build an all-in-one wholesale app that:
- Works on Basic/Shopify/Advanced (no Plus required via App Store distribution)
- Uses Shopify Functions (future-proof, not deprecated Scripts)
- Sets up in 10 minutes (not weeks)
- Costs $75-125/month (not $300 or $2,000)
- US/EU timezone support (not Asia-only)
How we enable Shopify Functions on all plans:
- We distribute via Shopify App Store (not custom per-store app)
- App Store apps can use Shopify Functions on ANY Shopify plan
- Custom per-store apps require Plus for Functions, but App Store apps don’t
- This is why BSS Commerce (theme-based) and SparkLayer (Scripts) have limitations we don’t
What We’re Building
Core features:
- ✅ Tag-based tiered pricing (Tier 1, 2, 3, VIP)
- ✅ Net 30/60/90 payment terms (customer-specific)
- ✅ Checkout customization (hide payment/shipping methods for wholesale)
- ✅ Credit limits with automatic enforcement
- ✅ Automated invoice generation and sending
- ✅ Payment reminders (configurable schedule)
- ✅ Aging reports and payment tracking
- ✅ QuickBooks/Xero integration
- ✅ Purchase order fields and tracking
- ✅ Works on all Shopify plans (Shopify Functions-based)
Technology:
- Built on Shopify Functions (official API, future-proof)
- Not theme-dependent (works with any theme)
- App Store distributed (Functions work on all plans via App Store)
- Modern architecture (not legacy Scripts or theme modifications)
Pricing:
- Starter: $75/month (0-50 wholesale orders/month)
- Growth: $100/month (51-150 orders/month)
- Scale: $125/month (151-500 orders/month)
- Enterprise: Custom (500+ orders/month, custom features)
How We Compare
| Feature | BSS Commerce | SparkLayer | Effizient Wholesale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $25-100/mo | $200-300/mo | $75-125/mo |
| Setup time | 2-4 weeks | 1-2 weeks | 10 minutes |
| Technology | Theme mods | Scripts (deprecated) | Shopify Functions (App Store) |
| Support | Asia timezone | UK timezone | US/EU timezone |
| Payment terms | Advanced tier only | Limited | All tiers |
| Checkout customization | No | Requires Plus | Yes (via Functions) |
| Accounting integration | No | No | Yes (QuickBooks/Xero) |
| Credit limits | No | No | Yes (auto-enforced) |
| Plus required | No | Some features | No (App Store distributed) |
When to Choose Effizient Wholesale
Choose us if:
- You have 10-100 wholesale customers (sweet spot)
- You need tiered pricing + payment terms + checkout customization
- You want 10-minute setup (not weeks)
- You value US/EU timezone support
- You want all-in-one (not 3-4 app stack)
- You want Shopify Functions technology (future-proof, App Store distributed)
- Budget is $75-125/month
- You’re on Basic/Shopify/Advanced plan (no Plus required)
Don’t choose us if:
- You have <5 wholesale customers (stick with manual, it’s free)
- You strongly prefer separate B2B portal (use SparkLayer)
- You’re already on Plus with budget for B2B (use native Plus B2B)
- You only need basic quantity breaks (use cheaper single-feature app)
The Honest Assessment
What we do better than competitors:
- ✅ All-in-one (vs fragmented app stacks)
- ✅ Shopify Functions via App Store (vs deprecated Scripts or theme mods)
- ✅ 10-minute setup (vs weeks)
- ✅ US/EU support (vs Asia-only)
- ✅ Lower price than SparkLayer ($75-125 vs $300)
- ✅ Works on all plans without Plus (App Store distribution)
What we don’t do (yet):
- ❌ Separate B2B portal (if you need this, use SparkLayer)
- ❌ Multi-currency B2B with localized catalogs (use Plus)
- ❌ Complex quote workflows (coming Q2 2026)
Our promise: We’ll tell you honestly if we’re not the right fit. If you need features we don’t have, we’ll recommend the best alternative. That’s strategic transparency.
The Complete Cost Comparison
Let’s compare total cost of ownership for 30 wholesale customers over 12 months:
Manual Approach
- App cost: $0
- Time cost: 15 hours/month × $50/hour × 12 = $9,000
- Total year 1: $9,000
BSS Commerce (Advanced - $50/mo for Net Terms)
- App cost: $50/month × 12 = $600
- Setup time: 30 hours × $50/hour = $1,500
- Ongoing support/troubleshooting: 3 hours/month × $50/hour × 12 = $1,800
- Total year 1: $3,900
SparkLayer ($300/mo)
- App cost: $300/month × 12 = $3,600
- Setup time: 20 hours × $50/hour = $1,000
- Ongoing time: 1 hour/month × $50/hour × 12 = $600
- Total year 1: $5,200
App Stack (Wholesale Pricing + Sufio + Payment Customization)
- Apps cost: $100/month × 12 = $1,200
- Setup time: 10 hours × $50/hour = $500
- Manual payment tracking: 5 hours/month × $50/hour × 12 = $3,000
- Total year 1: $4,700
Shopify Plus B2B
- Plus cost: $2,000/month × 12 = $24,000
- Setup time: 40 hours × $50/hour = $2,000
- Ongoing time: 2 hours/month × $50/hour × 12 = $1,200
- Total year 1: $27,200
Effizient Wholesale ($100/mo Growth tier)
- App cost: $100/month × 12 = $1,200
- Setup time: 10 minutes × $50/hour = $8
- Ongoing time: 0.5 hours/month × $50/hour × 12 = $300
- Total year 1: $1,508
Winner by Cost Efficiency
- Effizient Wholesale: $1,508/year (best value)
- BSS Commerce: $3,900/year (affordable but time-intensive)
- App Stack: $4,700/year (fragmented, manual work)
- SparkLayer: $5,200/year (premium features)
- Manual: $9,000/year (hidden time cost)
- Shopify Plus: $27,200/year (enterprise)
Decision Framework: Which Solution is Right for You?
Choose Manual/DIY if:
- ✅ <10 wholesale customers
- ✅ Orders are monthly (not weekly)
- ✅ You have 10+ hours/week for wholesale admin
- ✅ Budget is $0 for apps
- ⏰ Plan to upgrade at 15-20 customers or 6-12 months
Choose BSS Commerce if:
- ✅ Budget is <$50/month
- ✅ You’re in Asia or can work 3-5am support hours
- ✅ You only need basic quantity breaks
- ✅ You have 2-4 weeks for setup
- ✅ You’re comfortable troubleshooting theme conflicts
- ❌ Avoid if: US/EU timezone, need fast setup, revenue-critical
Choose SparkLayer if:
- ✅ You strongly prefer separate B2B portal
- ✅ Budget supports $200-300/month
- ✅ You need professional quote workflow
- ✅ You’re already on Shopify Plus
- ❌ Avoid if: Budget <$200/mo, want shared storefront, need fast setup
Choose Wholesale Gorilla or Wholesale Pricing Discount if:
- ✅ You only need tiered pricing or quantity breaks
- ✅ Budget is $50-100/month
- ✅ You’re okay manually handling invoicing
- ❌ Avoid if: You need payment terms, checkout customization, all-in-one
Choose Shopify Plus B2B if:
- ✅ Revenue >$1M and B2B is >30% of business
- ✅ You need enterprise features (multi-currency B2B, company accounts)
- ✅ Budget supports $30,000/year
- ✅ You’ll use other Plus features (Scripts, Launchpad, automation)
- ❌ Avoid if: Revenue <$1M, only need basic B2B, budget is tight
Choose Effizient Wholesale if:
- ✅ You have 10-100 wholesale customers
- ✅ You need tiered pricing + payment terms + checkout customization
- ✅ You want 10-minute setup (not weeks)
- ✅ You value US/EU timezone support
- ✅ Budget is $75-125/month
- ❌ Avoid if: <5 customers, need separate B2B portal, already on Plus
The Reality Check: What Merchants Are Actually Saying
We analyzed 553 Reddit posts from r/shopify (Sep-Nov 2025) and found these patterns:
Pattern 1: App Fatigue
“We are not interested in going this route [apps]” - Merchant considering wholesale
What this means:
- Merchants are tired of fragmented app stacks
- They want all-in-one solutions
- They’re skeptical of apps that promise too much
- They value honesty about limitations
Pattern 2: Support is Make-or-Break
“I can’t get any live help because all the times are 3-5am or 9-11pm Central Time” - BSS user
What this means:
- Timezone-matched support is critical
- Merchants will pay more for responsive support
- Poor support blocks revenue (orders don’t flow)
- Support quality matters more than feature count
Pattern 3: Setup Time is Revenue Time
“I’m struggling to set this app up and I think it’s why my wholesale orders are trickling through” - Merchant
What this means:
- Complex setup = lost revenue (orders don’t flow during setup)
- “Quick setup” marketing vs 2-4 week reality frustrates merchants
- Merchants value “works out of the box” over “infinitely configurable”
Pattern 4: Shopify Plus Cost Barrier is Real
“Shopify Plus is just too expensive – i.e. $30,000 per year”
Frequency: 36% of B2B posts mention Plus cost barrier
What this means:
- Gap exists: $0 (manual) → $2,000/month (Plus)
- Apps fill this gap ($50-300/month)
- Merchants actively seeking Plus alternatives
- Willingness to pay for “Plus-like features without Plus price”
What to Do Next
If you’re just starting wholesale:
- Start with manual (free, works for <10 customers)
- Read our Part 1: Basic Wholesale Setup guide
- Plan to upgrade at 15-20 customers
If you’re outgrowing manual (15-50 customers):
- Evaluate your priorities:
- Budget-first? → BSS Commerce (if Asia timezone OK) or Wholesale Pricing Discount
- All-in-one? → Effizient Wholesale or SparkLayer
- Separate portal? → SparkLayer
- Simple pricing only? → Wholesale Gorilla
- Try before you buy:
- Most apps offer free trials (7-30 days)
- Test with 5-10 wholesale customers first
- Evaluate setup time, support responsiveness, feature completeness
If you’re at 50-100+ customers:
- Evaluate ROI for Plus:
- Revenue >$1M? Plus might make sense
- Revenue <$1M? Apps still better value
- Consider all-in-one apps:
- Effizient Wholesale ($75-125/mo) or SparkLayer ($300/mo)
- Avoid fragmented app stacks (3-4 apps = integration headaches)
If you want to try what we’re building:
- Visit effizient.io/wholesale to share your challenges
- Get early access to beta (Q1 2026)
- We’ll be honest if we’re not the right fit
Questions?
Questions about wholesale? Get help with your setup →
I’ll tell you honestly which solution makes sense for your situation—even if it’s not what we’re building. Share your feedback via email or schedule a quick call.
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Next: Part 5: VAT Number Collection for EU/UK Wholesale (Coming soon)
About the author: Michael Wallbaum has built custom wholesale systems for 7 Shopify merchants since 2019, managing over $2.3M in wholesale revenue. He’s currently building a wholesale app for Shopify merchants who’ve outgrown manual processes but don’t need Shopify Plus. This review is based on building custom systems, analyzing 553 Reddit posts, and honest assessment of what actually works. Learn more.