What is the difference between wholesale and retail prices?
A wholesale price is paid between businesses for large quantities; a retail price is what consumers pay in a shop. Retail prices are higher because they include transport, storage, losses, packaging, staff, rent and the retailer’s margin.
Wholesale quotes describe trade in bulk: boxes, sacks, crates or pallets bought by shops, caterers and traders. Retail prices describe single purchases by consumers and often include value-added tax.
The gap between the two is not fixed. It depends on the product, how perishable it is, how far it travels, the season and the shop. Retail prices also change more slowly than wholesale prices, which can move every day.
Husfarm publishes wholesale and exchange prices as the markets publish them. It does not publish retail prices or estimate the margin between the two.
Latest wholesale quotes · Methodology
Other questions
- What is a wholesale market?
- What does a wholesale price quote mean?
- How does Husfarm convert prices to euros per kilogram?
- Why do prices of the same product differ between markets?
- What affects fruit and vegetable prices?
- What do grades and classes mean in produce prices?
- What is the difference between farm-gate, wholesale and export prices?
- How often do markets publish prices?
- Why does Husfarm use the median price?
- How should I read FAOSTAT production data?
- Why do world exports and imports not match?
- How can farmers use wholesale prices?