Ordering Wholesale on WhatsApp: What to Ask and Send

In Turkish wholesale, WhatsApp is not a casual channel — it is the order desk. Stock moves during the day, photos and voice notes carry information an email cannot, and a well-formed message gets a proforma back within hours. A vague one sits in a queue behind thirty other vague ones. This guide is the practical version: what to send, what to ask, when to send it, and what to keep. Disentis Modest has produced in our own Istanbul workshop since 1998 across 600+ models in sizes 34⁠–⁠60, and every order we take starts with a message on +90 555 336 47 86.

Why WhatsApp Runs This Industry

It is not habit. The channel genuinely fits how stock wholesale works, and understanding why tells you how to use it well.

• Stock is live. A model that was available this morning may be gone this afternoon. A channel with instant replies avoids ordering things that no longer exist.
• Images carry the detail. A photo of a hem, a fabric close-up or a 10-second video of drape answers questions that three paragraphs of text cannot.
• It crosses language gaps. Photos, model codes and numbers are universal; long prose in a second language is where misunderstandings live.
• It creates a record. Everything is timestamped and searchable, which matters when you need to check what was agreed six weeks ago.
• It is where the proforma comes from. Your list goes in, availability comes back, the proforma follows — the whole loop in one place.

The First Message That Gets a Fast Answer

Your opening message should let the other side act immediately rather than ask three clarifying questions first. Include four things: who you are, what market you sell in, what you are looking for, and roughly what size of order.

• Bad: "Hello. Price?" — Price of what, in what quantity, delivered where?
• Bad: "Send me your catalogue." — 600+ models with no filter is not useful to either side.
• Good: "Hello, I'm Amara, boutique in Lagos, plus-size 50⁠–⁠56. Looking for long-sleeve maxi dresses and co-ord sets, first order around $600⁠–⁠800. Can you send 8⁠–⁠10 models in stock now?"
• Why it works: it names the market, the size range, the categories, the budget and the timeframe — everything needed to reply with a curated, in-stock selection in one go.
• Add your destination city early. Freight and duty differ enormously by market, and knowing the destination from the start prevents a second round of questions later.

Practical tip: browse the collection before you write, and name the categories you want — dresses, co-ord sets, tunics. Ten seconds of filtering on your side saves an hour of back-and-forth on both.

How to Send an Order List That Cannot Be Misread

This is where most delays are created. An order list should be readable in one glance and impossible to interpret two ways. One line per model, always in the same order: code, colour, size, quantity.

• Format each line identically: `DM-1024 / black / 50 ×1, 52 ×2, 54 ×2, 56 ×1`
• One colour per line. If you want the same model in two colours, that is two lines, not one line with a note.
• Always include the model code, not just "the green dress from the photo". Codes are unambiguous; descriptions are not.
• Put the total at the bottom — total pieces and your target value. It lets the other side sanity-check against the $400 minimum order immediately.
• Send it as text, not as a screenshot of a spreadsheet. Text can be copied into an order system; an image has to be retyped, and retyping is where errors enter.
• End with the destination city and preferred courier. That single line is what turns a quote into a proforma with real freight instead of a placeholder.

The Seven Questions Actually Worth Asking

Most buyers ask too few useful questions and too many unanswerable ones. These seven change decisions; anything else can usually wait.

• 1. Is this in stock now, and how many pieces per size? The single most valuable question, because it determines whether your curve is even possible.
• 2. What is the fabric composition and weight in grams per square metre? "Viscose" is not a specification. 180 g and 240 g are different products at the same price point.
• 3. Is it lined? For anything light-coloured or lightweight, this is the difference between a sale and a return.
• 4. What are the garment's flat measurements in the size I sell most? Body size charts tell you the target; flat measurements tell you the reality.
• 5. Is the price per piece or per set, and what is the ratio? In markets that sell by seri, this prevents ordering six times what you planned.
• 6. What are the estimated gross weight and carton dimensions? Your freight cost depends on these, and volumetric weight can add 15⁠–⁠30%.
• 7. What is the lead time to packed and ready? Usually 2⁠–⁠5 days for in-stock goods, but ask rather than assume.

Practical tip: never ask "what is your best price?" without stating a quantity and a destination. It is unanswerable, and it signals inexperience. "What is the price for 60 pieces across four models, shipped to Bogotá?" gets a real number.

Photos, Videos and Voice Notes — Used Properly

The media features are the reason this channel beats email, but each has a right use and a wrong one.

• Ask for three photo types per model: a flat-lay showing true shape, an on-model shot showing drape, and a close-up showing fabric texture. The third is the one most buyers forget and most regret skipping.
• Ask for a short video for anything with movement — pleats, wide legs, flowing kaftans. Ten seconds of video answers what ten photos cannot.
• Keep voice notes under 60 seconds and follow anything important with a one-line text summary. Voice is fast for nuance and terrible as a record — nobody scrolls back through nine minutes of audio to find a quantity.
• Send screenshots of your bank confirmation immediately after paying. Matching a payment takes minutes with it and days without.
• Never send bank details or receive them as forwarded images without verifying by voice. Changed bank details are the most common fraud in this trade.

Timing: When Your Message Actually Gets Read

Istanbul runs on UTC+3 all year. Business hours are roughly 09:00⁠–⁠18:00, Monday to Saturday, with Saturday often a shorter day and Sunday closed. Working with that rhythm rather than against it noticeably speeds up your orders.

• West Africa (UTC+1): you are two hours behind. Messages sent at 08:00 your time land mid-morning in Istanbul — the fastest window of the day.
• Gulf (UTC+4): you are one hour ahead. Almost fully overlapping working days; expect same-hour replies.
• Europe (UTC+1/+2): one to two hours behind. Send before your lunch for a same-day answer.
• Latin America (UTC-3 to UTC-6): you are six to nine hours behind. Sending in your evening puts your message at the top of the Istanbul morning queue — the single most effective timing habit on this lane.
• Send the list, then stop. Five follow-up messages asking if it arrived push your list up the screen and slow the reply rather than speeding it.

Keeping a Record You Can Actually Use

Six weeks later, when a carton count is queried or a reorder needs the same specification, your chat history is your file. A few habits make it usable.

• Pin the proforma message in the chat so it is one tap away.
• Keep one thread per supplier, not one per order. Searching a single continuous thread is far faster than remembering which conversation held what.
• Save the model codes of everything that sold, not just what you liked. That list is your reorder in four weeks.
• Export the chat before a big reorder if your business needs formal records; most devices allow exporting a conversation as a text file with media.
• Keep payment confirmations in the same thread so goods, prices and payments all sit in one searchable place.

The Full Sequence, Start to Finish

• 1. Browse the collection and note the model codes you want, with sizes within 34⁠–⁠60.
• 2. Send an opening message with your market, size range, categories and budget.
• 3. Ask the seven questions on the models you are serious about.
• 4. Send the order list in one text message, formatted one line per model and colour, ending with your destination city.
• 5. Receive the proforma, check it, and pay the 70% deposit by bank transfer with the proforma number in the reference.
• 6. Send the payment confirmation screenshot, then wait for packing and final weights before paying the 30% balance. We ship worldwide.

None of this is about being formal. It is about removing the guesswork from both sides of the conversation, so the time goes into choosing the right models rather than clarifying what you meant. A buyer who sends clean lists and asks specific questions gets faster answers, better stock information and fewer errors — not because of any special treatment, but because there is simply less to go wrong.