# Bulk purchasing > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bulk_purchasing > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bulk_purchasing.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulk_purchasing > Source revision: 1345670807 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Purchasing large quantities for a low unit price}} '''Bulk purchasing''' or '''mass buying''' is the purchase of much larger quantities than the usual, for a [unit price](/source/unit_price) that is lower than the usual. [Wholesaling](/source/Wholesaling) is [selling](/source/selling) goods in large quantities at a low [unit price](/source/unit_price) to retail merchants. The wholesaler will accept a slightly lower sales price for each unit, if the retailer will agree to purchase a much greater quantity of units, so the wholesaler can maximize profit. A wholesaler usually represents a factory where goods are produced. The factory owners can use [economy of scale](/source/economy_of_scale) to increase profit as the quantity sold increases.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=C. |title=What Is Bulk Purchasing? |url=https://www.smartcapitalmind.com/what-is-bulk-purchasing.htm |access-date=19 February 2023 |publisher=SmartCapitalMind |date=17 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219025201/https://www.smartcapitalmind.com/what-is-bulk-purchasing.htm |archive-date=19 February 2023}} [Retailing](/source/Retailing) is [buying](/source/buying) goods in a wholesale market to sell them in small quantities at higher prices to [consumers](/source/consumers). Part of this profit is justified by [logistics](/source/logistics), the useful distribution function of the retailer, who delivers the goods to consumers and divides those large quantities of goods into many smaller units suitable for many transactions with many small parties of consumers. Retailers can also benefit from [economy of scale](/source/economy_of_scale) to increase profit, just like a wholesaler does.{{cite news |last1=Amadeo |first1=Kimberly |title=The Retail Industry and Its Impact on the Economy |url=https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-retailing-why-it-s-important-to-the-economy-3305718 |access-date=19 February 2023 |publisher=The Balance |date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219030455/https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-retailing-why-it-s-important-to-the-economy-3305718 |archive-date=19 February 2023}} Bulk purchasing is when a consumer captures part of the benefits of economy of scale by doing with the retailer what the retailer does with the wholesaler: paying a lower price per unit in exchange for purchasing much larger quantities. This allows the consumer to satisfy more of his or her demands at a lower total cost by acquiring more [use value](/source/use_value) per dollar spent. Research has shown that simply displaying the per-unit price for an item sold in bulk would increase the adoption of bulk buying among lower-income families. This population cohort stands to reduce their supermarket expenditures by 5 percent if bulk purchasing is adopted at similar levels as higher-income cohorts.{{cite news |last1=Doris |first1=Áine |title=Why Low-Income Families Miss Out on Bulk Buying |url=https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/why-low-income-families-miss-out-bulk-buying |access-date=19 February 2023 |publisher=Chicago Booth Review |date=7 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129084741/https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/why-low-income-families-miss-out-bulk-buying |archive-date=29 November 2021}} Consumer demand for savings by bulk purchase has led to the success of [big-box store](/source/big-box_store)s. Although affected by [marginal cost](/source/marginal_cost), the total cost does not increase. Bulk purchasing also enables greater resilience, such that bulk buyers are able to build stockpiles of necessities. During the [COVID-19 pandemic](/source/COVID-19_pandemic), bulk purchasing also contributed to better health outcomes by decreasing the overall number of trips to the grocery store, thus lessening opportunities for exposure to [SARS-CoV-2](/source/SARS-CoV-2). Since lower-income individuals were less likely to participate in bulk buying, this likely contributed to socioeconomic-related health inequalities during the pandemic. The bulk buying of perishables must be carefully planned and calibrated since per-unit savings can be erased if consumers purchase an excessive amount of a particular product and it spoils before it can be consumed or otherwise used.{{cite news |last1=Backman |first1=Maurie |title=How to Save Money as Grocery Prices Soar Without Skipping Meals |url=https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-to-save-money-as-grocery-prices-soar-without-skipping-meals |access-date=19 February 2023 |agency=The Motley Fool |publisher=Nasdaq |date=17 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219013612/https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-to-save-money-as-grocery-prices-soar-without-skipping-meals |archive-date=19 February 2023}} == Music industry == {{Main|Chart manipulation}} In the music industry, bulk purchasing is one of the illegal practices used to manipulate [record charts](/source/Record_chart), beside [payola](/source/payola) and streaming fraud. In [South Korea](/source/South_Korea), this practice is known as ''sajaegi'' ({{Lang|ko|사재기}}). The term is generally used to refer to illegal bulk purchases of any item, but in the music industry, specifically refers to boosting chart rankings through unethical or illegal means.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/808049441/inside-sajaegi-k-pops-open-secret|title = Inside Sajaegi, K-Pop's Open Secret|newspaper = NPR|date = 21 February 2020|last1 = Kang|first1 = Haeryun}} The term specifically refers to artists or their agencies engaging in manipulative bulk buying, rather than bulk purchasing schemes orchestrated by fans. Nonetheless, some bulk purchasing initiatives led by artists' fans were also accused of being unethical . One controversial case is [Dynamite](/source/Dynamite_(BTS_song)) by [BTS](/source/BTS). The band's fans (called "ARMY") created large fundraisers (or donations) totaling roughly $40,000, according to [Paper](/source/Paper_(magazine)). Paper also stated that [Blackpink](/source/Blackpink)'s fans, BLINK, raised funds upwards of $10,000 to buy Blackpink's first album, [The Album](/source/The_Album_(Blackpink_album)). Other artists cited by Paper for such activities included [Stray Kids](/source/Stray_Kids), [Taylor Swift](/source/Taylor_Swift), [Harry Styles](/source/Harry_Styles), [Justin Bieber](/source/Justin_Bieber), and [Miley Cyrus](/source/Miley_Cyrus).{{Cite web|url=https://www.papermag.com/bts-blackpink-taylor-swift-stan-fundraisers-charts-2647856794.html|title = How Much Does It Cost to Go Number One?|date = 29 September 2020}} Chart manipulation has been a controversial topic in South Korea. South Korea's Ministry of Culture banned midnight releases altogether, in order to avoid chart manipulation. Additionally, to stop fan-orchestrated chart manipulation, [Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine)) has introduced new rules, mainly targeting the [Billboard Hot 100](/source/Billboard_Hot_100). Only 1 digital sale will be counted per customer per week for songs and albums after the rule change. Bulk purchases of 2 or more will not be counted.{{cite news |last1=Manongdo |first1=Jennifer |title=Billboard Introduces New Rules For Its Charts; BTS ARMY Reacts |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/billboard-introduces-new-rules-its-charts-bts-army-reacts-3374627 |access-date=19 February 2023 |work=International Business Times |date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113133226/https://www.ibtimes.com/billboard-introduces-new-rules-its-charts-bts-army-reacts-3374627 |archive-date=13 January 2022}} == See also == * [Bulk sale](/source/Bulk_sale) == References == {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:bulk purchasing}} Category:Business terms Category:Procurement --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bulk purchasing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulk_purchasing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulk_purchasing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.