Natural brooms and mats are everyday goods that every household, shop and temple needs, which makes them a steady line for a small trading business. This guide explains how to start a broom wholesale business or mat reselling business: what to stock, how to buy in bundles, how to work out landed cost and margin, and how to store and reorder without losses.
We are Ramnad Agro, a family wholesaler in Ramanathapuram district since 1998, supplying coconut and palmyra brooms, palm leaf mats and palmyra rope to resellers across India. We will not promise you a margin; nobody honestly can. But we will show you how to calculate one.
1. Choose a product mix
Start with products that sell to different customers but share the same storage and transport.
- Coconut leaf brooms (thenna eeki / eerkuchi): approx. 75–90 cm, 350–500 g. The fastest seller for homes and shops.
- Palmyra brooms (panai eeki): approx. 85–105 cm, 500–750 g. Stiffer, for yards, roads, mills and wet floors.
- Palm leaf mats (panai olai paai): approx. 6×3 ft for sleeping and 4×2 ft for sitting or pooja.
Coconut brooms bring regular repeat orders; palmyra brooms sell to commercial and outdoor users; mats add a higher-value item for pooja shops, supermarkets and online buyers. Our coconut vs palmyra brooms guide explains which customers want which broom.
2. Sourcing: buy in bundles from the source
The closer you buy to where goods are made, the fewer middlemen sit in your cost. In the broom wholesale market, goods move in bundles and sacks, and that is also how you should plan.
| Product | Bundle | Minimum order | Typical dispatch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coconut leaf brooms | 10 or 25 brooms | 100 bundles | 3–5 working days |
| Palmyra brooms | 10 brooms | 100 bundles | 3–5 business days |
| Palm leaf mats | 25 mats, wrapped in gunny / hessian | 50 mats | About 3 business days for 50–300 mats |
Before your first bulk order, buy samples. We courier samples at cost: a 5-broom coconut broom sample, a palmyra broom sample bundle, or a single mat. Show them to your own customers and confirm the quality suits your market.
Comparing supplier quotes
- Is the price per piece, per bundle or per kg?
- What is the length and weight per broom, or size per mat?
- Is freight included, and to which point: your shop or the transport office?
- What are the payment terms? Ours: 50% advance to book, balance before dispatch against the transport receipt (bilty / LR).
3. Landed cost and margin: a worked example
Your real cost is not the supplier’s price. It is the landed cost: everything you pay until the goods are sitting in your godown, ready to sell.
Example only. The numbers below are made up to show the method. They are not Ramnad Agro prices and not market rates.
| Cost item (example only) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Purchase: 100 bundles × 10 brooms = 1,000 brooms at a hypothetical ₹20 each | ₹20,000 |
| Lorry or parcel freight to your town (hypothetical) | ₹3,000 |
| Unloading and local transport to your godown (hypothetical) | ₹500 |
| Total cost | ₹23,500 |
| Allowance for damaged or unsaleable pieces (assume 2% = 20 brooms) | 980 saleable brooms |
| Landed cost per saleable broom | ₹23,500 ÷ 980 ≈ ₹23.98 |
Now suppose, again as an example only, that you sell each broom to shops at ₹30. Your gross profit per broom is ₹30 − ₹23.98 = ₹6.02, and your gross margin is ₹6.02 ÷ ₹30 ≈ 20%.
Note how much the extra costs matter: the supplier price was ₹20, but the true cost was nearly ₹24. Leave out freight and losses and you will think you are earning more than you are.
Costs to remember
- GST and invoicing as applicable; confirm the treatment for each product with your accountant.
- Godown rent, labour and your own delivery to customers.
- Credit you give to shops: money waiting is money not earning.
- Online seller fees, packing and courier if you sell online.
4. Storage: protect your stock
Natural products need dry storage. Mould and damp are the most common reasons stock becomes unsellable.
- Off the floor: stack bundles on pallets, planks or racks, never directly on concrete.
- Dry and ventilated: keep away from damp walls and leaking roofs, especially in the monsoon.
- Keep mats wrapped and flat or rolled: leave them in their gunny or hessian wrapping until sale.
- First in, first out: sell older stock first and check it regularly.
5. Selling: who buys brooms and mats
Hardware, grocery and general shops
Coconut brooms are an impulse and repeat purchase. Offer shops a mixed bundle and regular delivery.
Pooja shops and temples
The 4×2 ft palm leaf mat is used for sitting and pooja, and steady festival demand helps planning.
Mills, farms and institutions
Palmyra brooms suit godowns, mills, yards and road cleaning, where stiffer ribs are needed.
Selling palm leaf products online
- Use clear photos of the real product, including a close-up of the weave or binding.
- State material, size and weight plainly, for example “palmyra leaf mat, approx. 6×3 ft”.
- Mention that handmade items vary slightly in size and colour.
- Work out courier cost per piece before setting your online price.
6. Reorder planning
Running out loses customers; overstocking ties up cash and risks damp damage. Keep it simple:
- Track how many bundles you sell each week.
- Allow for dispatch time (about 3–5 working days) plus transit to your town.
- Reorder when your stock falls to what you would sell in that lead time plus a small buffer.
- Plan ahead before festivals and the monsoon, when demand and storage risk both change.
For the full range in one place, see our products page. For mat sizes and packing, read palm leaf mat sizes, packing and MOQ, and for mat pricing factors, our palm leaf mat price guide.
Tell us which brooms or mats you need, quantities and your town. We reply with current rates and freight so you can work out your landed cost before you commit.
