Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / April 2006

Not much. A wholesaler is generally a distributor as well, while a
distributor is not always a wholesaler.

The opposite of "wholesale" is "retail," where people buy and sell
things in small lots. Wholesalers, therefore, buys and sells things in
large lots. Generally, the larger the lots, the more likely they are to
to take care of the transportation of these lots to your place of
business/residence, but they may not.

Distributors may be wholesalers, but they may simply distribute
something that has already been sold by someone else and take a
commission for their services.

Very large wholesalers, organizations responsible for selling gigantic
lots to smaller wholesalers and/or dealing directly with the main
company producing the product in their country or region, generally
prefer to be called distributors. You will never pick up a can of
Coca-Cola in a foreign country and find the word "wholesaler," for
instance, "Ecuadoran wholesaler, JFB Imports."

This should be enough to go by, but if it isn't, post again.