What is a line sheet?
A line sheet is the document a store orders from: your range, with the wholesale price, the recommended retail price, case sizes and how to place an order.
Line sheet meaning
The term comes from fashion, where a brand shows its "line" for the season. Food and drink brands use it for the same thing: the full list of what a store can buy from you, and on what terms. It is one of the terms in our wholesale glossary, and the one buyers ask for most once they are interested.
A line sheet is not a pitch. That job belongs to a sell sheet. By the time a store asks for your line sheet, it is working out what to order.
What goes on a line sheet
- Each product: name, flavour or size, a clear photo, and the barcode.
- Wholesale price per unit and per case.
- RRP, the recommended shelf price, so the store can see its wholesale margin at a glance.
- Case size and the minimum order.
- Shelf life and storage, which matter a lot for chilled and fresh lines.
- How to order: email, phone, an order form or a link, plus payment terms and delivery areas.
When to send it
Not in the first email. Attachments and extra links in a cold email make it more likely to land in spam, and an owner who has never heard of you will not open a PDF. Keep the first email short and plain, and send the line sheet when a store replies and asks.
A line sheet stores can order from
In Flow, your line sheet is a page with your own branding. A store browses your range, sees wholesale price, margin and RRP, and places an order. It can pay by card through your own Stripe, or go on account through Xero. The order lands in your Orders and the store moves to First order, which starts its reorder clock.
Need numbers first? The wholesale price calculator works out your price, the store's margin and the shelf price together.
Questions brands ask
What is the difference between a line sheet and a sell sheet?
A sell sheet pitches one product so a buyer can decide. A line sheet lists your whole range with wholesale prices so a store can order.
Should I attach my line sheet to my first email to a store?
No. Attachments make a cold email more likely to land in spam. Send it when the store replies.
What should a food brand put on a line sheet?
Each product with a photo and barcode, wholesale price per unit and case, RRP, case size, minimum order, shelf life, and how to order and pay.
Does a line sheet need the retail price?
Yes. The store works out its margin from your wholesale price and the RRP, and that is the number it decides on.
Read next
- GlossarySell sheetOne page that pitches one product to a buyer, and what to put on it.
- Free toolsWholesale price calculatorYour margin, the store's margin and the shelf price, with or without a distributor.
- FeaturesFlowFrom the first reply to the first order and the reorder, with nothing left to memory.