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To me, wholesale absolutely means business to business, regardless of quantity--as you said, we pay sales tax on anything that is NOT to a business.
The only reason to sell animals at wholesale prices is when you're intending to sell them to a retailer or distributor. You know the retailer has to mark them up to make a profit. It's also a sure bet that you're going to be selling many animals to the same retailer--either in large numbers at once, or in large numbers over TIME. They're going to be a regular buyer.
Most retailers (IE, pet stores) want to buy normals. There are also some retailers and distributors looking for lower-end morphs (only a few I can think of would consider higher end morphs). So, you offer them your low-end animals in bulk, at a substantial discount, and if your price is right, they'll happily take them. For pet stores, all you have to do is undercut your competition to negotiate a good price--and the owner will frequently tell you what he's paying for comparable animals shipped to him from elsewhere. If you're local, it's a great deal for him--he gets to see in person before he buys, there is no shipping stress, and no huge risk, so it's really easy to sell to any local pet store that doesn't have an established deal with a distributor or breeder.
I wouldn't sell wholesale to any individual, because...they're not a business! Wholesale prices are for distributors and retailers, not retail customers.
Now, regular customers can certainly get quantity discounts! We always appreciate when people buy several animals from us. They can get some great deals, but no retail customer should ever expect to get actual wholesale prices. This is because retail customers aren't going to be buying big quantities of the same thing from one company every year (among other reasons).
Most animals sold wholesale will become pets. There are some exceptions, but that is generally what's happening. If you want the highest-end, quality animals, expect to pay retail prices...you won't find those animals being wholesaled. Finer animals are held back for individual sale, or for the breeder's own collection. Pet quality animals get wholesaled, if the breeder's production volume is high enough for that.
The advantage to selling animals wholesale is that you get them out of your racks--you no longer have the expense of feeding them, and labor of cleaning and caring for them, and you free up the space. This is why you wholesale your lowest-value animals, not your higher-end animals. If you think you can't sell an animal before the food and labor you put into it lowers its profit margin to a wholesale price, then you might as well wholesale it.
This is also why retail customers shouldn't even bother to ask for wholesale prices...not going to happen, and even if it did, why would you ever want to take a whole bunch of the lowest-end animals a breeder produced?
I guess they are thinking it doesn't hurt to ask, but it's pretty annoying when someone asks for a massive discount on a valuable animal.
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