diff --git a/docs/api/index.rst b/docs/api/index.rst
index 5ea81b98d4c66148c600ff345e0e4c96bccc684c..977dd71547d9cc6ad17bd60bf85b567552297b91 100644
--- a/docs/api/index.rst
+++ b/docs/api/index.rst
@@ -65,4 +65,5 @@ attributes and method signatures etc.
    rattail/upgrades
    rattail/util
    rattail/vendors.catalogs
+   rattail/vendors.handler
    rattail/win32
diff --git a/docs/api/rattail/vendors.handler.rst b/docs/api/rattail/vendors.handler.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7cf6e94cf25dc765a565bcfe8ca40883c6f3512c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/api/rattail/vendors.handler.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+
+``rattail.vendors.handler``
+===========================
+
+.. automodule:: rattail.vendors.handler
+   :members:
diff --git a/rattail/app.py b/rattail/app.py
index a546cdf84ee4030fb0a8a107ee5341490f8756c6..57dfaef6c7aaed4d28ad68477cd977320b639774 100644
--- a/rattail/app.py
+++ b/rattail/app.py
@@ -670,6 +670,20 @@ class AppHandler(object):
             self.trainwreck_handler = Handler(self.config)
         return self.trainwreck_handler
 
+    def get_vendor_handler(self, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Get the configured "vendor" handler.
+
+        :returns: The :class:`~rattail.vendors.handler.VendorHandler`
+           instance for the app.
+        """
+        if not hasattr(self, 'vendor_handler'):
+            spec = self.config.get('rattail', 'vendors.handler',
+                                   default='rattail.vendors:VendorHandler')
+            factory = self.load_object(spec)
+            self.vendor_handler = factory(self.config, **kwargs)
+        return self.vendor_handler
+
     def progress_loop(self, *args, **kwargs):
         """
         Run a given function for a given sequence, and optionally show
diff --git a/rattail/batch/vendorcatalog.py b/rattail/batch/vendorcatalog.py
index 22643a5229020adf8b5c702940772a5e2025573f..eac086a6d23e5bf644f2db5493d51641d6738c3a 100644
--- a/rattail/batch/vendorcatalog.py
+++ b/rattail/batch/vendorcatalog.py
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ from sqlalchemy import orm
 
 from rattail.db import model
 from rattail.batch import BatchHandler
-from rattail.vendors.catalogs import require_catalog_parser
 
 
 class VendorCatalogHandler(BatchHandler):
@@ -63,7 +62,7 @@ class VendorCatalogHandler(BatchHandler):
     def setup(self, batch, progress=None):
         self.vendor = batch.vendor
         self.products = {'upc': {}, 'vendor_code': {}}
-        session = orm.object_session(batch)
+        session = self.app.get_session(batch)
         products = session.query(model.Product)\
                           .options(orm.joinedload(model.Product.brand))\
                           .options(orm.joinedload(model.Product.costs))
@@ -112,21 +111,18 @@ class VendorCatalogHandler(BatchHandler):
         if not batch.parser_key:
             raise ValueError("batch does not have a parser_key: {}".format(batch))
 
-        session = orm.object_session(batch)
+        session = self.app.get_session(batch)
         path = batch.filepath(self.config)
-        parser = require_catalog_parser(batch.parser_key)
-        # TODO: should add `config` kwarg to CatalogParser constructor
-        parser.config = self.config
-        parser.app = self.app
-        parser.model = self.model
-        parser.enum = self.enum
+        vendor_handler = self.app.get_vendor_handler()
+        parser = vendor_handler.get_catalog_parser(batch.parser_key,
+                                                   require=True)
         parser.session = session
         parser.vendor = batch.vendor
         batch.effective = parser.parse_effective_date(path)
 
         def append(row, i):
             self.add_row(batch, row)
-            if i % 1000 == 0: # pragma: no cover
+            if i % 500 == 0: # pragma: no cover
                 session.flush()
 
         data = list(parser.parse_rows(path, progress=progress))
diff --git a/rattail/vendors/__init__.py b/rattail/vendors/__init__.py
index e69de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391..e21ad1f6188372e4f762c5d3b5f6d3bb5ed94b75 100644
--- a/rattail/vendors/__init__.py
+++ b/rattail/vendors/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8; -*-
+################################################################################
+#
+#  Rattail -- Retail Software Framework
+#  Copyright © 2010-2022 Lance Edgar
+#
+#  This file is part of Rattail.
+#
+#  Rattail is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
+#  terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+#  Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+#  version.
+#
+#  Rattail is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+#  WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+#  FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more
+#  details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+#  Rattail.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+################################################################################
+"""
+Vendor stuff
+"""
+
+from __future__ import unicode_literals, absolute_import
+
+from .handler import VendorHandler
diff --git a/rattail/vendors/catalogs.py b/rattail/vendors/catalogs.py
index 02485c24afff2bfb14f242b3e09e7dcc4a0abb69..bb3d4a08edd21b8138fa6f469fc0a14369fd146a 100644
--- a/rattail/vendors/catalogs.py
+++ b/rattail/vendors/catalogs.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Vendor Catalogs
 
 from __future__ import unicode_literals, absolute_import
 
+import warnings
 from decimal import Decimal
 
 import six
@@ -136,38 +137,50 @@ class CatalogParserNotFound(RattailError):
         return "Vendor catalog parser with key {} cannot be located.".format(self.key)
 
 
-def get_catalog_parsers():
+def get_catalog_parsers(): # pragma: no cover
     """
     Returns a dictionary of installed vendor catalog parser classes.
     """
+    warnings.warn("function is deprecated, please use "
+                  "VendorHandler.get_all_catalog_parsers() instead",
+                  DeprecationWarning)
     return load_entry_points('rattail.vendors.catalogs.parsers')
 
 
-def get_catalog_parser(key):
+def get_catalog_parser(key): # pragma: no cover
     """
     Fetch a vendor catalog parser by key.  If the parser class can be located,
     this will return an instance thereof; otherwise returns ``None``.
     """
+    warnings.warn("function is deprecated, please use "
+                  "VendorHandler.get_catalog_parser() instead",
+                  DeprecationWarning)
     parser = get_catalog_parsers().get(key)
     if parser:
         return parser()
     return None
 
 
-def require_catalog_parser(key):
+def require_catalog_parser(key): # pragma: no cover
     """
     Fetch a vendor catalog parser by key.  If the parser class can be located,
     this will return an instance thereof; otherwise raises an exception.
     """
+    warnings.warn("function is deprecated, please use "
+                  "VendorHandler.get_catalog_parser() instead",
+                  DeprecationWarning)
     parser = get_catalog_parser(key)
     if not parser:
         raise CatalogParserNotFound(key)
     return parser
 
 
-def iter_catalog_parsers():
+def iter_catalog_parsers(): # pragma: no cover
     """
     Returns an iterator over the installed vendor catalog parsers.
     """
+    warnings.warn("function is deprecated, please use "
+                  "VendorHandler.get_all_catalog_parsers() instead",
+                  DeprecationWarning)
     parsers = get_catalog_parsers()
     return parsers.values()
diff --git a/rattail/vendors/handler.py b/rattail/vendors/handler.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2f4652ff6e20bfe858d39bc61b6615700c84b254
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rattail/vendors/handler.py
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8; -*-
+################################################################################
+#
+#  Rattail -- Retail Software Framework
+#  Copyright © 2010-2022 Lance Edgar
+#
+#  This file is part of Rattail.
+#
+#  Rattail is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
+#  terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+#  Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+#  version.
+#
+#  Rattail is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+#  WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+#  FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more
+#  details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+#  Rattail.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+################################################################################
+"""
+Vendors Handler
+"""
+
+from __future__ import unicode_literals, absolute_import
+
+from rattail.app import GenericHandler
+from rattail.util import load_entry_points
+
+
+class VendorHandler(GenericHandler):
+    """
+    Base class and default implementation for vendor handlers.
+    """
+
+    def choice_uses_dropdown(self):
+        """
+        Returns boolean indicating whether a vendor choice should be
+        presented to the user via a dropdown (select) element, vs.  an
+        autocomplete field.  The latter is the default because
+        potentially the vendor list can be quite large, so we avoid
+        loading them all in the dropdown unless so configured.
+
+        :returns: Boolean; if true then a dropdown should be used;
+           otherwise (false) autocomplete is used.
+        """
+        return self.config.getbool('rattail', 'vendors.choice_uses_dropdown',
+                                   default=False)
+
+    def get_vendor(self, session, key, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Locate and return the vendor corresponding to the given key.
+
+        The key can be a UUID value, but most often it will instead be
+        a "generic" key specific to this purpose.  Any generic key can
+        be defined within the settings, pointing to a valid vendor.
+        
+        For instance, we can define a key of ``'poser.acme'`` to
+        denote the hypothetical "Acme Distribution" vendor, and we add
+        a namespace unique to our app just to be safe.
+
+        We then create a setting in the DB pointing to our *actual*
+        vendor by way of its UUID:
+
+        .. code-block:: sql
+
+           INSERT INTO SETTING (name, value) 
+           VALUES ('rattail.vendor.poser.acme',
+                   '7e6d69a2700911ec93533ca9f40bc550');
+
+        From then on we could easily fetch the vendor by this key.
+        This is mainly useful to allow catalog and invoice parsers to
+        "loosely" associate with a particular vendor by way of this
+        key, which could be shared across organizations etc.
+        """
+        from rattail.db.api.vendors import get_vendor
+        return get_vendor(session, key)
+
+    def get_all_catalog_parsers(self):
+        """
+        Should return *all* catalog parsers known to exist.
+
+        Note that this returns classes and not instances.
+
+        :returns: List of
+           :class:`~rattail.vendors.catalogs.CatalogParser` classes.
+        """
+        Parsers = list(
+            load_entry_points('rattail.vendors.catalogs.parsers').values())
+        Parsers.sort(key=lambda Parser: Parser.display)
+        return Parsers
+        
+    def get_supported_catalog_parsers(self):
+        """
+        Should return only those catalog parsers which are "supported"
+        by the current app.  Usually "supported" just means what we
+        want to expose to the user.
+
+        Note that this returns classes and not instances.
+
+        :returns: List of
+           :class:`~rattail.vendors.catalogs.CatalogParser` classes.
+        """
+        Parsers = self.get_all_catalog_parsers()
+        
+        supported_keys = self.config.getlist(
+            'rattail', 'vendors.supported_catalog_parsers')
+        if supported_keys is None:
+            supported_keys = self.config.getlist(
+                'tailbone', 'batch.vendorcatalog.supported_parsers')
+        if supported_keys:
+            Parsers = [Parser for Parser in Parsers
+                       if Parser.key in supported_keys]
+            
+        return Parsers
+
+    def get_catalog_parser(self, key, require=False):
+        """
+        Retrieve the catalog parser for the given parser key.
+
+        Note that this returns an instance, not the class.
+
+        :param key: Unique key indicating which parser to get.
+
+        :returns: A :class:`~rattail.vendors.catalogs.CatalogParser`
+           instance.
+        """
+        from rattail.vendors.catalogs import CatalogParserNotFound
+
+        for Parser in self.get_all_catalog_parsers():
+            if Parser.key == key:
+                return Parser(self.config)
+
+        if require:
+            raise CatalogParserNotFound(key)
diff --git a/tests/vendors/test_handler.py b/tests/vendors/test_handler.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c08f35ddb416ffbb4e1bd3f519dc9f3cc266e006
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/vendors/test_handler.py
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8; -*-
+
+from __future__ import unicode_literals, absolute_import
+
+from unittest import TestCase
+
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+
+from rattail.vendors import handler as mod
+from rattail.vendors.catalogs import CatalogParserNotFound
+from rattail.config import make_config
+from rattail.db import Session
+
+
+class TestVendorHandler(TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.config = self.make_config()
+        self.handler = self.make_handler()
+
+    def make_config(self):
+        return make_config([], extend=False)
+
+    def make_handler(self):
+        return mod.VendorHandler(self.config)
+
+    def test_choice_uses_dropdown(self):
+        
+        # do not use dropdown by default
+        result = self.handler.choice_uses_dropdown()
+        self.assertFalse(result)
+
+        # but do use dropdown if so configured
+        self.config.setdefault('rattail', 'vendors.choice_uses_dropdown',
+                               'true')
+        result = self.handler.choice_uses_dropdown()
+        self.assertTrue(result)
+
+    def test_get_vendor(self):
+        engine = sa.create_engine('sqlite://')
+        model = self.config.get_model()
+        model.Base.metadata.create_all(bind=engine)
+        session = Session(bind=engine)
+        app = self.config.get_app()
+
+        # no vendor if none exist yet!
+        result = self.handler.get_vendor(session, 'acme')
+        self.assertIsNone(result)
+
+        # let's make the vendor and make sure uuid fetch works
+        uuid = app.make_uuid()
+        acme = model.Vendor(uuid=uuid, name="Acme")
+        session.add(acme)
+        result = self.handler.get_vendor(session, uuid)
+        self.assertIs(result, acme)
+
+        # if we search by key it still does not work
+        result = self.handler.get_vendor(session, 'acme')
+        self.assertIsNone(result)
+
+        # but we can configure the key reference, then it will
+        setting = model.Setting(name='rattail.vendor.acme', value=uuid)
+        session.add(setting)
+        result = self.handler.get_vendor(session, 'acme')
+        self.assertIs(result, acme)
+
+    def test_get_all_catalog_parsers(self):
+
+        # some are always installed; make sure they come back
+        Parsers = self.handler.get_all_catalog_parsers()
+        self.assertTrue(len(Parsers))
+
+    def test_get_supported_catalog_parsers(self):
+
+        # by default all parsers are considered supported, so these
+        # calls should effectively yield the same result
+        all_parsers = self.handler.get_all_catalog_parsers()
+        supported = self.handler.get_supported_catalog_parsers()
+        self.assertEqual(len(all_parsers), len(supported))
+
+        # now pretend only one is supported, using legacy setting
+        self.config.setdefault('tailbone', 'batch.vendorcatalog.supported_parsers',
+                               'rattail.contrib.generic')
+        supported = self.handler.get_supported_catalog_parsers()
+        self.assertEqual(len(supported), 1)
+        Parser = supported[0]
+        self.assertEqual(Parser.key, 'rattail.contrib.generic')
+
+        # now pretend two are supported, using preferred setting
+        self.config.setdefault('rattail', 'vendors.supported_catalog_parsers',
+                               'rattail.contrib.generic, rattail.contrib.kehe')
+        supported = self.handler.get_supported_catalog_parsers()
+        self.assertEqual(len(supported), 2)
+        keys = [Parser.key for Parser in supported]
+        self.assertEqual(keys, ['rattail.contrib.generic', 'rattail.contrib.kehe'])
+
+    def test_get_catalog_parser(self):
+        
+        # generic parser comes back fine
+        parser = self.handler.get_catalog_parser('rattail.contrib.generic')
+        self.assertIsNotNone(parser)
+        self.assertEqual(parser.key, 'rattail.contrib.generic')
+
+        # unknown key returns nothing
+        parser = self.handler.get_catalog_parser('this_should_not_exist')
+        self.assertIsNone(parser)
+
+        # and can raise an error if we require
+        self.assertRaises(CatalogParserNotFound, self.handler.get_catalog_parser,
+                          'this_should_not_exist', require=True)