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Question about Wholesale accounts


Lumina

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I am pretty new to the wholesale account side...I had someone order from my website and it was a very small order.  Then she contacted me back about wanting to do wholesale.  I got to tell you here the emails were a bit strange.  She wanted different size candles then I offer and was sending me sites to look up cheaper glass jars.  I told her that there would be a lot of testing involved for that.  So back and forth a bunch of times.  I looked her up on the web and she doesn't even have a site.  She said she was opening space in a  small store.  She told me she was starting in May.. I have heard nothing from her for a month.  All of a sudden she contacts me again and wants to place an order with me using her name on the product.  I don't have a problem with that, I asked her for her logo and guess what?? she doesn't have one and could I make it up for her??????   hmmmm...  Her order that she emailed me would total over $200.  Do I try and find someone to make a logo for me?  Or just walk away from this one?

 

Thank you everyone for your input.

 

Cindy

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Guest OldGlory

My only suggestion is to follow your gut instinct. Some wholesale clients can drain the life out of you.

I have walked away from a few wholesale accounts when things got wierd - never looked back.

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It could be legit and she could be looking for herself too.  If she was going to be opening a store in May, geesh, it's almost July.  If that was me, I'd ask her where her store is and the name of it.  It sounds to me like she is renting booth space in a mall or something like that and that is ok.   What you could so is get her tax id up front and tell her that is a requirement to order wholesale and if she doesn't have one, then you can't do anything.    And she wants jars?  Like you said, that is a lot of testing to be done since you don't offer them that isn't going to happen overnight.  The other thing is if you think that she is not legit, you could also tell her there is a one time design and set up fee for a custom private label that you would need up front.  She can see that you have a website and are not a fly by night company.  This is just my opinion so you don't waste your time.

 

Trappeur

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Yep, go with your gut on this, but I'd never change jars for a client...labels or lids, yes.  I own antique stores that we rent space in, I can tell you from personal experience that 70% or more of the people we rent to are a bit flaky.

That being said, sometimes getting into a store that rents space is contingent on having pictures of your products to show the owner, so she may be trying to come up with a line for her

booth.  I'm very picky about who I let rent now that I've learned the hard way and I require pictures.

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"No, thank you" is a complete answer :)

The amount of time she has already consumed has cost you more than the top line on the first prospective order.

Good advice on requring a Tax ID. That weeds out many of the tire kicker/time suckers.

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Thanks I didn't think about the tax id.  Yes it has taken me a lot of time to set things up in square so that I can invoice her correctly, but saying that, I am now all set up to take wholesale orders...I am not making a thing until the money is in my bank.  The logo thing through me for a loop, and I spent all night looking at clip art....MISTAKE... So I found someone that will make one for a good price.  I emailed the client and asked if she would like one made up and will charge her for it upfront.

 

Thank you all for your good advice.  I might still just walk away from this one.  I have a feeling it will be a headache..

 

Oh... did I mention she has an new product she would like me to work on?? 

 

"something similar to your solid perfumes but w/holes punched all over the plastic container so you could throw it in a gym bag, purse or closet.  It would have to be a solid porous material inside that you infuse w/the oils so it doesn't melt in the heat...."

 

 

What the heck?????

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She wants you to pay for her R&D and basically fund her business. You are not her bank. I have one like that and had to change my company policies and prodecures to stop the bleed. I wrote an amendment to the contract charging her for any and all R&D time and materials.

You just know she will not like the first passes, or even the second, thirds, etc.... It adds up fast. And takes away time from your other delighted customers.

What pushed me to do it?.... She had a small lab make her some lip balms. Thinks nothing of prepaying the lab requirement of 1,000 unit mins, paid development, etc.. Why should I foot the bill?

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Guest OldGlory

Exactly, TallTayl. There are a LOT of people wanting to open their own special store - with big dreams and no common sense.

If you as the manufacturer don't start out the business relationship charging for all the extras they want it will consume you. And they will loudly trash you and your business if you don't give them exactly what they want. Scary people out there.

Edited:

BTW, those plastic things she wants? 'ornies' - fragranced and colored aroma beads melted down. BCN probably still has the instructions for them. Problem is that the scent doesn't last long. I found that FOs which are really strong OOB, like Cool Water or Lovespell work best in ornies. They come out like rubbery plastic transparent discs, or whatever shape cookie cutter you use.

Edited by OldGlory
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You are all so right on this one.  Before I had written most of this I contacted the person that made my logo for me.  She offered a really good deal.  So went back to the client and told her about it and would add it to the invoice.  She was very happy about it... well... you all know how this ends.  Sent her the invoice with the added shipping and logo charge and logo on Sunday.  Sent another email Monday night making sure she received the invoice and she said yes she would pay it tonight.. Yep... It's Wednesday and she hasn't paid it yet.  So, think I will wait a week and email once more if no money no product.  It cost me $25 for the logo so I will have to eat that one.  But I learned a very good lesson with this one.

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Guest OldGlory

Someone who doesn't do what they say they will do isn't worth your time. It's $25 now - could be $250 next time she decides not to pay you. Been there, done that.

One company I dealt with kept delaying payment and expected me to keep making them products. Ha. They never did pay me. So I lost that money. Lesson learned.

Edited by OldGlory
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So now she has a logo she can use and she didn't pay for it?  I seriously don't know why you would send it to her without payment in hand.  But,  yes I guess you did learn a valuable lesson.  She unfortunately played you good! 

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So are you saying she already saw the label design and has it?  So if she doesn't pay for it, she can now copy the design you had custom made for her and have someone else do it or she could print it herself.....

 

What about the candles?  Did you quote her a price and did you get a deposit for the candles or payment in full?

 

Trappeur

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Ok.. So update.  It took her a week but she did pay the invoice.  So now I have a lot of work to do..lol..  I didn't make anything up because I just wasn't sure she was going to come through on this one.

 

In her email to me she said she just received candles by mail and they were melted and wondered how my lip balm and solid perfume would do... hmm. that is strange because she was going to order candles from me...  I can just tell that she will complain about the lip balms.

 

Pretty sure this will be the last time I do business with her.  Thank you all for your advise.  I don't know how you all stay sane doing wholesale.  I like it much better when I just sell what I already have and not taking orders.

 

Cindy

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Guest OldGlory

Sounds just like someone I did business with BRIEFLY. She complained to everyone about everything. I would suggest a sentence on your invoice that says you DO NOT ACCEPT RETURNS.

Not all wholesale clients are like that. Some a delightful and happy people. :)

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I agree. A wholesale account should be beneficial and lucrative to both you and your client. Someone who starts from the get go  by taking advantage of you and wanting stuff for free has just demonstrated that they will not make a good business relationship with you. Drop this woman and be done with her. She has already shown you her true colors and trust me it will just get worse.

 

Whenever you are approached by a new wholesale client and they want a product you don't have make sure they pay for the research and development up front. Draw up a contract and put it all in writing so it clearly spells out the parameters of the project and the timeline.

 

Doesn't matter if its a smaller jar, or a new label design, or a guest size bar of one of your regular soaps. Any change in your product or designing a new product will take time and resources.

 

Do not spend any of your money or time on any project unless they are willing to pay for it up front. I think that is a lesson many of us learn the hard way.

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. Wow, she got candles from someone else when you were working on doing them for her?  That's horrible when you first meet someone and you start to develop a working relationship and they don't even have the decency to tell you up front the truth.  That frosts my butt.  Well, at least you got paid for the label design.  So now what does that mean now that she has a label and her ordering candles from someone else?  My opinon, I sure wouldn't do a darn thing for her and if it was me, I sure would tell her my feelings.  But that's me.  Good luck with this one!

 

Trappeur

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