A middle man for wholesale account?

[Fire and Ice]

I had a man approach me at a show today who said that one of the things he does is sell items to local resruants. He told me about a local eatery that is looking for wholesale, handpoured soy candles. He said they want local crafter to do it but he wouldn't say what eatery it was. I scepticial of this because when I ask who it was he refused to tell me but wnated my wholesale infor which I DID NOT give. He went on to explain that he'd asked another soy candle company about their candles and they were bending over backwards to give him the info.

I told him I would need to speak with the owner myself before any info was released on wholesale. He asked why and I explained that if their was a problem, The customers would be calling to speak with me, not the owner and NOT HIM!

My personal feeling is that he's might have som eone lined up but he wants to cut himself in on the action. That's not going to happenunless I meet the owner herself. the contract would be tetween us and I would need her tax # since she is the one collecting the taxes.

He bought an Amish Harvest and said he'd give it to her to test.

Am I correct? The bells are going off in my head but I need outside opinions too.

How would you feel about a middle man on a wholsale account?

Fire:cool2:

[Grumpy Girl]

I wouldn't do it either. It sounds damn fishy to me.

[damsels_creations]

I wouldn't do it either. It sounds damn fishy to me.

Have to agree also, Just doesn't sound right.

Tammy

[sudsnwicks]

Go with your instinct. If bells are going off in your head then it's probably not a good deal.

[magsglass]

How would you feel about a middle man on a wholesale account?

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I don't think it's much different than having a rep. for your candles except he's suggesting only brokering the one account for you (for now). Looks like he saw an opportunity to bring together a buyer and seller, and he wants a cut of it for doing so. Nothing wrong with that; it's standard biz practice.

IMO you have a couple options to make this a win-win-win situation for all involved. #1- Give him a percentage of his sales to the restaurant, just like you would for a biz rep. If he's in restaurant sales he may find future opportunities for you with other customers he has. #2- Offer him a "finder's fee" for setting up a successful meeting/contract between you & restaurant owner (at the restaurant in question, for several good reasons!). You could pay him a percentage of the initial contract, and possibly a percentage of sales for X period of time.

The only part of your story that annoyed me a bit was his remark about another candle co. "bending over backwards" for him. But that could be chalked up to salesperson-speak (aggressive sales). If nothing else the guy seems like a go-getter, which may just work in your favor if you can get future sales from him.

These are just a few of the thoughts I had while reading your post. By all means you should follow your gut in deciding what to do. But don't let the fact that he wants some $$ for his information make you think he's not legit. He did what I would have done if I'd have been in his shoes.

[The_Dallas_Texas_Dean]

I guess I am having a hard time understanding the apprehension. Wholesale information is wholesale information and who cares who has it? These are the prices, here is my deal, to you or anyone else. Thank you for passing on the information.

I MUST be in the dark and either didn't "get" the post or am just not savvy enough when it comes to the con men.

[magsglass]

Oh, Michael's post made me think of option #3 for you: sell your candles to the guy at your regular wholesale prices/qty's. (Then he can resell them to whomever at the prices he wishes.)

More $.02 from my brain.

[prairieannie]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I don't think it's much different than having a rep. for your candles except he's suggesting only brokering the one account for you (for now). Looks like he saw an opportunity to bring together a buyer and seller, and he wants a cut of it for doing so. Nothing wrong with that; it's standard biz practice.

IMO you have a couple options to make this a win-win-win situation for all involved. #1- Give him a percentage of his sales to the restaurant, just like you would for a biz rep. If he's in restaurant sales he may find future opportunities for you with other customers he has. #2- Offer him a "finder's fee" for setting up a successful meeting/contract between you & restaurant owner (at the restaurant in question, for several good reasons!). You could pay him a percentage of the initial contract, and possibly a percentage of sales for X period of time.

The only part of your story that annoyed me a bit was his remark about another candle co. "bending over backwards" for him. But that could be chalked up to salesperson-speak (aggressive sales). If nothing else the guy seems like a go-getter, which may just work in your favor if you can get future sales from him.

These are just a few of the thoughts I had while reading your post. By all means you should follow your gut in deciding what to do. But don't let the fact that he wants some $$ for his information make you think he's not legit. He did what I would have done if I'd have been in his shoes.

I totally agree! And if I were trying to be that "middleman" I certainly wouldn't give you the name of the restaurant so you could go directly to them and cut me out. He was just doing what brokers do. I'd probably look into it a little more, just in case it's a great deal for everyone involved! Good Luck

[SliverOfWax]

Agree. Wholesale is wholesale. You have your prices, you have your minimums. If he can meet those stipulations, it doesn't matter who he sells them to. Once he pays for them, they are his to do with as he wishes.

Make sure your contact information is on the label so repeat buyers can come directly to you if they wish. Legally, it has to be there anyway.

[clonefan80]

I agree as well. I had a call not to long ago from a distributor which is basically like you are speaking of. He has accounts that he calls on and wanted me to get a package together that he could present them. He did want a bit more of a cut than reps do but there was no shipping involved since they have their own trucks they would pick up the merchandise and have it on hand in their warehouse. Maybe the best way to go here is to sell the merchandise to him at a sales rep cost and let him handle the retail sale. Let him know he is responsible for handling the reorders and the orders must come thru him. If they contact you direct you wouldn't know who they were anyway. You could start out on a trial basis and see how this works for you. I've had several so called (go getters and reps) really want to handle my products who did zip.

[mizbizzyb]

I would give him wholesale info. That may be his job with those establishments to bring in items at a decent cost. Who knows. But if he brings you business that is one more wholesale account for you.

[HeavenScentU]

If this is a professional rep. than he should have a wholesale agreement or at least send you one. All the ones I have dealt with have their own contract and I have revised it to fit what I felt was comfortable. My reps. all have samples of my products that I gave to them free to show merchants and will be returned when we disolve the contract. He should have had a business card to give you.

[MichelleOH]

If this is a professional rep. than he should have a wholesale agreement or at least send you one. All the ones I have dealt with have their own contract and I have revised it to fit what I felt was comfortable. My reps. all have samples of my products that I gave to them free to show merchants and will be returned when we disolve the contract. He should have had a business card to give you.

This is sooo true. Call me a snob, but I like to know where my candles are going. I don't want my candles ending up at a place where they don't belong:wink2:

[marika]

A good manufacturer's rep is worth his (or her) weight in gold! They can get in to see owners that you can not. They do shows with the clients merchandise. They save you time and miles and are usually more savvy in marketing and will not be tempted to sell less than the minimum wholesale order. They will have a contract for you. The merchandise will go directly from you to the client but they will handle the orders. Don't let paranoia keep you from growing your business.

Mari

[Trish]

I had a guy last year that wanted to sell my pillars. He took them to a couple of trade shows with him (he sells furniture) and got several good wholesale orders.

He was going to be the middle man, so to speak. He was going to take the orders, then place a big order with me.

He realized though that after he paid my wholesale price, he couldn't mark them up enough to make any money AND retail stores still want to buy them. So he just gave me the orders and wished me luck! LOL

[Fire and Ice]

This is sooo true. Call me a snob, but I like to know where my candles are going. I don't want my candles ending up at a place where they don't belong:wink2:

That's one of the problems. I have NO idea who this guy is nor the eatery he CLAIMS he's selling to. He gave me no info including never intro duced himself to me.

I want to know where the candles are goiing and I want to know that the customers are happy with them. I want to meet the owner. In other words, I don't trust middle men.

Say there is a problem and the owner tells him but he fails to tell me about it because it will ruin things for him. weeks later, I get a phone call from the irrate owner asking me why I didn't solve the problem. What problem? The middle man said nothing to me about a problem..... Too many people ...

I've had bad experiences with middle men in another business that I owned.

This guy came up to my table and made claims that I have no idea if their true or not. No name, no business card, no handshake or anything. He threw out some vague info about an account to see if I'd bite and though I raised an eyebrow, I didn't say much at all because he didn't approach me in a professional manner. He also had a booth there at the show and he was selling stuff for cars and bikers. NOT crafts and this was to have crafts. They he said he was upset because they wouldn't let him into the bigger shows that had car shows within~ like Atwood~. I explained why he's never get in.

Bells went off because I told him that the contract would be with the owner of the eatery as she collects the tax on the candles. So I would need to meet her. That when he clammed up, bought the candle andd walked away.

It doesn't feel right to me. Not professional at all. Sounded like a line to try and get a free candles is all and I wasn't having it. But I did notice that he watched my booth and me all day as I sold over $200.00 worth of candles in four hours.

My own insticts tell me to back away from this guys pitch and not because of who he might be but because of who he might NOT be.

Thanks,

Fire:cool2:

[AmySue]

Boy does that sound fishy!! However on the bright side he did buy a candle! But I would be extremely curious as to if anything comes from it. Keep us posted please!

[CareBear]

He went on to explain that he'd asked another soy candle company about their candles and they were bending over backwards to give him the info.

This kind of BS gets my attention. IF there was such an account that is all over this "opportunity", then why is he still looking? Nope, sounds too odd to me. He should give you a reason to trust him (like a solid intro, some background, some business references) - not just the hard sell!

IMHO.

[Fire and Ice]

This kind of BS gets my attention. IF there was such an account that is all over this "opportunity", then why is he still looking? Nope, sounds too odd to me. He should give you a reason to trust him (like a solid intro, some background, some business references) - not just the hard sell!

IMHO.

Actually, that's the oldest trick in the book to try and get me to bite and I didn't. Realators, who are looking for a quick closing on a property, will use a similar line to try and get someone to al least put up earnest money on a property. I don't care for people who try to push my bottons like in foolish.:lipsrseal

Fire:cool2:

[SliverOfWax]

I'm curious as to why anyone would care where their candles go. It's not like you're trying to adopt out one of your kids and need references. A sale is a sale. I don't care if my candles end up in a whorehouse or a church.

And who cares if he's pushy? I wouldn't even care if he lied about the soy people bending over backwards. I would disregard that bit of useless information and work with him on a one-on-one basis. His money is as good as any. It's not like you're taking the middleman home to meet your mother. If his pushiness means you pour more, more power to both of you. You don't have to like someone to sell him something. Green is green.

I must be completely missing something here.

If you don't feel good about the guy and are afraid he will rip you off, go with your gut. But if it's simply about sales and who will buy your product, why the hesitation? Take the money and run!

[MichelleOH]

Yes I care where my products go. I feel my business is an extention and representation of me.

[Noodle]

If it smells fishy, it probably is. I would not deal with this person.

[Fire and Ice]

Yes I care where my products go. I feel my business is an extention and representation of me.

Yup! I fully agree. It's MY reputation out there not his. I'll wait it out and see if he calls. I'll see how he decides to handle my questions. Yes I am looking for wholesale accounts but I'm NOT looking for reps or middle people who can often muddy the waters. No thanks. Either way, I have lots of shows to get ready for. Atwood wiped me out 80% of my stock and I must start repouring for all of the up coming shows.

Fire:cool2:

[Candybee]

I found that your "gut feelings" are there for a reason-- they are usually right on.

Getting a wholesale account thru another party may be business as usual but if your gut is telling you otherwise you have to listen to it. Maybe it is just something about this person that is setting alarms off for ya... and not the business aspect of it.

[CC on Maui]

Aloha Fire,

I'm gonna stand beside you on this one.

IMHO, from what you described, this fella lacked professionalism in his approach. You have no obligation to 'employ' a rep if you don't want/need one. I would never allow someone who approached me as this fella did, to rep my line -- or even one candle for that matter. I think Michelle OH summed it up perfectly: my business is a representation/extension of myself.

When and if you decide that you are ready to take on reps to market your line, then you need to be the one in the drivers seat. This guy (the way you described him) would have gotten 5 words from me: "I'm not presently hiring reps". My reps would be well-trained and trusted to convey the features and specifics of my line and the philosophy of my company. In the end, it is my reputation at stake -- no one elses.