thesoapbox Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Hi guys!Ok, I am hoping this is a legitimate request and will find out once I call the lady. I received a contact from my online store contact form from a lady who is requesting info on purchasing 200 - 2,000 units of my lotion bars!!! Now, I want to get all my ducks in a row on this as this will be the first time EVER of me selling that much product! So, give me suggestions! One thing I really have found out from reading the boards is to at least get the money for the materials up front...I was thinking even getting half of the total cost of the bars up front. So, give me your tips and pointers please!! I am going to figure out the cost of materials for making the larger amount of 2,000 before I contact her.Keep your fingers crossed this is legitimate Angi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerinarkansas Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I hope it's legit and it works out well for you. Ginger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Night Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I hope hope hope it's the real deal! That would be awesome. One thing that stuck out in my mind though is the difference between 200 and 2,000. That's a pretty wide gap there. Also, has she used you product before to know what she is ordering? Just make sure she is on the up and up before you do business with her. Best of luck and keep us updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebrownbug Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 If she pays up front.....make sure the check clears before you order anything. Unless of course,she is paying by credit card....just make sure it's really her card....you just never know now days with I.D. theft and so on.Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judy, USMC Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 A lot of high volume buyers are looking for price breaks at different levels. For example (remember I'm just pulling these numbers out of thin air) 1-199 regular price say $6.99200-499 $6.75500-999 $6.501000-1499 $6.151,500-2,000 $5.70Some buyers will go up to the lowest quantity in the next step just to get a deeper discount. An order for 475 would be increased to 500 just to get the break. HTH ! Good luck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesoapbox Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 I am getting all my numbers in a row before I call her but I pulled up the website that her email addy is from and it is a company that specializes in promotional stuff. Like the stuff businesses buy with their logos put on items. I think that is the reason for the large gap. They have candles on their site but nothing like the lotion bar and have an impressive client list. Thanks for the replies so far, they are great!Angi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubure Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I keep my fingers crossed for you!!! It's so exciting, isn't it?One thing I always do: customers have to pay the total in advance (here in Germany this is common) and this means bank transfer - no checks, no credit card. Only when the money is on my bank accout I start buying supplies and start working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 That would be a great opportunity for you if it works out! If you do go ahead with it, you should request a deposit sufficient to cover the cost of the ingredients, so that you'd be able to order the supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tall Blonde Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 I would suggest get something in writing, like a contract. If anything goes wrong, at least you'd have it in writing.Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesoapbox Posted August 31, 2007 Author Share Posted August 31, 2007 I have been looking up contracts and found a bunch on a yahoo group I belong to. Found a good one that I may tweak to fit my needs. This one however requires the company to pay the entire balance on any order placed within the first 6 months of initiating the wholesale contract. I think I may go for at least 50%, that way it will cover my supplies that will need to be ordered to start this!I am calling the lady tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed that this becomes a done deal and I will be on my way to being elbow deep in lotion bars!Angi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSoaps Posted September 1, 2007 Share Posted September 1, 2007 With new wholesale accounts, I always require payment in full up front. I do let them know that once we have several orders behind us, as long as everything has moved smoothly, we can then talk about half down, and half on delivery. I'm also hoping that down the road I'll be in a position to start being able to do Net 30. (That's when I'll know I'm really playing with the Big Boys!) And I decide when to switch to half down, not them. They can ask about it, but the decision is mine alone. I've never had anyone complain about requiring payment up front though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ring of Fire Posted September 1, 2007 Share Posted September 1, 2007 It's a scam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesoapbox Posted September 2, 2007 Author Share Posted September 2, 2007 How so?Angi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSoaps Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 From the details in the original post, I don't see anything that would stand out to me that makes this inquiry sound like a scam. As long as she covers herself on how she receives the funds (and I'd definitely insist on everything up front, and probably going a step further and having it be a wire transfer, instead of a credit card), I don't see any problems. I get wholesale requests frequently, many of them sounding exactly like this. Some pan out into wonderful wholesale accounts. Others just end up disappearing into the ether and I never hear from them again. If the original poster is interested in seeing the wholesale terms letter I send new inquiries, please PM me. I'd love to know why you think this is a scam. If it's the broad range for minimums, that's actually quite normal. They're looking for price break points. I was recently asked to price out my soaps from orders as small as 300 and as large as 1200 bars. It took some fun math crunching, and it was wild to see how I could tweak the numbers around to come up with better prices, but asking for price breaks for higher quantities is very normal. IMO, it often shows that the person inquiring is a serious buyer. If someone thinks they can sell a thousand units of one of my products through their store, that's awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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