Why is not the standard for smaller or independent vendors (is that the right word) to require payment up front for first orders and current credit card number on file for subsequent orders? I admit to not being that experienced in these things. My contract for wholesale requires a credit card number submitted upon the order, which isn’t charged until the order is shipped. That way I’m not stuck trying to collect, which I can’t really afford to do.

Is that not realistic to expect from most retailers? My minimum is fairly low so I hope not.

I have wholesaled to two online venues without much concern until now. I do feel that if they purchae my work then they own it and can do what they want with it. I can’t imagine they would want to charge too much less than my retail.

Lots of things to think about. Thank you!!!

i am interested to sit and read miracle’s post as kathleen tells me i have some recourse.

susan (from today’s post)

As a Canadian and not being fully familair with all the US laws surrounding these issues, I did discuss with a colleague of mine based in the US and well versed on the laws and issues surrounding apparel manufacturing and price fixing.
Essentially in the USA is it illegal to “price fix”. MSRP is a “suggested” retail price..and retail pricing cannot be determined by the manufacturer. Levis was sued (and lost) on this a decade or so ago and that is when “MSRP” pricing began to be a catch phrase in the fashion industry.

When a buyer buys your product, they are free to sell it whenever they please- at whatever price they please. You can refuse to sell to a customer for any reason ..but if you draw up a form saying “you cannot sell online, you must sell at this price, etc. etc.” then A.you are “price fixing”
and B. the venue is not able to be predetermined by the manufacturer.

If you find the buyer is price cutting your other buyers, and you are not happy with that..then you can stop selling to that buyer at any time.. but you cannot tell that buyer what to do. Once they buy the goods- they can do whatever they want to with them.

I’d like to know at what point does atmosphere make a difference? I’d pay more for something at a brick and mortar store that I love than I would for the same item on ebay. Don’t we all know when we buy something at a trendy bookstore that we could have bought it for less online? But we want the coffee in our hand and we want to bump into old friends and touch the books, flip through them a little. There are some stores where I happily pay more for items because I know their overhead really calls for the prices and I want to support the people and store. Is price really the only competition here? I agree this is so terrible. I’m just shocked that it impacted these business so much.

At what price is this person wholesaling goods that her customer can sell at $8 and make money? This person must be selling the goods for $6 or less. Why would they do that and give all the profit to the retail who will sell for $52.

I don’t understand.

The sales rep has asked those buyers to not sell on ebay. The company will no longer sell to these buyers, however, the damage is already done to the current line.

With friendship,
Lisa

Some manufacturers specifically say you cannot sell anywhere on the internet at less than MSRP. After all, the internet has access to the world and you don’t want your retailers undercut. It doesn’t hurt to ask where they plan to sell and to specify your internet sales terms.

If you are unfamiliar with a new buyer, perhaps try it out with just a few items and track what happens with them. An unvetted new account making a huge order should be under suspicion. A good buyer shouldn’t object and shouldn’t want to expend large amounts of money on an untried line anyway.

Also, asking for a sales tax ID will weed out some of the trunk show people as well as some etailers. I’ve been told (but haven’t done it) that you can go to the state’s website where the license is issued and get the address of the owner. Then a quick internet search on the address should help you determine if it’s a legitimate brick and mortar store.

Finally, why not get paid before you ship? If someone wants net 30, then ask for their credit card and let the credit card company give them the 30 days. For $20/month you can take credit cards on PayPal with their virtual terminal feature (handy way to get started taking CCs where ever you’re selling) OR you can just invoice with PayPal (assuming YOU have an account) and the other party can pay you with their credit card via PP and you don’t ever have access to their CC numbers (the buyer may like that protection).

You are still open to chargebacks, of course. Again, this is why you might want to stick to very small orders with unproven buyers.

All this presumes an ideal world, and there are just some determined scammers who are going to get to you. But if you’ve done everything you can, and kept your possible losses to a minimum, then you can sleep well knowing you’re still in business.

Wholesale shows I know of do vet their buyers and if you’re at a show and uncertain about a buyer, you can ask if they have references with any other vendors at the show. An honest buyer will not resent you wanting to protect your business. After all, if they like what you have and want to keep buying from you, it’s in their best interest for you to stay in business. And that means protecting yourself against bad buyers.

Hope some of this helps.