Interest from a major chain - erhm, what next?

[Ghazi]

Great Thread! I wish you all the best. Reading some of your experiences does bring a tinge of nervousness to my stomach as I am probably 50% ready for the market and I hope to learn from your experiences.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I have removed a number of posts here as it was essentially a flame war. Please can we not ruin a good thread

Thanks

 

[Pish_Pash]

Just to give a bit of closure, today I received my dosh from the retailer (a cheque on my doormat). I was fully expecting a lot of this stock being returned, so it was quite a nice surprise...I'm thinking here that this being a big company, that the left hand doesn't necessarily know what the right hand is doing (& it's likely their accounts department have sent me a cheque - due to me chasing them up - without the accounts dept fully realizing this was a sale or return arrangement...& that they've still a lot of unsold stock!). Needless to say the cheque has now been deposited...rapido!

Being candid, it seems this product version was not successful for this particular retailer's target market (alas, I can't say too much about this) ....plus they missed the product's main USP when promoting it(!).

I turned a profit ...but it was one helluva lot of work & frankly, not in the least bit enjoyable .....& having gone through the whole process, I'm not wholly convinced that I'm up for subsidizing large retailers with my dosh & then waiting 6 months to get the money I'm owed!

 

[Deleted member 59730]

- without the accounts dept fully realizing this was a sale or return arrangement...& that they've still a lot of unsold stock!

This is how it works with the big chains. With regular suppliers their contract states that they can return at any time at your cost but that doesn't mean they withold money against sales. If you deliver £1000 per month on 90 day terms they will always be holding £3000 which will cover them against returns.

 

[MOIC]

I turned a profit ...but it was one helluva lot of work & frankly, not in the least bit enjoyable .....& having gone through the whole process, I'm not wholly convinced that I'm up for subsidizing large retailers with my dosh & then waiting 6 months to get the money I'm owed!

Many suppliers to the large retail chains experience exactly the same thing.

It's not for all businesses.

It certainly isn't the holy grail.