Would you pay for samples?

[dataferret]

As an online retailer we regularly vet our suppliers before listing their products for sale. We have a monthly "testing panel" which is made up of volunteers fitting the profile of customers who would buy from our store. They review the product samples and check for quality, workmanship etc. The samples are usually discarded or used for product photography. Occasionally they are returned to the supplier if requested but most usually are not interested.

One such potential supplier has recently demanded her samples back because we have not placed an order stating "she wants to sell them". We cannot find them and the young girl we had on work experience tells us she posted them back to the supplier but did not get proof of postage. The supplier has now sent us an invoice for the samples which is a few hundred pounds.

Our policy has always been not to pay for product samples. A sample is just what it says - a sample. But we are mindful this supplier could also damage our reputation with other suppliers if she decided to get nasty. We have written to her politely explaining our policy and hopefully this will be an end to the matter but....

So would you expect tp pay for product samples and why?

 

[deadgoodundies]

We often get samples from suppliers but it's always on the basis that they should be returned unless it is previously agreed that we will buy them off the supplier/agent.

If we buy them from the supplier then we either use them to shoot on models, give away as competition prizes or at the end of a season put together a sample sale.

I'm afraid to say that in my own view unless you had an agreement with the supplier that you could keep the samples then the ownership remains with them and you would be liable for the safe return of them to the supplier.

I think you need to put yourself in the shoes of the supplier in that if they are a small business themselves ( I don't know if they are or not of course) then if they send out samples to all their customers who request them and they don't get them back then it's a huge chunk of money for them especially if you don't put in a order for the items.

 

[J-Wholesale]

We supply costume jewellery to retailers across the UK, and we get asked for samples now and then. We always say no. We don't give freebies to potential customers, but we do have a minimum order size that is deliberately small enough to allow for a sample order - £100 inclusive of VAT and shipping.

As far as we're concerned, if a potential customer, after viewing our catalogue, is not prepared to spend £100 trying us out, they're just not serious enough for us to do business with. We've heard all the stories about the huge order someone is about to place, but they're just that - stories.

Talk is cheap, and the internet makes it even cheaper. Anyone can present themselves as a successful business these days with little effort and from the comfort of their armchair. Our experience has been that it's the armchair business people who ask for free samples and the serious business people who have no problem actually placing an order when trying out a new supplier.

Bottom line is, when someone asks us for free samples, we know they're wasting out time.