237am

i'm setting up a pdf file that i can email if needed...... and they can print.....

right now looking into an email/fax setup..... i dont have a fax so gotta see what my options are with that..

i figure i would take orders....then place my orders at the end of the month..... then with the profit i would order stock so i can do events and the smaller orders

b

__________________
www.237am.com with featured artists in the blog and other creative things that happens in my life like breakdancing, robottin', welding stuff and supporting the detroit cultures in hip hop, techno, electro, house, etc..........

 

Reply With Quote

Jasonda

Quote: Originally Posted by nution New to this myself. So you do not have to have the $ to actually make the shirts before you start taking orders? Or you are planning that you will get enough orders to cover your minimums at the printer? Idk, maybe I misunderstood something.

The way wholesale sales usually work is:

1. Take orders up to a certain date, and give stores a delivery date
2. Receive signed order forms with credit card info
3. Print shirts according to orders
4. Charge credit cards when you ship the orders

So you should actually have enough money to print your orders because you won't be seeing their money come in until the order is shipped.

You may be able to get a deposit from some stores, but it depends on the store.

 

Reply With Quote

nution

thanks for that info, I never knew that. Makes it a lot easier to wrap my head around the actual process.

What would happen in the case of say one shirt you carry is not popular with the buyers, but you get an order from one store wanting only like 10 of them. Overall, your only going to have 10 of those shirts being sent to the printer. Would that scenario not screw you over at the printer because I would assume they had a minimum per design. Would you be left holding the bill on the remaining shirts for that minimum or do printers not care about printing small runs if your ordering alot of shirts from them in the end.

__________________
Not even God could win a preliminary hearing.

 

Reply With Quote

237am

what if you print the shirts and the company decides that they want to cancel the order...... unless you can charge them for that.......

i think a retainer upfront is needed.......... no retainer then no product.......

__________________
www.237am.com with featured artists in the blog and other creative things that happens in my life like breakdancing, robottin', welding stuff and supporting the detroit cultures in hip hop, techno, electro, house, etc..........

 

Reply With Quote

nution

That sounds good but it may make potential buyers a bit standoffish to actually buying if this is not common practice in buying apparel. Idk personally, I am not certain how buyers or managers will view a request for retainers.

__________________
Not even God could win a preliminary hearing.

 

Reply With Quote

Jasonda

Quote: Originally Posted by nution What would happen in the case of say one shirt you carry is not popular with the buyers, but you get an order from one store wanting only like 10 of them. Overall, your only going to have 10 of those shirts being sent to the printer. Would that scenario not screw you over at the printer because I would assume they had a minimum per design. Would you be left holding the bill on the remaining shirts for that minimum or do printers not care about printing small runs if your ordering alot of shirts from them in the end.

In that scenario you would call the store and tell them that unfortunately you didn't receive enough orders for that style in order to produce it, and that you are dropping the style.

It happens all the time, so they will not be happy but they will also not be totally surprised. Tell them what your minimum is to have it printed - they might order more to make the minimum.

If you're only selling wholesale, don't print shirts that you don't have orders for. If you are selling retail (like on your own website) and can sell the extra shirts, you might think about printing them if you're just a few short of the minimum, but don't print 100 shirts when you only have orders for 10.

 

Reply With Quote

DREAMGLASS

Trouble with dealing with businesses, rather than individuals, is getting the money off them for the merchandise. Cash flow puts more businesses in jeopardy, more than any other single factor.

Make sure your terms are stated upfront in writing.

 

Reply With Quote

Jasonda

Quote: Originally Posted by 237am what if you print the shirts and the company decides that they want to cancel the order...... unless you can charge them for that.......

They can and do cancel, and you might put all sorts of legalese on the order form to keep them from doing it, but they will still do it. It's just part of the business. You can check their credit, though, to see if they are reliable.

Quote: Originally Posted by 237am i think a retainer upfront is needed.......... no retainer then no product.......

Well good luck with it, you might find some stores that would be willing to do that. I would be careful to call it a deposit, though.. a retainer is what you give to a lawyer.

 

Reply With Quote

nution

is there any safety net for the designer in this scenario? Say you take your orders and managed to get a few good accounts but when the time comes the card from one doesn't work or they do a charge back or something to that effect. Or if they try to back out?

Can you charge the card they give you like $1 before you actually start production to at least make sure the card works? Would it be fairly common for businesses to back out or do a charge back and has anyone experienced this or something similar?

Those would be the things I would worry most about taking this approach.

__________________
Not even God could win a preliminary hearing.

 

Reply With Quote

Rodney

Quote: is there any safety net for the designer in this scenario? Say you take your orders and managed to get a few good accounts but when the time comes the card from one doesn't work or they do a charge back or something to that effect. Or if they try to back out?

In the end, the only safety net is legal action if a person really wants to not pay.

You should try to set things up and do the necessary checks to avoid that, but don't stop your business moving forward because you're worried about a few bad apples.

__________________
Rodney Blackwell - T-Shirt Links Directory - T-Shirt Countdown

 

Reply With Quote

237am

i would require a deposit and then full payment prior to shipping.....,.....sorry if that sounds stupid....but i have been in situations in a professional field where i have been burned from not receiving a retainer/deposit or a signed contract.......

and i'm sure there some sort of signed forms that are used so buyers cant backout at the last minute....

i dont want to be stuck with extra product and a printer bill if a buyer bails on the order...... this is a custom product and printed on order....... thats how i look at it.....maybe i'm wrong.....

b

__________________
www.237am.com with featured artists in the blog and other creative things that happens in my life like breakdancing, robottin', welding stuff and supporting the detroit cultures in hip hop, techno, electro, house, etc..........

 

Reply With Quote

Comin'OutSwingin

Quote: Originally Posted by 237am i would require a deposit and then full payment prior to shipping.....,.....sorry if that sounds stupid....but i have been in situations in a professional field where i have been burned from not receiving a retainer/deposit or a signed contract....... and i'm sure there some sort of signed forms that are used so buyers cant backout at the last minute.... i dont want to be stuck with extra product and a printer bill if a buyer bails on the order...... this is a custom product and printed on order....... thats how i look at it.....maybe i'm wrong..... b

You're going to have an extremely hard time finding retailers to agree to that.

If you do happen to find some, they will be few and far between. It just doesn't work that way.

Without having the money to produce products from your orders, you're really fighting a losing battle.

Now matter how much a retailer likes your product, it's still unproven. They get terms from other proven vendors.

Part of their apprehension is that if you need a deposit, how solid can your company be. You're trying to get orders, but obviously have no money. From their perspective your foundation is very shaky.

This is part of being new, and they know it, and sadly some of them will exploit it.

You catalog is very nice. But as Jasonda said, it's really not needed. And I've had several retailers tell me that nice catalogs make you seem desperate, and that they are essentially paying for your nice catalog in higher prices that you charge.

All you need is a nice line sheet and order forms complete with style numbers on both.

Good luck with everything!

__________________

 

Reply With Quote

DREAMGLASS

Although it sounds awful, you can never truly trust anyone in business. The well meaning store owner might possibly have their own cash flow problems, which prevents them from proceeding with their intended purchase. Promises are empty without actual cash in the bank.

One girl I used to date worked in the accounting section of a massive international company. Her job was to deliberately defer payments till legal process was started. That was her job.

 

Reply With Quote

237am

i dont see anything wrong with payment terms and my catalog....really....

maybe i should just dump-down my layout and call it a day.............

if you go to the store and want a shirt...you have to buy it in full right there.....

sure i dont have the large funds to start my line....... sorry i dont have a sugar momma to give me 20g's to get started.......

case in point i was burned by an architecture firm out of 10g's about 2 years ago..... and some other projects prior to...... this was because they tookadvantage of the situation...they got a product from me and didnt pay anything up front.....in the end i was burned...


i figure if a store doesnt have to funds to "purchase" then they dont have the intentions to get the product.......... why give up a product without receiving any money and then having them not pay when they have product...then you try to do the legal thing then your out the legal fees and the rest...

maybe i'm not understanding the whole industry......but if you dont get payment until after 30 days once they receive the goods....then you mine as well do consignment and take the risk even more....

__________________
www.237am.com with featured artists in the blog and other creative things that happens in my life like breakdancing, robottin', welding stuff and supporting the detroit cultures in hip hop, techno, electro, house, etc..........

 

Reply With Quote

Jasonda

Quote: Originally Posted by nution Can you charge the card they give you like $1 before you actually start production to at least make sure the card works? Would it be fairly common for businesses to back out or do a charge back and has anyone experienced this or something similar?

This wouldn't do much good, if they were intent on cheating you they would just cancel the card right before the delivery date.

I don't want to go into a lot of theories about "what can you do" because all the things I said here are just standard practices and there are always exceptions.

 

Reply With Quote