[TheNurseShack]

Hula Girl in Hawaiivwants to be the exclusive distributor of a shirt a buddy of mine designed. Ill post it later. he took 36 shirts down there and they wanted all of them. i am anticipating another order here soon.

We have never sold to retail stores. I am not even sure what to ask. lol Where do we start to make this legit as far as contracts order sheets? how do we do this???

 

[kimura-mma]

Not sure what the problem is. If they want to order more shirts, get them made and sell them. Do that as often as you can.

Do you have a registered business and proper permits and licenses? Do you have a business bank account? If not, make sure you get yourself up and running ASAP.

36 is not a lot of shirts. So you shouldn't be offering exclusivity for such low volume, because you will severely stunt the growth potential of your business. If they want exclusivity, they should commit to buying a certain amount of a specific period of time. And that volume should be much higher than a few dozen shirts.

 

[VeeLove]

Congrats!

Do as much research as you can on selling to retail. Things to consider---

1. Do they want exclusive rights to just this one design?
2. If you are selling the same design on your own, how low can they mark them down, because, they WILL, mark them down eventually (by a weekly sale or clearance). Because if they mark them down to $5.00 to get rid of them, you can forget about trying to sell them for more on your own.

Grab a red bull, monster, chocolate bar, cup of joe and a good pair of reading glasses if this an avenue you want to take. Read like there is no tomorrow.

If it were me, I THINK I would test the water with the store to see if the shirts will move. If they get good movement, then I would begin a conversation with the owner about a retailing relationship. Be sure to check in in a couple of weeks to be a "secret shopper" and listen to what customers are saying about them, if anything. Try to get good floor/display space.

As far as a contract, maybe just invoice them as you would a regular customer ordering custom shirts. Then see how everything goes and seek a "contract" if it develops into anything.

 

[Mtnview]

36 is not a lot of shirts. So you shouldn't be offering exclusivity for such low volume, because you will severely stunt the growth potential of your business. If they want exclusivity, they should commit to buying a certain amount of a specific period of time. And that volume should be much higher than a few dozen shirts.

I agree with Tim on this. If they are only interested in a few dozen at a time then see what some of the other retail shops around you think of the shirts. They may also want to carry them.

 

[TheNurseShack]

Not sure what the problem is. If they want to order more shirts, get them made and sell them. Do that as often as you can.

Do you have a registered business and proper permits and licenses? Do you have a business bank account? If not, make sure you get yourself up and running ASAP.

36 is not a lot of shirts. So you shouldn't be offering exclusivity for such low volume, because you will severely stunt the growth potential of your business. If they want exclusivity, they should commit to buying a certain amount of a specific period of time. And that volume should be much higher than a few dozen shirts.

The original plan was for him to sell the shirts to other nurses while he was there. But he stopped in and asked what this shop thought. He just placed another order for 100. This is a shirt that is a specific regional design for Kauai. We do not have access to that market really so it works to give him the rights. We are just excited to have a shirt of ours on the shelves

 

[TheNurseShack]

Not sure what the problem is. If they want to order more shirts, get them made and sell them. Do that as often as you can.

Do you have a registered business and proper permits and licenses? Do you have a business bank account? If not, make sure you get yourself up and running ASAP.

36 is not a lot of shirts. So you shouldn't be offering exclusivity for such low volume, because you will severely stunt the growth potential of your business. If they want exclusivity, they should commit to buying a certain amount of a specific period of time. And that volume should be much higher than a few dozen shirts.

There wasn't a Problem just looking for some insight or advice from others like terms and other things I my need to know. Thanks for your input.

 

[porkchopharry]

I make it clear to any retailer I do business with that they do not have exclusive rights. You want to be careful with that type of thing, you never know when something will sell really well. And if you can't sell them on your own in addition to retail, you can really lose a lot of money. You may also find other retailers start contacting you. You don't HAVE to deal with them. but options are nice.

As far as the "clearance" thing mentioned above and the retailer discounting them and you having to do the same pricing. That is false. When you sign an agreement it is based on MSRP. The retailer can give them away if they want, but your cut will be the same, and you can still sell them for MSRP. However, you cannot deliberately undercut the store. For example, you can't MSRP them at $26 to the retailer, and then have your own site and offer them for $20.

You can however keep them at the MSRP, even if the retailer drops the price to $5. That's HIS loss, not yours.

Good luck. It can get crazy. Read over the paperwork as well!