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Suppliers selling to customers at trade?
Hi Guys,
I am having a bit of a whinge, and want to know if the same thing is happening in the UK. We have found this year that more and more clients are bringing in their own vinyl, clothing etc. That they are buying online and getting the same prices as us in the trade! This morning we had someone who we had quoted two weeks ago bring in the same make t-shirts we quoted, and upon questioning she said she found the code online and purchased from our supplier at the same price as we can buy at! Then she produced a roll of textile vinyl that they had sold her, and asked us to cut it and stick it on! I would not go into a restaurant with a raw chicken and some potatoes and ask for chicken and chips!
I am going to speak to our suppliers and ask them to explain this, but it is happening more and more. I don’t know if it is a state of the economy thing, and the suppliers are just trying to survive and augment their sales, but really it is not doing anyone or the industry any favours.
The amount of people who have bought in vinyl and asked us to cut their boat names this summer is unbelievable. We try to point out they have bought the cheapest monomeric vinyl and it wont last two minutes on a boat, but they don’t care and some end up getting stroppy with us, I am really beginning to have enough of the time wasted. Is this industry wide now? Please let me know your thoughts!! Thanks for listening rant over!! -
7 Replies
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There has been an instant where a supplier creates a "sister" company who sell their products to the public…..
In my opion it isn`t fair, we buy 100 X what a menber of the public do, but I think the suppliers count the public as 1 customer and just counts the money at the end of the year.
In the age of the internet, its not hard to look at the label in a shirt and trace it to an online supplier. The same with sign suppliers.
On a very similer note, I`m in the process of researching a hairdressing business, we have aproperty to rent and I feel thats the only business that`ll fit in there, I called a supplier of hair products to see if I could open an account, ( I pan to employ someone to work there. they wanted to see my insurance, and hair qualifications before I could get any further. I think this shows how 1 side of industry practice agaist others in a different sector.
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Yup, sign industry is a joke as far as this goes.
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quote Dan Osterbery:This morning we had someone who we had quoted two weeks ago bring in the same make t-shirts we quoted, and upon questioning she said she found the code online and purchased from our supplier at the same price as we can buy at! Then she produced a roll of textile vinyl that they had sold her, and asked us to cut it and stick it on!I had a similar thing with a burger van owner last year – turned up with rolls of vinyl and expected me to use it to make signs for his van. I showed him the door..
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Hi Denise,
when we started 14 years ago, we had to supply all the information, qualifications, insurance, proof of legality etc etc but that seems to have gone out of the window recently.We have stopped using a clothing supplier who has started a sister company, that offer embroidery, and screen printing and transfers and sell to the public at trade prices, I think they have to make up their minds, supply us or compete against us, but they cant have it both ways.
thanks for your comments
Dan
p.s. good luck with the hairdressing!! -
Hi Phil,
just feels like I am showing more people the door than doing jobs at the moment! very odd few days!cheers
Dan
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i had a customer ask me to wrap his roof and bonnet in carbon fibre, i gave him a quote and he said he will get back to me.
a week later i was in one of my suppliers and they told me that the kid had been down there and bought the materials off them and he actually made a point of knowing me.
i dont think many people care these days, more of customers saving money and suppliers making money -
I often have people provide their own garments for printing, I charge my normal print cost plus a little extra. I also inform them that should there be a any miss print for what ever reason I will not replace the shirt. Never had anybody in with their own vinyl but I would also show them the door.
alan D
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