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They all have to pay a deposit….
Had to smile the other day.
A well known local football club director came into the shop, and ordered a couple of “FOR LEASE” correx signs.
When my dear lady asked for a deposit, she was greated with the famous “don`t you know who I am?”
She quickly replied “sorry, I`ve never heard of you, I don`t follow football”
To which he replied as he handed the money ” It`s ok, most of the team haven`t either”
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I know we have covered the subject of deposits before, but it never ceases to amaze me. People who come into the shop and order £200+ worth of product, then look stunned when they are asked to pay for it or at the least leave a deposit. It also bugs me, when then pull out a tenner and say will this do??
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8 Replies
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quote becky:Had to smile the other day.A well known local football club director came into the shop, and ordered a couple of “FOR LEASE” correx signs.
When my dear lady asked for a deposit, she was greated with the famous “don`t you know who I am?”
She quickly replied “sorry, I`ve never heard of you, I don`t follow football”
To which he replied as he handed the money ” It`s ok, most of the team haven`t either”
……………………..
I know we have covered the subject of deposits before, but it never ceases to amaze me. People who come into the shop and order £200+ worth of product, then look stunned when they are asked to pay for it or at the least leave a deposit. It also bugs me, when then pull out a tenner and say will this do??
If you have any spare customers who will pay £200 for a couple of corex signs send em to me
KTF 😆 😆 😆 😆
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My last comment wasn`t refuring to the first.
I was just trying to comment upon customers, who place an order, and then are taken back when I ask them for either payment or a deposit.
Alot of our work is printing garments. The customer has to pay at least the cost of the garments as a deposit. We have to safe gaurd, just incase the customer doesn`t collect. Once the garments are printed, they are no use to anyone else.
At least with signs, they can be stripped and used again.
Had a chap come in today. Never seen this bloke before in my life. He wanted me to print 1000 tee shirts and he would give me a company cheque upon collection.
I told him I needed payment in full, and the cheque to clear first, before I would do the job.He walked out of the shop, I might not have got the job, but I would have felt alot worse when the cheque for £3k bounced.
In 7 years of trading I have only 2 people bounce cheques on me. 1 of which I never got.
Only 1 company has gone bust on me, owing me approx £100. I still do work for them, but they pay up front now.
Get a deposit. Stay in business.
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From a legal point of view, if you get a deposit, and signed artwork, AND you do the job reasonably, the client hasn’t got a leg to stand on if he gets greedy. You should only lose profits, not make a loss, if a client goes bust.
As a broker, I’ll generally take between 35-50% up front from my client, and pass the bulk of that onto the signmaker. Works for me!
JayBee.
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Well, I can see both sides of the issue here.
becky, in your last example, you were absolutely correct and, in similar circumstances, I would ask myself whether if the client was not prepared to pay up front, if he had any intention of paying at all. Once they have the goods they have no incentive to pay promptly, or at all.
On the other hand I personally hate paying for anything up front, and I want to see what I am getting before I part with my hard earned cash.
I recently bought a new Honda Pan European and refused to part with a penny before I collected it. Of course the dealer wasn’t having any of that and took offence because I pointed out that there was more chance of him going broke before delivery day than there was me and, if this had happened, there would have been no chance of me getting my money back from the receiver. In the end we compromised by me paying in cash on collection.
All too often we read in the papers about people losing deposits, sometimes quite considerable sums, and I don’t want to join them.
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Now John I definitely had you down as a “Wing Dinger” glad you proved me wrong 😉 😎
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Good points all round, however most signs and the like are custom made,
so if a sign is ordered and not collected you are stuck with it! (how can you sell a sign reading Bobs plumbing to sam the painter).
It’s not like a power tool that be put on the shelf until you sell it on..
As for your example John, The dealer would have sold it anyway, if this was being custom made from scratch, i doubt if he would have done the deal.
I have been caught in the past, expensive lesson.
Deposit every time -
Fair point Simon, although the dealer only got the bike in because I wanted it. Normally they wouldn’t stock that model although they could probably have disposed of it eventually, although they may haver had to take a loss.
My no deposit rule is not infallible and sometimes I have to give one but I will avoid it wherever I can.
Steve, the Pan is not my preferred weapon but it is excellent as a winter bike. My favourite machine is the F6C Valkyrie and I will only part with that when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. So as not to spoil the illusion, next Wednesday I am having a rental Wing delivered to my hotel in Tampa for a fortnights cruise around Florida and surrounding states. Roll on. 😀
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A small deposit is not just security for us
It commits the customer
How many times have we done that small job without a deposit and put it to one side and waited for the customer to collect… and waited 🙁 🙁
and wondered whether the customer has changed his mind, no longer wants the sign or worse still has gone somewhere else.
Having said this I still forget to ask for a deposit 😳 😕
john
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