Becoming a distributor?

Shzm

Hi,

I've recently come across a product i'm interested in selling as I believe it has potential.

I emailed the company that manufactures this product to ask if they could put me in touch with a distributor in my area, with which they came back to say 'there is no distributor in your country, here is our price list'.

So now i'm thinking of becoming the distributor for this product, problem is, i've never been in this sort of situation before.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? Is there anything I should be asking the manufacturer/looking out for?

gavney

Why not get in contact with a couple of potential customers, saying that you have the product (maybe obtain some samples from manufacturer if possible). Then see how much demand there would be for the product, before you take any risks

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

I've done this type of thing a few times, my advice would be to test the product by ordering a batch for yourself to sell with a view to if it sells becoming a distributor, let them know this is your thought process.

Sometimes there is no distributor due to the simple reason that they can comfortably deal direct with smaller countries like Ireland or there would not be enough demand / profit to have a distributor or even an agent in the country.

The issue with being an exclusive distributor instead of a reseller is that you often have to commit to MOQ's (minimum order quantities) and lengthy contracts before you know if their idea will take off here. Being a non exclusive distributor - well others will use you to see if their customers want it and when they get the buying power they'll drop you. With the web expect this to happen almost as soon as the competition see you succeed.

Lucky Dub

Something similar,

I have a product coming on board shortly that will require MOQ's to take it from the Far East, how do you set the MOQ back to the shops here without jeopardising a potential contract with them.

There is already great interest in the product, which we are the distributors for.
Several shops in the leisure industry have viewed it and expressed a keen interest in the product.

Any advice or experience in this field, anybody?

Homer

Where is the product coming from OP? You may need to factor in fluctuating currency into your costings. It can make a BIG difference if you base your price when the dollar (as an example) is weak at the moment against the euro and it can change dramatically affecting your margin.
Have you proven to the manufacturers that you have routes to market? Other wise they may not be too keen to give you exclusive rights and you leave yourself open to somebody coming in behind you and exploiting any hard work you have put in?

Lucky Dub

Homer wrote: »

Where is the product coming from OP? You may need to factor in fluctuating currency into your costings. It can make a BIG difference if you base your price when the dollar (as an example) is weak at the moment against the euro and it can change dramatically affecting your margin.
Have you proven to the manufacturers that you have routes to market? Other wise they may not be too keen to give you exclusive rights and you leave yourself open to somebody coming in behind you and exploiting any hard work you have put in?

Thanks Homer, the product is coming from the Far East, we've taken everything into consideration (hopefully).
Yes we have the routes to market established and clarified, it's a little bit different to what we normally do.
But any advice on MOQs would be most appreciated!