11 replies to this topic

[nameismj]

I'm a new ASI supplier. I will be selling my only product, The Circular Calendar, from my website as well. But all I've gotten from ASI so far are two complaints that customers could buy CircularCalendars from my website cheaper than they could from the distributor, so why should they buy from me. Good point, but I don't know what to do about my prices.

I sell the calendars for 40% more than they cost me. I am going to have to raise my website prices substantially to even get close to what I could sell them for through ASI.

Any suggestions, particularly from other suppliers, would be greatly appreciated.

Mary Jane
Tucson, Arizona

[Chris Miller]

Hi Mary,

I think it's really up to you how you choose to run your business. Would you rather sell online, and take on all of the expense of marketing to the end user, or would you prefer to have thousands of distributors out there working for you? Plenty of companies are successful selling direct, and plenty are successful selling through distributors but very few are successful when attempting both.

Your margins may be higher in direct sales, but you need to think about marketing expenses, employee costs, and the like. Many choose to market exclusively to distributors and they let us do the leg work. It's a business model that works for hundreds of suppliers.

I am not pushing you one way or the other. It is your business and it's entirely up to you how you want to run it. You need to look at your product and determine which sales channel will bring you the best results.

[aapromotions]

Well Mary, I guess it would be a problem if end users could by from your website less than from a distributor.

/I think I'm have a duh moment

[DIW VISUAL MERC]

A quick reply-
If you sell direct, (1) eihter sell at the same price your distributors sell for or (2) do not sell direct.

If you sell direct, you might destroy your rep within the industry and no distributor will want to offer your products.

[DIW VISUAL MERC]

[quote name='DIW VISUAL MERC']A quick reply-
If you sell direct, (1) eihter sell at the same price your distributors sell for or (2) do not sell direct.

If you sell direct, you might destroy your rep within the industry and no distributor will want to offer your products. Think about it.

[DIW VISUAL MERC]

[quote name='DIW VISUAL MERC'][quote name='DIW VISUAL MERC']A quick reply-
If you sell direct, (1) eihter sell at the same price your distributors sell for or (2) do not sell direct.

If you sell direct, you might destroy your rep within the industry and no distributor will want to offer your products. Think about it.[/quote]

[nameismj]

Thank you for your replies. Dave, my husband and I sat around for a day and a half one weekend trying to work on a pricing structure that would bring my direct sale price and my ASI price as close together as possible. But it resulted in a price that is much highter than my direct customers are used to, and an ASI price that aren't looked upon with much regard by distributors.

Chris, you make good points, one being "you need to look at your product and determine which sales channel will bring you the best results." I don't think my product is worth what I would have to list it on ASI for.

I'm gonna give it a shot for another month or so seeing if I can make both sales models work.

Wish me luck.

mj

[DIW VISUAL MERC]

Remember the KISS" rule. for example, if you sell it to a distributor with a suggested resale price of $4.00 then you should sell them to anyone else at the same price. The discount to a distributor is an incentive for them to use your firm.

You should not discount for any other sale. Remember ASI gives you an opening to thousands of potential sales.

[epicemb]

Mary Jane - I think that you need to set your retail price and your NET at the same level or stop selling to the promotional market - otherwise you are just begging for trouble. As more and more distributors come across your product the problem is going to grow. Keep in mind that a distributor has a level of trust with their customers - having the exact same product being sold direct for less can really make the distributor look like a chump in the eyes of his customer.

One way to make it work is to sell on a lower discount than a A - perhaps a D or a E work make the $'s line up between the two distribution channels. I know that most distributors will shy away from a product with this sort of pricing - I think in this case that would be OK. They will probably not push sales of it, but at least it would give distributors an additional choice.

I'm sure that there are other options - you know the exact details better than anyone. I do think that you either need to resolve this in a way that will work for everyone or pull out of the promotional product marketplace.

nameismj said:

Thank you for your replies. Dave, my husband and I sat around for a day and a half one weekend trying to work on a pricing structure that would bring my direct sale price and my ASI price as close together as possible. But it resulted in a price that is much highter than my direct customers are used to, and an ASI price that aren't looked upon with much regard by distributors.

Chris, you make good points, one being "you need to look at your product and determine which sales channel will bring you the best results." I don't think my product is worth what I would have to list it on ASI for.

I'm gonna give it a shot for another month or so seeing if I can make both sales models work.

Wish me luck.

mj

[tmertz]

nameismj said:

I'm a new ASI supplier. I will be selling my only product, The Circular Calendar, from my website as well. But all I've gotten from ASI so far are two complaints that customers could buy CircularCalendars from my website cheaper than they could from the distributor, so why should they buy from me. Good point, but I don't know what to do about my prices.

I sell the calendars for 40% more than they cost me. I am going to have to raise my website prices substantially to even get close to what I could sell them for through ASI.

Any suggestions, particularly from other suppliers, would be greatly appreciated.

Mary Jane
Tucson, Arizona

You say you are buying them? You are not the manufacturer?

There are numerous manufacturers of this type of product in the industry. I would think you would have a hard time buying from a manufacturer and being competitive.

It appears to me you are already a Distributor (reseller). Unless you are manufacturing I would continue with your existing business model.

In this industry Distributors will spend little to no money to market a single product. When they do a have a customer that wants to purchase a specific product most shop on behalf of their customer for best quality, price, and hassle free delivery.

Distributors tend to send their business to Suppliers with established reputations and quality. About the only way they will switch to new Suppliers is on price and it doesn't sound like you will be in that ball game.

[Chris Miller]

May we thank ASI for doing this to yet another person? ;)

[amplady]

Mary Jane,

I ran into something similar when I sold my first design to a real estate store. I thought of myself as the "supplier" but I still needed someone to manufacture the item, which cut into my profit. Catering to a distributorship really just didn't make sense in this situation.

The Pi tool was originally designed for the home buyer/consumer market; but I knew
the real estate & lender market would also come 'a callin'. When they did, I directed
them to the local store carrying my product (for individual or single quantities).
In this way, I'm still able to protect the relationship I have with my retailer client.
The exeption would be the final end user - the home buyer, who purchases at Retail.

I sell wholesale or bulk to agencies and firms.

Have you considered partnering (co-branding) with a supplier? I haven't had much success on that end; although I haven't really pursued it aggressively. I thought it might be a good match for a supplier on here (DT) that manufactures mouse pads, but they didn't seem too interested (although they call me regularly asking for business!).
"Help me sell your product," I say.

My suggestion would be to "jump in the boat" with the other Distributors and gradually add to your product line. That way, you can have some of your own stuff plus tons of others! You won't need to rely on any relationship but the ones YOU pick and choose!