Do you agree with minimum orders?

[Lynne Baker]

The bigger picture is invariably made up of many smaller pictures, and if they don't pay their way so to speak then you can lose them without it adversely affecting your business.
If my one eye pencil orderer (who only ever places a tiny order) goes elsewhere because I decide to impose a minimum order will I lose out? No, because I will have the time to devote to the bigger customers.
As I've said before: I want to provide a service to my customers and I can't do that if I'm making a loss.

 

[Zo Zo]

But don't you think you have to take the bad sometimes to get the good?

For instance, they may go elsewhere for just one item, or even change brands, then continue to put in their big orders with the other company too. You could end up losing far more than the loss made on one small order if you look at the bigger picture.

Yes. But in my business it's up to me. In a large wholesaler there will probably be an FD who says, these small orders are not worth it....

I suppose my point is, imposing a minimum order is not a ploy to get the customer to spend more, it is simply a business decision some companies make because they don't want that particular market share.

 

[Zo Zo]

Someone recently asked me for something I don't stock. It is a Berins product, I just don't stock it. I have distributed the brand for over 2 years and this person has never bought from me, or indeed been in contact with me previously. So I asked what sort of quantity she would like and the reply was, one 500g bag (of wax) per year. So is this a professional? A hobbyist? Or someone waxing their own upper lip? A good case for imposing a minimum spend.

 

[Katelisa]

Someone recently asked me for something I don't stock. It is a Berins product, I just don't stock it. I have distributed the brand for over 2 years and this person has never bought from me, or indeed been in contact with me previously. So I asked what sort of quantity she would like and the reply was, one 500g bag (of wax) per year. So is this a professional? A hobbyist? Or someone waxing their own upper lip? A good case for imposing a minimum spend.

Coukdnt agree more! But, what if she wanted to try the wax frst, then supply her hole chain of salons with it?! You just never know do you.

 

[essentia]

I completely understand the need for a minimum order and/or postage charge. As someone whom has sold a lot of skincare via mail order I appreciate the the time/effort in trying to get orders out the door.
Postage - sometimes is higher than the product as to guarantee the item is tracked and of course it has to be paid for - if the item goes missing a customer expects a replacement and we have to guard against fraudulent claims.
Small orders can be very unprofitable - plus when clients expect it to be sent the next day it sometimes is not worth the effort! Running up the PO for a small item when you have a day full of clients.......
Minimum orders especially from wholesalers prevent hobbyists and non professionals. A company also may expect a salon to stock a certain amount of product to have a presence - something you cannot achieve with a few bottles of skincare.

 

[happyfeet]

hey zozo feel i may need to explain myself a little better (which I'm rubbish at doing lol) after reading your post on another thread. Did write out a full explanation but tried to edit and got most of it deleted lmao!
Ok shorter ish version now . . .

I've only been trading about three weeks and anything I've earnt goes back in immediately. I tried my hardest not to borrow so sold my car and other things but recently with the introduction of new treatments I've needed to. What prompted my thread mainly was because I shop mainly with sweet squared but I've added pedi 's onto my menu and need a bowl which they don't sell. One company i thought of straight away had the one i wanted but noticed i needed a minimum order. Nothing else they sold i needed as well stocked in those areas so i had to find someone else. I understand from your posts where the seller is coming from they need their business to be viable too. For me though in the future if i do need something sweet squared don't sell i would think twice about using the minimum order company as even if i exceed the fifty pound minimum I'd use a company that would accept smaller or larger orders from me all the time down to cost and also because it makes me feel more valued if that makes sense lol. My other issue was a polish brand that need a minimum order. I'm raising my polish count slowly but surely and i was very lucky another lovely geek gifted me some polishes from this range. I'd like to continue using this range but at the mo I'm all about shellac so not in great need for a massive range of polishes but still have a handful of colours I'd like to purchase to fill some gaps but again this doesn't meet the fifty minimum order. Don't get me wrong I'd love to buy loads of their polishes but right now I'm not in that position. So where do i go no one else sells it and i find it frustrating. I've looked into another range that don't have a minimum order.

Hope you don't mind me addressing these points just concerned how i was perhaps coming across through my lack of explanation. I do believe in my business whole heartedly and i do think it will be hear next week, next month, next year I'm determined never been more so in my life, I'm just trying to make money to pay for stock and trying my best not to over stretch the purse strings. . . I can't afford a divorce as well and thats what I'll get if my Hubby sees me ordering more ha ha! Also thank you and everyone else who has explained from a wholesaler side i like to hear both sides. I was curious how others felt too.

Love n hugs

 

[Vanilla Pod]

Just thought i would add, hope not to get shouted down, but-
I work as a full time ODP in a hospital theatre ( 4 days), have done beauty for a good few years, and love it as a part time job ( i dont see myself as a messer to quote other people) , I would never leave my full time job - secure , pension etc but when looking for some ranges to use i feel as the above.
I dont want or need to spend a massive amount but need to use good products, but sometimes do not use enough product too warrant having a minimum or ongoing minimum order to deal with.:hug:

(although i do agree with the above there is no profit in selling 1 or 2 items at a time, but it is still business, and maybe in this recession people should be a bit more adaptable, everyone is wanting the same outcome- money in and this would maybe lose custom and future business when the recession and times pick up even if it a long time)

 

[persianista]

I accept minimum orders as a part of getting a trade price. If you just want one polish, it is easy to pay a retail price for it, and cheaper rather than pay the trade plus vat plus postage.

Generally, it is about being organised and learning to group orders together. Lots of companies use couriers, and it is just not worthwhile sending out tiny orders where you pay someone to pick and pack. They would be in loss territory.

Happyfeet, you could either go to your local wholesalers and pick up a pedi bowl, or add cottonwool, acetone, varnish remover etc to your order to get it to the £50 limit.

Wholesalers are just not geared up to cater for a person buying one item, they are WHOLESALE meaning bulk purchasing. A local wholesale shop is gonna be your better bet.

As for wholesale companies missing out in the future, well if they made a loss on half their customers now, they wouldn't be around in the future to serve you would they?

 

[Lynne Baker]

(although i do agree with the above there is no profit in selling 1 or 2 items at a time, but it is still business, and maybe in this recession people should be a bit more adaptable, everyone is wanting the same outcome- money in and this would maybe lose custom and future business when the recession and times pick up even if it a long time)

But it's not business worth having if it consistently loses money.
Profit is not a dirty word; it's essential to business, unless we live in a communist society (and even then I'm not convinced that there isn't rampant corruption).
Whilst some companies will employ loss leader tactics to draw in the customer you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be price hikes elsewhere in their store to offset the loss.
It would be lovely to be adaptable, but it's even more difficult to be so in recessionary times.
The bottom line is that if it costs more to sell stuff than its revenue, then there
is a limited time that it can continue.
Everyone suffers in the long run, not least the other customers who have to bear the price increases that will inevitably happen to support the one eye pencil orders. Is that fair?

 

[essentia]

Just thought i would add, hope not to get shouted down, but-
I work as a full time ODP in a hospital theatre ( 4 days), have done beauty for a good few years, and love it as a part time job ( i dont see myself as a messer to quote other people) , I would never leave my full time job - secure , pension etc but when looking for some ranges to use i feel as the above.
I dont want or need to spend a massive amount but need to use good products, but sometimes do not use enough product too warrant having a minimum or ongoing minimum order to deal with.:hug:

(although i do agree with the above there is no profit in selling 1 or 2 items at a time, but it is still business, and maybe in this recession people should be a bit more adaptable, everyone is wanting the same outcome- money in and this would maybe lose custom and future business when the recession and times pick up even if it a long time)

I appreciate your not a 'messer' but you are doing this part time. Wholesalers tend to sell in bulk so that those who need to buy a lot of goods get a discounted price. Why should they lose money because some do their business part time? You can go into your local Sally's if you need 1-2 items plus there are ranges that do not have minimum orders. There is enough out there to cater for all.

 

[Vanilla Pod]

My point was not about wholesalers such as Sallys, i was merely pointing out that if someone wanted to order maybe £100 worth of product of a decent kind , such as i do from Spa Find, if they will not allow you to buy one or two items every now and then just to top up, they may lose business as postage is high £ 10.00 to order- it is not worth it.

Altough on the other hand i do not agree with people buying masses of product and then selling on ebay for a profit, so when people ring to order stock is not there to purchase.

I do not have a problem myself as i use companies such OPI and Pure Fiji etc who do have minimum order policies.

 

[happyfeet]

hey Persianista

Thankfully i found a wholesaler who didn't require a minimum order. My closest wholesaler would cost the same in petrol as delivery so easier to have delivered and they don't sell the particular bowl i was after. I have enough sundries at the mo and get them from my usual for shellac. Other items like lint wipes etc i shop around for. But i do understand where you're coming from as said before they need to make their business viable too. I think its like anything in everyday life we all choose companies that will most benefit us and or save us money and or we can return to in the future. Minimum orders just make me think twice about using them again. I'm glad i started this thread as I've also had the chance to understand it from the wholesale side and i now don't think its down to greed. I appreciate that perhaps my mobile business in its infancy is not suited for a minimum order company but maybe in the future.



love n hugs

x x x

 

[persianista]

It correlates to asking a mobile to drive 20 miles to do a lipwax for a fiver. Not worthwhile. Is that shortsighted because that client may in the future want more treatments, or is is good business sense not to allow yourself to make a loss on working?

 

[shedunlop]

At the end of the day there are plenty of suppliers out there. Some have minimum limits and some don't. Use whichever suits you better.

I started from nothing and paid full price for some of my stuff at the beginning as I wasn't in a position to place the minimum order so swallowed it and built my business.

Once I was able to afford and need the right amount of stock at a time I shopped around and went with whoever supplied what I needed at the best price. Yes some of the companies I used were the one's with the minimum order level because they had the right prices because they were not losing money on sending single items.

With some wholesalers, once you get a good relationship with them, they are happy to pop something in a jiffy bag if you are stuck or forgot to order it. I think it's important to remember how big this industry is and just how many people dabble in the art. It is hard to get started but not worth the worry of spending a little bit extra in the beginning to get going and use your energy to build that business. The other thing to remember is that in the beginning, especially being mobile, you do not need the best of bowls or things like that. Buy something cheap to match your towels and then when things get better you will be able to add it to an order for other bits and pieces. :green: