Everything is Negotiable

On January 10, 2008 in Advice by alex

When I initially went into business, I did not understand the amount of bargaining strength the “little guy” has with its vendors. Building purchasing power can be the difference between a profitable company and a business that has to scrape by.

If your vendors are not offering you bottom-line pricing, you should realize there is always someone who will do anything to earn your business. No matter how big a vendor is, they will always need consistent business. Prove to them that you are a reliable, long-term client by building a solid long-term purchasing relationship. At that point, you have become an asset, and you’re ready to negotiate better rates on your products or services.

Merchspin, our merchandising company, focuses on screen-printing and modern apparel decoration. We were in business with one of the largest t-shirt distributors in the world to purchase our blank merchandise until around six months ago. Though they were clearly the biggest and the most reliable company we could work with, their price points were far from where we envisioned.

After a few weeks of negotiating, we could not come to an agreement on a price that was competitive with the terms we demanded.  It was at that point that we decided to shop our business to other distributors. We landed a deal with an another distributor saving us close to $0.23 per unit. This move has turned into thousands upon thousands in profits on a monthly basis. 

Whether your vendors provide a large, essential product for your business, or a small, supplemental piece, it is a vital part of your business and it is essential to continue negotiating all the way down the line. These negotiated price points may become the revenue you take home.

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