Print

[KitschenSink]

I'm so bloody annoyed! I have had some jewellery posted back to me by a stockist, which is fine... she kept asking for more but never posting back anything I asked for and she also never returned my delivery notes, so I was reluctant to send her more stock.

Anyway, she has eventually got round to posting it all back to me and inside is a note that says 'we don't really know how much we owe you...'

I feel a bit violated and used... in that she was happy to take my work and keep her % as it sold but hasn't kept accurate records to pay me appropriately!

I do have my copies of the delivery notes, I just think it's a bit whack that I am going to have to go through them all when I have more important things to do (get ready for craftacular!)

I'm winding down on the sale or return side now, and just whole-saling. Much easier!

[Jasmines Cards]

Hi

I just had a look at your site, love the lego earings.  I will have another mooch when I have more time.

I can understand why you are annoyed with your stockist, some people have no idea of the extra work that they cause!

[Gemma]

Arrgh! How annoying! 

[pennydog]

Really annoying. I got my stock back from 2 shops that closed down but they never paid my last invoice. That is stealing in my book.

[GlassKanvas]

This was a re-occurring theme on posts when we first started Crafteroo up. Basically it's an issue of liability- I don't think sale or return incentivises shop-keepers to sell stock so consequently they often don't treat it as such and blatently disregard the time and effort put into it. I'd go for a written agreement with the shop-keeper including signed-for invoices to say what has been delivered, to whom, in what condition....should you ever go down that route again.

[Addison]

rage! Add on an admin fee...or pick a (large)number out a hat and send them that as the bill

[dichro-findings]

I agree with SpoiltPig! It's shocking that they have no idea how much they owe you. Wonder how they get on when doing their annual accounts? Must be a nightmare for their accountant!

Pennydog . . you need to sue these people in the small claims court for unpaid invoices. Start by writing a formal letter to them outlining what they owe, from when, and why. Give them 21 days to pay up and say quite clearly that unless they make payment in full you'll refer the matter to the small claims court. If it does come to that, you can make your claim online and recover all the costs and interest on the outstanding amount until it's paid. If the company is a ltd company or even a limited partnership or a soletrader then this will put the fear of god into them. A bad credit record will affect their ability to purchase stock or anything else on credit !

[KitschenSink]

GlassKanvas, yes it was my first ever stockist, so I had some terms in place but not all. Lesson learned!

PoiltPig & Dichro-findings - love the admin fee idea! I might just tell em they owe me £50 see how that goes down!

[Crafteroo]

You can file a small claims dispute online btw...send bailiffs 'round if you're case is won too. I did it once with a certain telecommunication company and threatened to have their receptionist's computer removed. They soon paid up...I think that was just to get rid of me though!

[KitschenSink]

Hah! Ace. I best not as we don't live too far from one another and have a few mutual crafting friends...

Just disappointed she is taking advantage really.

[matt.chatterley]

Doh. To be fair, my own experience with sale/return, for Beads N Crafts (not my business but as it's in the family I often end up poking my nose in!), was that most "stockists" aren't really interested - as has already been posted.

A lot of them were disorganised too.

Plus you never really knew what was/wasn't going to come back. No more sale & return now.

[chickadee cards]

One thing that you could do in future is keep a spreadsheet of what items are sent where, how much your percentage is and update it regularly. Then, when the items are returned, you have a clear idea of which items sold and how much they owe you.

[KitschenSink]

Yeah good idea... I'll have to start doing that...

[tollykit]

Must admit I've had the similar problems. 

The silver goes out all clean and shiny and comes back extremely dirty.
Stockist suddenly decides that sale or return should be me taking wholesale prices and they want a bigger cut.

Not really sure if I will do any more that way.

elaine