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Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

modest.coffee

51–60 of 386 posts

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#51
This isn't grifting, and if they had specified the distributor it would be libel. This is a story about a small business that made a lot of bad decisions and got in way over theirs heads.

That's all well and good, but the spin to try to make themselves look like victims is pretty disingenuous. This sounds like the story you get from a teenager about how it's everyone else's fault after they're caught red handed doing something wrong.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#52
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, if you’re a big company, transactions are expensive. If small companies need frequent payments and won’t float AP, why would you buy from them? Would you rent an apartment that insisted on daily payments? (Ok, bad analogy, but you get the idea). I don’t have a good answer, but this isn’t a one-sided thing where the big guys are taking advantage of small companies. This is also small companies agreeing to ope…

Where have you been renting that didn't insist on payment up front? Everywhere I've seen you've payed that months rent by the ~5th of that month or they come after you for interest.

It can vary by landlord and jurisdiction. Some places you’re technically paying for the month you just finished, others you’re paying for the month upcoming. It only really differs on the accounting after the first month.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#53
Big companies are mostly made up of small people. Small companies tend to have bigger people. If you want to become well known, stand up to the shitty ones, their complaints will do the rest for you. I think the OPs story is going to have a good ending, and I hope that broker tries to slander them because it's free marketing from someone who people in that business probably know all about already. Good luck, and nice save.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#54
post #21

It's 101 that wholesale buyers order by the case and for producers to specify the casecount and price, and for errors like this to be caught when the prices/etc don't line up. This is equivalent to not knowing that URLs can redirect, or that http:// and https:// aren't the same thing. Distributors work with 1000 brands each and don't have time (or margin) to babysit. Also, when a company gets a much larger and differ…

> It's 101 that wholesale buyers order by the case and for producers to specify the casecount and price,

Not sure why you're being downvoted because thats standard in wolesale. Not sure how they couldn't catch that when looking at the price either.

Maybe they thought they'd sell a lot less for the same price and aren't talking about this?

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#55
post #10

One thing that irks me about dealing with big businesses, that the post touches on, is payment terms. If I buy an item, I pay for it immediately (or if it’s large enough, a creditor pays for me). Big companies pay with IOUs that say they’ll give you cash later, say 30-90 days from now or after criterion X is fulfilled. They do not care if you’re a small company with poor liquidity. I think it’s absolutely abusive beh…

And yet, if you’re a big company, transactions are expensive. If small companies need frequent payments and won’t float AP, why would you buy from them? Would you rent an apartment that insisted on daily payments? (Ok, bad analogy, but you get the idea). I don’t have a good answer, but this isn’t a one-sided thing where the big guys are taking advantage of small companies. This is also small companies agreeing to ope…

I liked the example, it illustrates it from a different perspective. However, why not paying daily? Hourly? Minutely? In the age of computers...

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

probably „Can you move 6000 units?” “Yes we can move 6000 units at 10$ per pound” “Sounds great, get them going!”

I probably wouldn't take on tens of thousands of dollars of loans based on that. I guess it's presented that they took the loans out after the confusion was identified. When I saw it yesterday they had more than 1,000 cases of the dark roast left (and none of the light or medium). So 1,000 cases in a day, a big chunk of the 34,000 bags. I wonder how long it will take them to ship, what with their not having the facil…

"I wonder how long it will take them to ship, what with their not having the facilities for it."

The sob story for why the shipping is delayed will be in an upcoming blog post.

Stay tuned...

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#57

I can't put my finger on it exactly but there's something about this story that isn't making sense.

Like agreeing to contract terms you are entirely unable to uphold?

Or understanding exactly what you are signing up for and what is in the papers you sign. And what does each and every term used mean.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#58
post #35

When I was homeless, I found a job with a "call center". Our training consisted of teaching us the cover story and how to handle reactions to it. We began with a joke involving alcohol. Then if they didn't hang up we launched into the pitch: "We just lost our lease on our warehouse, and we've got to move all these pens. You can get them imprinted with your name and phone number for a bargain. What do you say?" I quit…

Was second prize a set of steak knives?

Parent comment didn't actually quit, he just got third prize...

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#59
post #36

Great to see that all of these got sold! The numbers in this story don't exactly line up, in a way that tells a fun and clearly stressful story: (The cases have 6 bags each.) The intro to the blog post mentions 34k bags of coffee actually made. The initial order was thought to be 6k bags of coffee, but was actually 6k cases = 36k bags of coffee. So it looks like some got sold off between the delivery fiasco and the b…

The leftover bags are decaffeinated.

This!

FTA: "All of the bags of caffeinated coffees sold out. That’s approximately 24,000 bags of coffee."

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#60
post #7

One thing that irks me about dealing with big businesses, that the post touches on, is payment terms. If I buy an item, I pay for it immediately (or if it’s large enough, a creditor pays for me). Big companies pay with IOUs that say they’ll give you cash later, say 30-90 days from now or after criterion X is fulfilled. They do not care if you’re a small company with poor liquidity. I think it’s absolutely abusive beh…

That’s more specific to the food business. I run an advertising company and we always take payment in advance and work with several large (publicly traded) companies.

Net 30 is how a lot of Switzerland operates. You can buy all kinds of things - as a consumer - on a "pay later" basis. Flights, groceries, appliances, insurance, you name it. It's a level of trust that's pretty unusual in other countries, though you can bet they'll keep chasing you (and there is a national debt register). QR codes have replaced paying in slips, but they'll send you the code in a letter/PDF and you have a month to pay.

But from the industry side. At the big corp level this is all handled by some CRM/Oracle/IBM/SAP system and once things have been approved by whatever chain of people need to sign off, the payments are automatically sent out. The flip side is that if someone hasn't approved something, or they're waiting for paperwork unbeknownst to you, you have to wait until they do another run. So you have to nag them. The people who bought the thing from you are probably not the people who will actually pay you.

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