11–19 of 19 posts
I'm agreeing with "qq66". If you wanna make a real business out of this, you should follow qq66's advice and get yourself the producers on board. They however would wanna see prospected sales pipelines and some forecasts. In addition to that, you might need to agree on fixed sales per year in order to be recognized as a distributor. Alternatively, you could go with a luggage full of money to some small Asian trade fa…
Distributors (or, commonly, a "channel") are generally expected to bring something tangible to the table in the relationship. Sometimes, they have a large book of clients or have access to a market that the supplier can't tap. Often they also take on first tier support, installation, service and/or training. In many cases, they smooth out the suppliers cash flow by pre-booking and/or stocking product locally. A requi…
The companies you mention have good international sales from their existing online stores. What are you offering that they cannot easily do? Saying you want to be a distributor implies that you will have a network of resellers. For that to be attractive you would need to have substantial local inventory. As @noonespecial says, that requires making a substantial investment up front. You can't just say your are a distr…
Distributors (or, commonly, a "channel") are generally expected to bring something tangible to the table in the relationship. Sometimes, they have a large book of clients or have access to a market that the supplier can't tap. Often they also take on first tier support, installation, service and/or training. In many cases, they smooth out the suppliers cash flow by pre-booking and/or stocking product locally. A requi…
Maybe I am wrong in my concept of distributor, for me there can be large distributors and smaller ones. Retailers of all sizes (small hobby shops or large hardware depots)
These companies are already resellers for the most part. Why not just buy the products directly and compete with them?
I hadn't considered this. Certainly a good idea, maybe I am trying to resell from a reseller which already has a tight margin.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hadn't considered this. Certainly a good idea, maybe I am trying to resell from a reseller which already has a tight margin.
Keep in mind that to achieve differentiation, Sparkfun/Adafruit etc. do build proprietary products themselves. Mostly breakout boards and other things that require low capital investment but make the components that they resell (Atmel and TI chips, etc) much easier to use for the through-hole hobbyist. If you don't do the same, you'll probably get stomped by them in the long term, but if you can build a market positi…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe I am wrong in my concept of distributor, for me there can be large distributors and smaller ones. Retailers of all sizes (small hobby shops or large hardware depots)
There are all sizes of distributors. But that doesn't mean all suppliers make use of all sizes, and regardless of size, they're bringing something of value to the supplier. The small hobby shop, for example, provides hands on assistance that a distant supplier can't. Telling people who sell via web site you want to sell via website isn't particularly compelling in and of itself.
Many people become resellers in order to buy product for themselves and friends at a discounted price. This trend is rampant in the car-modification and hotrod cultures of the United States. Perhaps without a shop they are suspicious of your intentions.
the problem is, after they give you your margin, or cut, or discount, as 'distributor, you buy just 1 item. for yourself. there are vendors that actually don't care, and anyone can sign up as a reseller. but apparently you asked a few who do.