Retail buyers pretending to be wholesale

[WebSlave]

Man, I get a lot of these. I guess you can't blame them for trying, but they need to get real.

Got an email request from an exotic pet shop wanting a wholesale list of what I am offering. So I sent them this:

> As for pricing, here's what I am offering:
>
> $100 to $1000 = full retail
> $1001 to $3999 = 25% discount
> $4000 and up = 50% discount.
>

Basically if you want wholesale prices, you have to buy wholesale quantities (or at least a larger dollar amount).

So here's the response I get from this place:

Thanks but no thanks,

I am a registered business and do not pay retail. I am looking for someone
who does wholesale.

Yeah, right.......

So here's my response back at them:

Sorry, but "wholesale" means large purchases otherwise you ARE retail. I've
had MANY people want wholesale prices for 2 or 3 pairs of animals. That just
doesn't cut it. So if you want wholesale prices, you have to buy wholesale
quantities. If a 50 percent discount for a $4,000 purchase doesn't meet your
needs then I think the reason for your dissatisfaction with my offer is
pretty obvious....

So yeah, thanks but no thanks....

Rich Z.

 

[romad119]

Rich,

Don't retailers buy at wholesale and sell at retail? Just semantics, but I don't think they are pretending, unless they said that they are wholesalers. I see the point though that at their level, they are seeing wholesale quantities in a whole different spectrum then yourself and feel regardless of the size that they want to order they should get a price break.

I think their reply was lame. You already know they are retail but being so doesn't make them qualify as getting a discount from that fact alone. They seem to think it does.

Am I right that in your view, the category of customer doesn't set the rate it is the sales amount? If a private breeder, retail store, distributor, etc meets your terms they get pricing based on the terms you set, not their status?

 

[WebSlave]

Am I right that in your view, the category of customer doesn't set the rate it is the sales amount? If a private breeder, retail store, distributor, etc meets your terms they get pricing based on the terms you set, not their status?

Exactly! Otherwise EVERYONE is a wholesaler.

Heck I had some woman pushing a stroller come by the table at Dayona, pick up a baby Anerythristics corn that I had marked for $20, and tell me that she was a pet shop owner and wanted to know if she could get a discount. I told her that if she buys enough, sure she will get a discount. But I only want this one animal, she says. Sorry.......

If you want wholesale prices, buy wholesale quantities. Otherwise you are just buying retail no matter WHO you are.

Heck the definition of "wholesale" is

–noun 1. the sale of goods in quantity, as to retailers or jobbers, for resale (opposed to retail).
–adjective 2. of, pertaining to, or engaged in sale by wholesale.
3. extensive; broadly indiscriminate: wholesale discharge of workers.
–adverb 4. in a wholesale way; on wholesale terms: I can get it for you wholesale.
5. in large quantities; on a large scale, esp. without discrimination: Wild horses were slaughtered wholesale.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object) 6. to sell by wholesale.


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[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME, from the phrase by hole sale in gross; see whole, sale]

 

[Seamus Haley]

I think the problem is that people often have highly subjective views of what "large quantity" means.

For Joe Casualhobbiest, three snakes might be a 100% increase to his total number of snakes. It seems signifigant.

For someone who produces as you do Rich, it'd take a few hundred to really qualify as a signifigant number where discounts are concerned.

In my experience, a lot of non-specialty pet shops and a good number of those which are herp oriented do business in a somewhat hand to mouth fashion when it comes to their suppliers. They have space for X cornsnakes, so they order X cornsnakes. When they have x/3 or x/4 cornsnakes left, they'll order X more. Depending on the shop, they may only want a dozen animals at a time, but will want a dozen every week, year round. Others will want a few hundred at a time and may not talk to you again for a couple months. Both businesses may buy the same volume over the course of a year but due to the differences in their ordering, one would probably qualify for the bulk discount and the other wouldn't...

Some suppliers will offer discounted rates to regular customers who make frequent, smaller orders though too- which is why I suspect a lot of them start by asking for discounts. The problem there is entirely on their end though, before they have established themselves as purchasing a given quantity over a period of time, their orders simply aren't substantial enough to qualify for the discounts. If they took the time to think about it, they would probably understand that a supplier has no way of knowing the specifics of their ordering habits until they have witnessed it, firsthand, over a period of time and that the supplier should not be expected to assume a given volume without that experience.

 

[RJBILBY]

Wholesale

Wouldn't it be simple enough to ask for a business license number or tax ID to prove they are a legitimate shop or retailer?

 

[munge]

Wouldn't it be simple enough to ask for a business license number or tax ID to prove they are a legitimate shop or retailer?

but it's not really about whether they're buying to resale or not, it's whether they are a WHOLESALER. the word itself implies above average quantities. if people bought wholesale quantities and kept them for their own personal use, the breeder wouldn't care one bit.

people seem to forget that the animals are being SOLD to them regardless of whether they're wholesale or not. everyone has to make a living.

 

[Ssthisto]

Basically if you want wholesale prices, you have to buy wholesale quantities (or at least a larger dollar amount).

Out of curiosity, Rich... and yes, I'm an "end user" rather than a wholesaler or a retail shop looking to buy from a wholesaler...

But is that $4000 total BEFORE the 50% discount, or after? Namely, if someone ordered $4000 worth of snakes in a 'wholesale' deal, do they get them for $2000 - or do they have to order $8000 worth of snakes that they'll get for $4000?

With the favourable dollar to pound conversion rate, I'd be very, very tempted to draw off some of my house's equity if it were the former - but I couldn't QUITE do the latter

 

[sschind]

but it's not really about whether they're buying to resale or not, it's whether they are a WHOLESALER. the word itself implies above average quantities. if people bought wholesale quantities and kept them for their own personal use, the breeder wouldn't care one bit.

people seem to forget that the animals are being SOLD to them regardless of whether they're wholesale or not. everyone has to make a living.

When I ask a vendor for a wholesale list I am asking as a retailer. I buy at wholesale prices. Wholesalers (people who buy large quantities to turn around and sell to retailers) buy at a different level (distributor, or jobber perhaps?) Many people have a different idea about what it means to buy or sell wholesale. To some (like Rich) it means a large quantity. To others it means simply that the buyer will be reselling the item and quantity does not matter. I've bought single snakes from some vendors for half what they have it on the table once they know I own a pet shop. When I was producing corns I would sell to pet shops at a reduced rate for any quantity. If I was selling to the public at a show I required a purchase of at least 5 snakes before giving them a discount.

I look at my dry goods providers. In my opinion they are wholesalers. I do not need to purchase a huge quantity from them to get their price. I most instances I can purchase a single items. Some may require I purchase 6 or 12 of an item but that is more because they are to lazy to break up these "inner packs" than it is they want you to but in quantity. Some may require a minimum purchase for special services (free delivery for example) but If I go to their facility I can ususally pick up whatever I want, even if it is a $5.00 item and I get it at their price.

 

[JBirgel]

A retail Pet Store can hand over a Tax Exempt ID which you should make record of for tax purposes.

A wholesaler usually buys in quantity and most wholesalers by from a jobber or from an importer.

It's unfortunate so many people try to cut so many corners in this business.

SSchind makes a great explanation for the process. As a breeder I ask retailers to buy quantities of animals and I ask for proof of Tax Exemption. FOr wholesalers I look them up because usually they are big enough to buy your larger quantities and have been heard of.

 

[Kaiyudsai]

Im with Rich on this... I mean wholesale implies large quantities.... A great deal of pple have tax ID numbers nowadays...... I would however, give a good repeat customer a break if they frequently buy.... Say for you... if they were buying over 1000 /year

I also have given some discounts in the past when selling to other known breeders as a common courtesy. These little things make you stand out, and have always come back 10 fold in different ways