Advice

Hey guys! Just have a few questions and I figured someone on here had to be experienced in it.

I have recently been promoted to being a product distributor for a fishing company based out of New Hampshire. The make a fishing product that is very successful on the east coast, by them and also in California. They don’t have any stores selling their product in the Midwest though. I am wondering if anyone has experience being a product distributor and would want to PM me or email me and give me some advice on how to approach companies and how to find good ones. Also, how to go at wholesalers.

This was an opportunity I was given after my performance in Arkansas last summer for the High School World Finals. Hope you guys could help me out! I don’t exactly want to say what the product is on the open forum but if you have any interest shoot me a PM. I absolutely love it and use it all the time. Great bass utensil.

yes I have some people who would sell it to a lot of people

Something to remember when marketing a new product…Sell it to the retailer first, not the wholesaler. Always best when you can have a retailer agree to market the product for you then have THEM call the wholesaler and say, “Hey, I want you to distribute this product to my stores…”. Wholesalers don’t care about the product. They only care about moving boxes…

Quote:

---

Wholesalers don’t care about the product. They only care about moving boxes…

---

That’s a really good point Thank You! Is there anyway to get a list of stores a particular wholesaler covers?

Who do you know that would sell a product?

You choose to sell to a wholesaler, or to retailers. Doing both is for the most part, not going to happen.

Retailing has higher profit margins, lower volume, and broader work. Wholesaling has slim profit margins, high volume, and lots of contracted restrictions.

The wholesalers will find you soon enough. Just don’t be too anxious to sign on their dotted line.

You mention you were promoted to a product distributor, what were you before? A distributor generally is required to buy the product and depending on the contract he has with the manufacturer have a specific geographic area to sell in. A manufacturer Representative has a contract with the manufacturer and gets a commission on any products sold into his assigned territory or accounts. Big difference, which one are you being offered? Difference being a distributor buys and inventories products, is responsible for billing and accounts receivable in other words you have to have some money to get things going and if you sell to the wrong accounts and do not get paid you can get underwater pretty fast. A representative does not have as much potential for profit but the downside is you generally have minimal start up costs. So which are you being offered?

tomr I do not buy any product. I get commission for anything sold in stores in my area though. If that answers your question.

Sounds fishy!! And that ain’t no pun. Nothing like getting free worker bees to go get your product out there and IF they happen to find a market for it they reap all the benefits with kicking you a few little bills on the side. I would definitely look into it more not to say the business you are rep’ing for is shady, but sales prey on the insecurities and vulnerabilities of people, and well honestly you are young and eager with nothing to lose, but at the same time with a bunch of hard work you may have nothing to gain. Be cautious and heck the best way to get anyone to want their product is by having their customers ask for it, and to do that I think a lot of IDO community here would love to get some free samples, try em out, and start spreading the word!!

that would make you a manufacturer rep and there is little down side if it does not work out as start up costs are minimal. to start out you should look at where this product is being sold on the east coast and ca. What type of accounts are successful with this product? Go after the same type of accounts as you will be able to give them success stories of similar business to theirs and accounts are always looking for product they can sell. Also the manufacturer has a plan on how they see there products being distributed ask them what there plan is and how you would implement it in this area. Finally if you want to be successful you are going to have to have thick skin as you are going to knock on a lot of doors and get a lot of no’s to get the yes’s. Give some thought if you feel you can take the no’s and keep moving forward. Successful sale people will always have a job and can make a lot of money. Good luck!

a-bart, you have PM

Just to let you guys know it’s not a phishy company! They actually sponsor me already and I get their product all the time. Great guys, nothing to worry about there.

But thank you for all the feedback I really enjoyed it to be honest with you. It helped me out a lot with what I need to do. One last question.

If I call a wholesaler, because I know of one, and ask for a list of the companies they provide, would they be willing to give me some?

Quote:

---

If I call a wholesaler, because I know of one, and ask for a list of the companies they provide, would they be willing to give me some?

---

It’s doubtful unless they have a contract with you first. Why would they want to give their customer list to you who in essence would become their competitor?

Looking for a wholesaler might work. The problem with a wholesaler is they need to sell product, to do that there needs to be a demand for that product. What your company is asking you to do is create that demand for their product. Make up a little display rack to carry in your truck. At every tourney you can attend set that rack up and talk up the product and sell it. Once there becomes demand there will be wholesalers looking for you. It’s that way or walk into the front door of Gander, Cabela’s, Joe’s ect and go that way. Be sure that if you get into one of those guys that your company can meet the supply demand.

Good luck.

Sounds good! Thanks for everything you guys!