rnl828 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Howdy, and greetings from Texas like always. I have been away for awhile and I must say I still read this forum but with my schedule it is hard to post. I recently got a call from a NFL players marketing director for a upcoming event. They want me to provide 5k drinks and 5k assorted pieces of candy. I was very happy but I'm kind of lost in how I will make profit. They told me they will purchase everything from me and donate it to a upcoming celebrity event they are having. 1) how should I price the items to sale to them in bulk? 2) should I just charge a service fee since all I'm really doing it finding the products or should I mark them up too?!? Please help. This is out of my vending norm since its a very huge order but I'd love for some information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 yes upcharge and make money off the deal. figure all the usual cost of goods and gas and your time is worth something then mark up accordingly your going to have to store all this product till the show date, possibly deliver it as well and handle issues unforseen like the sun and chocolate... So i would quote high, the people who call and place orders like this are not coupon shoppers or even shop normally so they are generally clueless as long as each item is less than party store or gas station level they will be happy. Dont do anything till you get a heafty deposit and a agreed upon deal you dont want to eat 5000 pieces of candy or drinks bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walta Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 This deal smell like a scam to me. Do you have a business relationship this team or player? Are you sure this “Rep” does in fact work for this player? If you make it clear this will be cash on delivery transaction, my bet is you will never hear from them again. Walta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnl828 Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Bill thanks for the information I will surely try to make a nice profit. Do you have any idea what I should do? A case of soda here is generally 7.99 I was thinking about raising the price then having a service charge of 15%! Wil yes this is indeed a real nfl rep. I met him during a marketing seminar and he called me personally. I just want to be correct and not lose the contract or over price so any more information will help me. Thanks again. Sorry walt* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Personally, I wouldn't ever bother with such a thing because it sounds too good to be true to me. To my knowledge, these guys just call Pepsi, Coke, Mars, Hershey, etc... for whatever they want. I don't see why they don't go to a bulk warehouse and buy stuff but who knows. I wouldn't move forward at all. You are worried about losing a contract but you need to consider what it's worth. Lets say you are going to sell each candy bar for $.85 (to be competitive) and each bottled drink for $1.50. If your COGS is about $.75 for the soda and about $.55 for the candy, you are making $.30 for each candy bar and about $.75 for each soda. That totals out to $1500 for the candy and $3750 for the soda. That's a good profit margin... however.... will they buy all 5,000 units of each and that's that? What happens if there is product left over? What happens to damaged product? What if you buy all of this product and they decide to go elsewhere at the last minute? You need to get this stuff in writing first. I wouldn't even bother with anything until I had a contract in front of me in plain writing that said they were going to purchase ALL of the 5,000 units of candy and ALL of the 5,000 units of soda. Also, that contract needs to say something along the lines of "The buyer (the rep fella') will purchase the product x days before the event (like maybe 7 days before the event) and I will provide the product the day before the event (so that they can distribute it however they want). I'm worried, for your sake, you are too worried on the potential profits and not worried enough bout the potential mega-loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shauna Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I think it is a great opportunity. Providing this service to your customers can open up a wide variety of potential contacts for future business. AngryChris, I will have to respectfully disagree with you. If you always focus number one on the potential loss over the potential profits, you will never be successful in business. There is always a risk to doing business. But having a contract with the client, abiding by that contract, and maintaining a good relationship with him with minimize the risk inherent in any business transaction. Rnl828, I think that this is a good opportunity for your business. But always do your due diligence in researching all potential issues. Which it looks like you are doing here. Good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walta Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 If you know this guy that’s deferent than a cold call. I still say make it a COD sale and plan on making a profit. Walta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakevending Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Seems kind of strange that they wouldn't just go to Sam's Club themselves, but if you have a lot of money I suppose you can do what you want with it. It sounds like a great opportunity, but I would be careful to make sure you have some sort of contract with every detail covered to make sure you don't get stuck with a ton of product. They should expect a contract at that level and not just a handshake deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leetvend Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 As everyone else said make sure you get a contract. If I had this opportunity I would be all over it but I would have a checklist of what I needed to get done to make sure the transaction went correctly for both parties involved. 1. I would make sure to have a contract drawn up that covers everything that I would talk about with them. 2. I would make sure to see what all they wanted exactly and what would happen if they did not need all the product. 3. I would make sure that I knew exactly what they wanted. Do they just want the soda and candy? Do they need everything to be kept chilled? What happens if you run out of a certain type of drink or candy? There are a lot of things I would want to talk to them beforehand and just make sure everything went well for both parties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 AngryChris, I will have to respectfully disagree with you. If you always focus number one on the potential loss over the potential profits, you will never be successful in business. There is always a risk to doing business. But having a contract with the client, abiding by that contract, and maintaining a good relationship with him with minimize the risk inherent in any business transaction. I agree with you and disagree with you. I agree that you have to risk money in order to make money; I agree 100%. However, you don't need to risk money without taking the proper precautions. All I was trying to say (but probably failed to say properly) is that I am afraid that the vision of massive profits is going to allow him to ignore all of the precautionary measures he should be taking to make sure he doesn't get burnt. I mean, we ALL take a risk when we purchase equipment to place into new accounts... but you probably wouldn't buy $20,000+ worth of equipment for a new account without a contract, would you? I wouldn't!!! But if you sign a sufficient contract, you can bet I will have those machines delivered on time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Just to put it into proper perspective. 5000 units of drinks is 208.3 cases. If these are cans then you are looking at 2.17 pallets and about 4160 lbs. If we are talking 20 oz bottles then the weight will be nearly 8000 lbs and 5 pallets. You are not going to put this in your pickup truck, not in one trip anyway. The candy from a weight perspective is insignificant, however, if this is candy bars then @ .55 each from Sam's you are into this $2,750.00 So you are looking at around 5K out of pocket, more like 10K if its 20 oz bottles. Are you expected to provide ice chests and ice as well? As other have already mentioned, get it in writing first. Figure your costs to buy and expenses to deliver the product and add 20-30% for profit would be my suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnl828 Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 Thanks a lot mission, we are going back and forth now on numbers. I really want to acquire this as it will help me in the future. I've calculated most of the expenses and I think I will make a nice amount. I will keep everyone updated, but the event isn't until June! Thanks everyone for the criticism and optimism, it means a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leetvend Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Thanks a lot mission, we are going back and forth now on numbers. I really want to acquire this as it will help me in the future. I've calculated most of the expenses and I think I will make a nice amount. I will keep everyone updated, but the event isn't until June! Thanks everyone for the criticism and optimism, it means a lot. I think this will work out well for you as long as you take care of everything that has been posted in this thread. I can imagine being the supplier for a party like that could get you in touch with some good contacts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Thanks a lot mission, we are going back and forth now on numbers. I really want to acquire this as it will help me in the future. I've calculated most of the expenses and I think I will make a nice amount. I will keep everyone updated, but the event isn't until June! Thanks everyone for the criticism and optimism, it means a lot. Sounds like you are getting it under control, please keep us posted with how things turn out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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