Snack machine is in a school run by the feds and a lady that works there wants me to give her a w9.

[wildmanne39]

Hi, I have never given a w9 to any location and a lady says I have to at a school that is under federal regulations but I think she is incorrect because the school is not paying me, I am making money off of sales and it in no way comes out of there money, the lady also wants me to split with them 20 percent but I do not see that being a reason to give them a w9, any suggestions appreciated, I do realize there is no Attorneys here but I am hoping to find out if anyone has run across this issue before and what was the outcome, also she wants me to provide her with a monthly sales sheet I guess so she can confirm that I am paying her 20 percent and not cheating her, is this also normal?

Thank you

Edited October 13, 2021 by wildmanne39
Added more information

[AngryChris]

I'm not a lawyer but I think she is mistaken.  However, giving her a w9 won't hurt anything.  The school probably requires all vendors to provide it.  Of course, that doesn't apply to you if you don't bill them for anything.

As for the 20%, while high, it's not abnormal for schools to want commission, particularly if it's available to students.  You could try to negotiate that but your pricing should be adjusted to account for commission.  I'd explain that you need to increase everything by at least 20% if you give a 20% commission.  You'll make less profit but you make it up in volume.  You can also explain that a 10% commission may generate a better return for both of you since you might sell more items if you don't have to raise prices so high.

There's also a good chance that if you're only doing snacks, then a bottler is doing beverages, and they can offer 20% easier whereas you have smaller margins.  You can explain that you can't keep prices low like the bottlers can because it's hard to make a decent profit from snacks alone.

It's a tough thing to deal with but I'd just try to negotiate commission and pricing and fill out the w9.  I don't know the tax rules on it,but it's also possible that the entity or person receiving the commission needs to give YOU a w9 or some other form as well, since they will be receiving income from you.

[Southeast Treats]

Schools can be hard to work with as the people that are running them usually have no business sense and are only able to follow what others tell them.  Chris is right, it won't hurt any to give them a W-9, it's a single page form you can find online for free, fill in the blanks and print it out, and give it to them.  Then they can make a check mark on their list and be happy.

As for the commission, who did you originally deal with to place the machine?  Are they still there and still in charge, or has this person replaced them?  Like Chris said, schools are accustomed to getting big commissions from Pepsi or Coke as that is good product placement for the bottlers.  If you are doing student snacks, Chris is on target.  Give them an offer and adjust your prices to cover it and the aggravation.  Remember too that student vending items are required to meet USDA standards for nutrition, and most of your regular products won't qualify.  They may not know the difference but if someone shows up who does know, you will have to comply or lose the location.  If you are only doing the teacher's lounge that students can't access, I would laugh and tell them to call me when the machine needs to be picked up.  Hardly anyone would take a teacher only location at a school; most of those are horrible.

[AngryChris]

Yes... If this is strictly for a teacher's lounge, then don't offer any commission.

[wildmanne39]

Thank you, I will give them the w9 and see if I can renegotiate the commission, I bought the machines as part of a route they were already on location but there is a lot of other issues dealing with them that makes it a very difficult location to service, like having to have a security guard with me at all time to make sure I do not take f my mask and I have 4 machines there all across the campus and they are constantly rushing me and I told the lady I was not putting up with that anymore, they only have 20 students because of covid when they normally have 200, so just a big pain.

 

[AZVendor]

What kind of school can stay open with only 20 students and how can you make money there? Sounds like a scam is being played on so that they are still being paid for 200 students.  That kind of chit goes on here in the charter schools.

Edited October 14, 2021 by AZVendor

[wildmanne39]

It is Job Corp.