The Wholesale Forums

[jayjrc]

Hey guys.
i just have a few questions, i approached the only distributor of a certain clothing brand i want to stock and havent heard back, i understand that i made an amateur move and used a hotmail address, didnt have a company letter head, my company is not registered, it was a disaster basically, i know the reasons why.

my question is, i want to approach the american distributors of this clothing range as my website will be all about a niche, i,e providing street wear in plus sizes for the u.k.
i believe this can work esp for women, because i see people wearing their clothing, when asked they got it from the states, or bigger girls moaning that they cant get the goods!
my question is once i have registered my company, have the letter head, logo, etc, website, do i then approach them before going live?
the main bulk of my web will be dedicated to such brands and the distributors i am looking at stock 3-4 of those i am intrested in.
i was planning to go to the states and buy up alot of clearance stock, just to get started before i approach the distributors, is this a good idea, because if they check out my site they will notice i have already been selling their stuff before they have authorised an account for me, would this be a good or bad thing? showing that i can capably sell their stuff?

also can anyone tell me the kind of stuff i should include, whilst asking/begging for an account?

the reason i am approaching u.s.a rather than their u.k branch is merely because their u.k branch do not sell above a size 14/16 when these brands actually go up to a whopping size 26/28.

i would be grateful for any advice, sorry for the post being so long!

[lighthousedirec]

When I first started I did the following:

Get your own web addy and email, ie customerservices@fatties.co.uk

Approach the distributor and be honest, you are a new company looking to specialise in oversize clothing etc, and could they send their trade price list and terms, min order qty's, carraige paid amounts etc.

I wouldn't ask for a trade account until you get over this first hurdle, particularly in the current climate, most would want you to trade for a while before offering such an account, so initially you would almost certainly be looking at trading on a proforma basis.

Most importantly build a rapport with them, treat the first email simply as an introduction with a view to finding out the above, then take it from there.

[Jabong82]

With regards to approaching distributors (we are in the mobile phone business) I am guessing its relatively similar in all businesses. You need to get your documents together. Ie. register your company, resellers permit, tax id, VAT registration etc. etc. That is what distributors are looking for when clients first approach them. They want to see that you actually have a legitimate business, and not just some guy off the street.

[jayjrc]

i thought to be vat registered i had to be earning a certain amount? fact is i wont be earning anything until i can get at their stock, i need a resellers licience? i will investigate, if i am buying in the u.s but am selling in the u.k will i still need 1?

[hardwareheroes]

You can register for vat before you start earning anything on the assumption that you WILL turnover sufficient business

[jayjrc]

thanks hardware, but what if i dont make that much turnover? i assume i will be faced with a heavy tax bill?

[hardwareheroes]

Not really, you pay 17.5% vat on your sales but you deduct 17.5% of your purchases

[jayjrc]

i have heard people say on this forum that it is not worth being vat registered, as it is too much hassle, am i setting myself up for a big fall? i assume everybody has to pay vat anyway so what is the difference between being registed and not?

[hardwareheroes]

Well, in simple terms, you are paying vat on your profit (very simple terms). If you ar not vat registered, you dont have to pay vat on your profit. Therefore, it is advantageous to NOT be registered certainly up untill you have no choice to do so.

However, to deal with some distros, they may insist on dealing with only vat reg companies

[jayjrc]

cheers hardware i will follow light house advice and check whether they accept non vat customers