Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Craig, yes, you are right.  I think "sole distributorship" would be dangerous!  I will certainly read the find print and try to be smart about negotiations.  I have not heard back from this gal, so looks I can save the stress for another day.   Once I have my product I`m going to have TONS more questions!

GREAT suggestion Steve.  I`m not good with computers so I didn`t even know such "programs" existed!  THANKS!  I`ll will put your post in my "marketing" folder and the second I get my product in hand, I`ll start pounding the grates!

Hey, thanks Craig and Leslie! That`s so nice of you to give me kudos on that. I actually need to revise that list quite a bit. It`s hard to keep on top of sometimes.

Hi GrillCharmer,

Just a word of caution.  Verify the person you are dealing with is actually what they say they are.  An author in another forum was contacted by a “book distributor.”  He set up a deal to purchase roughly 50 copies of her book.  The author was told she would receive a check via Fed Ex to pay for the books plus freight cost.  The author was to cash the check, keep the purchase cost and send the remainder of the money via money gram to a representative (address to be provided) who would then arrange shipping.   

The check (drawn against an out of country bank) arrived and was for far more than the agreed upon purchase costs and estimated freight fees.  Approximately three times more.  There was also a note with the check telling author to cash the check and subtract the purchase cost plus ten percent for author’s inconvenience.  There was also an address the author could use for the money gram for the remainder of the amount.  The check turned out to be a bogus check and the author had to make good on the check at the local bank.

A valid distributor will have a web address and a list of other companies they represent.  You should be able to look these other companies up on the internet and see if the company you are communicating with is actually one of their distributors. 

I bring this up because I just finished writing an article on another company claiming to be a textile distributor.  They were a fraudulent company.

Hi GrillCharmer,

Have you thought of contacting the major barbeque grill manufacturers to see if they would be interested in your product as an accessory?  You can look them up on the internet.  Or, go to Thomasnet.com.  Thomasnet.com used to be Thomas Registry.  They list business by name, category and several other ways.  You can look up contact information for most companies operating in the U.S.