Here’s part of an email I just sent to a company that buys patterns from me. Yet again, my payment was not made in a timely fashion.
I sadly deal with more than one company who doesn’t start processing my payments until they are on the cusp of due, which means by the time the check is cut, signed, stuck in an envelope, mailed (usually on a Friday) and finally in my mailbox, it’s about 10 days overdue.
Imagine using this rationale with your credit card company. Right.
I don’t understand why a company would choose to build a process that essentially abuses their suppliers.
Their business is built on people like me making the things they want to sell. I’m the little gal at the end of the chain. I suppose I could short my long-arm artist, or screw over my assistant or printer to make up for it. But I’m not going to do that. I need what these people offer to the success of my business. Besides, it’s not who I am. I can do better than that.
And so can they.
Imagine an industry built on respecting each other, and making agreements that help EVERYONE rise. If we can create a $4 Billion industry out of the passion of hobbyists, surely we can create supportive and kind business practices.
…
Dear (person at company)
Thank you for your efforts to track this payment down. I appreciate it.
My agreement with you is for Net 30. This means that this invoice should have been paid in time for me to receive it by January 29th, not cut on February 2 and then mailed (and still not received as of today’s mail delivery on Feb 9)
What can be done to prevent this delay from happening again? I’m sure you can relate to my needing to rely on income coming when it’s supposed to, not to mention the cost of the time I have to spend chasing down payment that could be put to far better use – like making more things for our customers.
I realize a lot of companies in the quilt world have gotten by on this type of slow paying, and obviously suppliers like me are at your mercy.
But I’d like not to be. I’d like our agreement to be respected as a partnership where we both do what we say we are going to do, and we do it in a way that supports each other’s business goals, and respects what we have to offer each other.
My responsibility is that I make something that you can make money from, and that I ship it when you ask for it. And may I point out that you make DOUBLE what I make on this transaction (your profit is about $7, mine is about $3.50). Without designers making patterns for your customers, your business will eventually peter out. Yes, we will lose your sales but we still have other avenues through which to sell.
Your responsibility is to pay me in such a way that it honors our agreement and partnership. I truly don’t understand why your would create a process that essentially abuses your partners. Why would you want to?
And my hope is that you can change it.
Sincerely,
Sam
When I was freelancing, I ran into that a lot. Big companies or institutions were the worst. When I would ask for payment, I would be told that (x giant soulless client) paid in 120 days and I could have all the wording I liked on my invoice and that’s just the way they did business, and they were insulted that I thought a big wonderful company like them wouldn’t pay their bills. Of course I couldn’t do that with my creditors. Eventually my partner and I would figure out what we called the “hassle factor” and charge them more for our work. Oddly, that sat better with them than bugging them for payment. The other alternative is raising your rates just a bit and offering a small discount for faster payment. They like to think they are getting a deal. Not sure how that would work with your business though. I just know that rational explanation of my needs rarely made a difference, sadly. Smaller customers got it and were much better paying on time because they were in the same boat.
Sadly, the price is fixed so there is no PITA pricing I can enact. I have been offered a discount for faster pay, or a credit card number (then I have to pay fees) and I have rejected both. If they would just pay at 30 days PER THE AGREEMENT I would be fine.
This resonates heavily right now.
Class deposits often don’t come in time for me to order supplies, and I am frequently out of pocket until I get paid for the class, which sometimes isn’t until AFTER the class. I hate to cancel them, but eventually, it will probably come to that, and THEY can deal with their disappointed students.
In addition to teaching and quilting for others, I also sell travel, and that work is solely commission based. When I book something, I don’t get paid until the trip is paid in full and the clients have traveled. So, let’s just say, I book an extensive European itinerary for 9 months from now. I just spent hours and hours researching and booking your ideal trip, gone back and forth, making changes and tweaking things to be absolutely perfect. I haven’t been paid until you travel and up to 90 days afterward, when the commission checks come in from the rail company, the car company, the hotels, cruise line, etc. And if you cancel before then? I don’t get paid at all. Many times, hotels and car rental companies don’t pay and just let it slide, counting on me not noticing, but then I have to go shake them down for money. It’s the way the industry has been forever, so when I expanded my streams of income to include teaching and quilting, machine repair, etc., I hoped for better.
I’ve also noticed when talking with some machine dealers, they don’t get commissions on their sales in a timely fashion either. The only ones who do are the ones who buy their stock wholesale.
This is an important discussion, so I really hope it goes somewhere positive.
How frustrating for you!
I agree, it seems disrespectful to the partnership. 🙁
Hopefully, they will do better in the future.
It isn’t disrespectful, it is illegal. They are not meeting the terms of the contract. It should be dealt with legally, not personally.
Question: Do “THEY” allow their customers to not pay for their items until 90 to 120 days out?
When I worked for that LARGE HMO (you know which one, the one with the initials of KP) they ONLY paid their bills 120 days out. The vendors who supplied food for meetings, T-shirts for events and other smaller items QUIT letting us use them unless we paid up-front with a credit card.
It might come to that for you!
I’m not a business person, retired now. Did work in corporate America. Wondering if all of the small quilty creatives could not band together into an association of some kind so that it would be a large entity dealing with a large entity. Pooling resources so that legal help is affordable and available would likely cut down on the stompin’-on-the-littles behavior. Just a thought with no real information at hand.
Neame – thank you for your thoughts! You are absolutely right… an unofficial unionization of the little people might do the job. We have a Craft Indusrty Alliance, which I think has a potential to become that, but we’re not there yet 🙂