Is it common to charge Sales Reps for samples?

Re: [spiers] Is it common to charge Sales Reps for samples?

Samples, like sales materials, are part of the cost of doing business. A rep
that would pay for samples, is probably not worth the effort of selling it
to them. In the gift industry, samples usually must be returned if the
relationship sours or ends for any reason, and that should be in your rep
agreement if you have one. Some larger companies allow reps to keep the
samples after one year of service, as added relationship development (and
frankly, reps are so busy, its hard to get them to return samples anyway) --
also, if you are competing on design, the designs wear out, and you often
won't want the old (and worn) inventory back.

Malcolm Dell
Lewis Clark Gifts
----- Original Message -----
From: "D Low"
To:
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 3:27 PM
Subject: [spiers] Is it common to charge Sales Reps for samples?


>
> Hi John and friends,
>
> I have a line of women's leather handbags that I'm looking for sales reps.
> The samples can get pretty expensive when you have multiple reps and
> multiple items. Is it common to charge sales reps for the samples? Sales
> reps probably don't want to pay for the samples. Will I lose the reps if
> I ask them to pay for samples? What is the best way to do this?
>
> Thanks,
> -don

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