Duncan Winnows Down To Best Supplier

On May 7, 2009, at 4:02 AM, Duncan wrote:

Hi John,

I'm receiving a lot of responses from suppliers that they are not allowed to provide trade references per their agreement with the brand, including one I spoke to on the phone. Would you say these suppliers probably don't work with the brands they say they do? Some have sent me pictures of branded luggage from their factory, and one sent me a 'Samsonite inspection report' of their factory.

*** As a practical matter would you ever get an answer as to an inquiry from Samsonite anyway? Your competition is not so much samsonite as Tumi and other high end bags, right?***


The references I have actually received are 'authorization agreements' to use the brand's trademarks. Only 2 of about 40 have sent references. Interestingly a lot of companies say they are not allowed by Carlton and Samsonite to send their information but I have received an authorization agreement from two factories for those - why would the terms of the agreement be any different for a different factory?

***Right... authorization to use the name is just a royalty agreement... and even then it could be bogus... I bet it is big busines in china to sell rights to use logos when you have no interest in the IP in the first place... a funny thought...***


Basically, the factories are very convincing that they have worked with these brands, because they send pictures of the products, and are convincing on the phone about what they make. They're mostly consistent that they're not allowed to give the information. A couple of factories I called who seem very professional were actually unsure why I'd even need a trade reference, but I told them it was to judge the quality level of their products. It seemed like an unusual request. Could it be that they don't trust me, or I'm not big enough for them to share that info? i.e. big risk in giving it to me in case of repercussions from their big name brands, but little potential payoff because I'm small fry? One company said they get most of their customers through referrals, hence why they might not need to send references. One other company said they can't send it until they know my company better.

***All plausible scenarios... it brings an idea to mind... how big are the minimum orders? Who are your customers? Open account trumps references. If their minimum is small enough for them to risk sending you the shipments on open account, and you can demonstrate you have orders form first rate stores with whom you cannot afford anything less than first quality, will they forgo the references in lieu of open account? Does this make sense?***

Should I get samples made by the companies that seem legit and judge based on the samples, or only stick to factories I can get references from? Actually I have received references from a factory working with all the big names and they're making samples. So really the only reason I'm asking is just in case there's a problem with that factory, and to know for another time.. our next product.

***Well yes... but you see, of all the ones you'd like to work with, which better than the one happy to provide references and make samples...? ***

Also, should I be asking for contact info of their customers or is a brand name good enough? Is it common practice to just call up a factory's customer, ask for the supply chain manager and ask do they work with so and so factory?

***You'll need actual contact info...you do follow up on the references... don't let it be know you can be fobbed off with just names...***

John

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