Lost $12,000 in one week last October because I ignored my gut on a supplier deal

Had a client insist on using a cheaper overseas supplier for a big order, I went along with it, and the shipment showed up 3 weeks late with half the boxes damaged, which meant I had to refund the customer AND eat the shipping costs, has anyone else ever had a client push you into a bad decision like that where you knew it was risky from the start?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_cameron15d ago

A buddy of mine runs a small print shop and had a big client push him to switch to this Chinese paper supplier that was like 30% cheaper. He knew the quality was going to be trash (the samples they sent were already kinda flimsy), but the client was insisting to save their budget. The whole run of wedding invitations came back with this weird yellow tint and the ink smudged if you touched it, his client refused to pay and he had to redo the whole thing out of pocket. He still gets annoyed whenever I bring up cheap paper suppliers.

lisaf3815d ago

Ugh, that exact thing happened to me with a custom packaging order last year... I let a client talk me into a cheaper printer and the boxes arrived looking like they'd been through a war zone. Had to eat the cost of a whole rush reorder just to keep the relationship, and the client still blamed me for not catching it sooner. Worst part is I knew the second I saw their samples it was gonna be a disaster.

jenniferw8213d ago

Honestly, the worst part is that gut feeling screaming at you and you still go along with it. Next time, make sure you get a written agreement from the client saying they take full responsibility for quality issues if they insist on a specific supplier. I had to learn that the hard way too. @the_cameron is right about that yellow tint stuff, cheap paper always has problems you can't see until it's too late. Best move is to offer them two options, their cheap pick with a liability waiver or your recommended supplier with a guarantee. That way it's on them when it goes wrong.