Trade Accounts for Wall and Floor Tilers

When I get towards my year end this is what a couple of suppliers do for me. Obviously they can't give me cash as a commission, so I ask the customer to buy the tiles minus a %age of my discount and the difference is then deducted from my next purchase. That way I'm not having potentially thousands of £s worth of tiles going through my accounts.
Why not?
 

If you go and buy a shirt and pay by card and take it back and ask for a refund, how do they pay you back, the same way that you paid, they will credit your card, not give you cash. Same principal for the supplier it is far easier for them to give a discount on any 'commission' you have by deducting it from a purchase.

If say for example I get 30% from my supplier. My customer goes to my supplier and buys £1000 worth of tiles, I would ask the supplier to deduct £150 off as my gift to the customer and the remaining £150 would go as a credit to my next purchase. The following week I go in and buy £200 worth of grout and adhesive, the supplier makes out the invoice for £200, minus my £150 credit and I pay the bill of £50.
 
OK, John - I see what you mean. Where it suits you to get a credit is fine, but if you preferred to take your discount in cash, would it not be better?
 
OK, John - I see what you mean. Where it suits you to get a credit is fine, but if you preferred to take your discount in cash, would it not be better?

Look at it this way - The supplier has to have £150 cash to give me, he will have had to receive cash to give it to me. If I am owed £150 in credit I buy £150 worth of adhesive, I pay nothing, but the supplier may have only paid, say £90 for the materials. In effect he is still making £60, so why would he want to give me £150 cash. He would have to make another £60 profit to pay me £150 cash.
 
I send customers to outlets where I have a trade account and get them to choose their tiles and get a retail quote. Then I get a discounted quote which they can pay to the store direct. I arrange delivery for the day of the job to ensure I have the work: happy customers, decent tiles and I don't have to worry about the vat threshold
 
Very interesting points - that VAT one had never occurred to me before, but is pretty critical.
We supply listellos, decorated tiles, mosaics etc, mostly to distributors & retailers. In view of your comments, maybe we should offer a tile fixer referral account. You point your customer/client to us (online), we supply them direct then pay you a commission equivalent to a trade discount?

What your thinking of doing I all ready do that with a small family run business called Annandale's in Hull..Make's more sense sending the customer to a reccmmended Seller. They make what they want and either give you jobs or free addy etc. 🙂
 

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