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Thread: Which option would you give him?

  1. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Null View Post
    In the engraving business it is not uncommon to demand payment in advance of doing the job.
    Almost every 'street' customer asks if I want payment up front. Companies want net 30 or, fine by me as of late, to immediately pay with plastic, before or after the work.
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
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  2. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Suwanee, GA
    Posts
    3,686
    at least 65% of my business was pre-paid, another 25% was paid on receipt, the rest was on account.

    If it was a new customer or the job was less than $100 then it was almost always pre-paid.

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Engel View Post
    Option 1 is not feasible. You can't demand payment for something not done yet.

    They should buy the widgets and send them to you for engraving.

    If they won't do that the best you can hope for is a deposit that covers materials. But 10-15% is pretty common which probably won't cover it.

    Or you do what a lot of businesses do - borrow the money against a line of credit.

  3. #18
    We've seen and done a number of these. Some are real, some are people trying their best to shift all risk onto someone else.

    The most common method is a 2 part bill, once due upon start of job that covers the cost of the materials. The second part of the bill is due upon completion. There's no way we'd put our cash at risk for someone else's product. Not going to happen.

    We had a guy come in years ago from out of town. Had a product and he was on the way to a trade show and needed it engraved. We did it, got paid, and he stopped back by on the way back from the trade show and said we'd all be millionaires from this pretty soon. It involved some specialty colored acrylics. The minimum order quantity was $45,000 from the manufacturer. He wanted us to front that to get started. Nope. He tried everything he could do to talk us into buying $45,000 worth of materials. He talked about the giant orders he had, etc. Nope. Not doing it. He tried for months without us budging. He finally took it all to someone else and they refused as well. To this day, some 5-6 years later, he's still never brought his product to market. We aren't a bank. I'm not financing your materials.

    And we've had a number of larger jobs where we request 50% down to start the job and it's paid. It's very common in the sign industry. We're not starting anything on your big job until your check is here.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
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    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Cleveland OH
    Posts
    195
    All the contracting work we do is net 30, I have a few large customers at net 45 & net 60 but they spend alot with us and pay on time.
    It really depends on you and your situation. I would never offer terms to a customer that would negatively affect my business. Maybe 40% down and the rest on completion, this helps to cover your @$$ a little bit. good luck
    3X Camfive 1200 48" x 24" 100watt Tube
    Zcorp 450 3d Printer
    Laguna Smartshop 2 - 4x8 ATC

  5. #20
    Break the job up into batches. Don't be the bank.
    Equipment: IS400, IS6000, VLS 6.60, LS100, HP4550, Ricoh GX e3300n, Hotronix STX20
    Software: Adobe Suite & Gravostyle 5
    Business: Trophy, Awards and Engraving

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