🚀 go-pugleaf

On 19 Feb 2003 21:24:20 -0800, the renowned anglomont@yahoo.com (TI)
wrote:

>Hello 
>we are an engineering company interested in in becoming an electronic
>equipment reseller in the area for a brand name manufacturer. So we
>would like to find out what are prerequisites and usual agreement
>highlights when entering such partnership with the manufacturer? Is
>there a difference between reseller and distributor or general
>importer status and how to become an exclusive reseller in the  area ?
>Please any advice highly appreciated,

Wow, this is really OT for a couple of these newsgroups. Well, the
contract for this sort of thing usually is a tit for tat, you
guarantee sales of $$$, in exchange for exclusive rights to sell the
product- IOW the manufacturer agrees not to sell directly+ to other in
your geographic country (or perhaps they can sell directly, but you
get a commission). In your case, that would be whatever's left of
Yugoslavia I guess. 

You may or may not want to stock the product, you may or may not want
to handle the money. The highest markup is required for a company that
imports product, pays duties and shipping costs, *stocks* the product,
advertises and uses its contacts to establish a market, and provides
service. As that's one hell of a lot of work, and involves significant
investment. Just being a sales agent, where the manufacturer ships
direct to the user, involves less risk and money, so the percentage is
much less. How to become a sole agent? Convince the mfr. that you are
the best one to do the job. If the market is considered small, the
manufacturer may give you a shot just because they don't have much
else going, but beware, you may stir up local or foreign* competition
if you are very successful. Or the mfr. may put a field office in.
Consider slacking off if you feel you're in danger of being replaced
by a factory office. 

In your contract- cover the usual stuff- who is responsible for what,
the duration of the contract (usually a year or so to start), and what
happens when either side wants out (though you may have trouble
enforcing such terms in practice). Good luck, it's a tough business. 
Asian companies often have "limited" loyalty, BTW. 

+ They typically won't try very hard to limit indirect sales- if a
wholesaler in another country undercuts you, you may not get much
help. But then your prices are probably too high. 

* Suppose a German company is sucessfully selling a British or
American product in Germany and they have an office in your country.
Chances are they could get the results of your work with little
trouble, as the German market is so much bigger than yours. 

Best regards, 
Spehro Pefhany
-- 
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
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