Every distributor in the region has been told that buying closer to home is cheaper, and also that buying further away is cheaper. Both claims are usually made without a number attached. Here is the comparison we would run if we were on your side of the table.
Compare landed cost, not unit price
A price per square metre means nothing until you add freight, duty, financing and the cost of holding stock. Ask both suppliers for the same delivery term — DAP to your yard is the least ambiguous — and compare those two figures. Anything else is a comparison between a bare price and a delivered one.
Put a number on lead time
Lead time is money in two places: the cash you have tied up in goods that are still moving, and the sales you lose when the season arrives before the stock does. Work out what one month of delay costs you at your own turnover. That figure often settles the sourcing question on its own.
Minimum order is a risk decision
A supplier who requires a full container is asking you to bet on a product mix before you have data. A supplier who accepts a trial load lets your market tell you what to buy. Ask what happens if the first mix turns out to be wrong: can the second order be different at the same terms?
The cost of a mistake at distance
Consider a shipment that arrives with the wrong height, or a colour that does not match your samples. The question is not whether it can happen — it can happen anywhere. The question is how long the fix takes and who pays for it. Distance changes both answers.
What to ask both suppliers, in writing
- What is your delivered price to my city, on DAP terms, for this exact mix?
- What lead time do you commit to in the offer, and what happens if it slips?
- What is your minimum order, and can the second order differ from the first?
- Which origin document do you issue for my customs regime?
- Who answers my email — a salesperson or the person who prices the order?
- Will you put my brand on the packaging at this volume?
Being straight about our position
We manufacture in Kocaeli and sell into the Balkans by road, so we are an interested party. What we would rather not do is win on a claim you cannot check. Ask us the six questions above and compare the answers to anybody else's; if a competitor's landed cost is genuinely better for your market, you should buy from them.
