Supplier Deals and Their Conditions
Wholesale catalogues are full of offers: free cases, launch discounts, credit on the next order. Most are fair. All of them come with conditions worth reading first.
Common trade offers
- A free case when you order several.
- A discount on new products for a launch period.
- Credit against a future order once you reach a spending level.
- Display stands or posters supplied with a minimum order.
Questions to ask
- What exactly must you buy to qualify, and within what period?
- Is there a cap on the discount or the free stock?
- Can credit be refunded, or only spent with the same supplier?
- Do the free goods have shorter dates than your normal order?
Free stock still has to sell
A deal that doubles your stock of a slow-selling snack is not a saving; it is next month's waste. Work out how many units you sell in a normal week before you accept any volume deal.
Good offers show the conditions next to the headline
The fairest offers put the amount, the requirement and the limit side by side, so nothing is hidden in small print. As an example from a very different industry, in Traditional Chinese, this page breaks one gaming brand's offers into three columns: the amount, the wagering requirement and the cap on what can be withdrawn (富遊娛樂城優惠條件整理). Gambling offers carry far more risk than a case of crackers, but the reading habit is the same: find the condition and the cap before you look at the headline number.
Get it in writing
Ask for the terms of any deal in the order confirmation or invoice. If a rep promised something by phone, make sure it appears there too.
Restocked 2026-10-22