Am I Being A Jerk? Or Just Shrewd?

by Ryan D Banned
10 replies
Here's the deal. I have an excellent source for products (Hard Goods) for one of my niches.. It's a niche market and the products are imported in China. The product I sell is a higher quality one, but the product also has some cheaper versions that are sold through mass-merchants. People that I don't really consider my competition.

Recently the factory has reached out to other sites like mine in the space, they ARE my competitors. That's ok by me because these guys produce stuff at such a volume that I can't fill their factory time...nor is the product design mine in the first place. It's their specs. No problem there.

The struggle that I'm having is that when I first started doing this, I was given some references to unrelated businesses this factory had worked with. This helped establish some trust, but still....this reference couldn't tell me anything about the product I was buying. I saw a sample, but you never know if they'll use cheaper materials than what is advertised.

Anyways, long story short, I got an email from one of my competitors asking me questions about the Factory, sales guy we deal with, AND the product itself. At first, I was pissed with the factory for using my name. Later, I realized that I told him he could use me as a reference if one requested one, but I assumed he meant for unrelated companies! My bad.

The reason I don't want to answer the emails is this. When I started buying from this dude, I was taking a risk. Both on him and the products that he'd deliver. I kinda feel like by giving this guy a pass on the risk aspect of the deal. He'll get the products, like em, and make more money on them. That builds his war chest to go up against me. If he doesn't get a reference from me, he'll be unsure and probably NOT want to pull the trigger on what would be a $40-50K gamble. (Entire container of products).

On the one hand, I'm sure he's a nice guy just looking for some information. On the other hand, I'm thinking "Screw him, we're competitors!" And this is NOT like the IM niche where your competitors work together. It's me or him...there are no joint ventures.

Thoughts?
#jerk #shrewd
  • Profile picture of the author LondonPaladin
    Don't feel obligated to help this guy. He is your competitor, so it makes sense to protect your investment. It's up to you whether you say the product sucks or just don't reply, but this is a business decision not a moral one.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      If you want to take the diplomatic route, you could explain pretty much what you did here.

      You're willing to provide references outside of your own markets, but you aren't comfortable sharing your experience with a direct competitor. Then openly cc: your source.

      That way, you keep your advantage. You get to subtly instruct your source that you didn't just fall off the turnip truck. And you avoid being a jerk by ignoring the guy and, in essence, lying to your contact about being willing to supply references.
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      • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        If you want to take the diplomatic route, you could explain pretty much what you did here.

        You're willing to provide references outside of your own markets, but you aren't comfortable sharing your experience with a direct competitor. Then openly cc: your source.

        That way, you keep your advantage. You get to subtly instruct your source that you didn't just fall off the turnip truck. And you avoid being a jerk by ignoring the guy and, in essence, lying to your contact about being willing to supply references.
        Excellent reasoning John!

        I was just thinking along those lines myself. Thanks for typing my post for me!:p

        Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author sarafina
    The damage has already been done.

    If you say "no i hate him his product sucks", the competitor is unlikely to believe you as people generally don't do continued business if they aren't happy. I don't think this will deter him if he has an ounce of common sense. The fact that the supplier gave your name as a glowing reference already indicates you're satisfied with products.

    If you say "i love the products", the competitor will definitely pull the trigger.

    Just don't reply. He won't have an indication and will need to continue to do his due diligence.
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  • Profile picture of the author shabit87
    Let it go...like someones already mentioned, damaged had been done...but not too much. Play it safe and forget about "helping" your friend, oops, I mean competitor any further. :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Mary Green
    There is always risk in business, he wants to do business, it's his risk to take. It's not your job to make his life (ie: risk) easier. On the other hand there's that whole karma thing or being a good christian. If that is where the problem lies, this guy could in effect steal your success, so helping him is screwing you. I would advise to not respond at all. Because if you do respond that you don't want to discuss details with a direct competitor that makes it sound like you don't want to give him the good news because he could steal your business.

    If he keeps mailing, I would just respond that you aren't comfortable discussing such information, and good luck with your endeavors.

    I hope you figure it out. Business seems to put ethics on the line often, but you have to protect yourself and your family.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

      Excellent reasoning John!

      I was just thinking along those lines myself. Thanks for typing my post for me!:p

      Terra
      You're welcome - and wait 'til you get the bill...

      Originally Posted by Mary Green View Post

      There is always risk in business, he wants to do business, it's his risk to take. It's not your job to make his life (ie: risk) easier. On the other hand there's that whole karma thing or being a good christian. If that is where the problem lies, this guy could in effect steal your success, so helping him is screwing you. I would advise to not respond at all. Because if you do respond that you don't want to discuss details with a direct competitor that makes it sound like you don't want to give him the good news because he could steal your business.

      If he keeps mailing, I would just respond that you aren't comfortable discussing such information, and good luck with your endeavors.

      I hope you figure it out. Business seems to put ethics on the line often, but you have to protect yourself and your family.
      Not sharing information with direct competitors means exactly that - whether it's good news or bad, I don't want to help competitors steal my business. Most offline businesses will understand this and accept it.

      While simply blowing the guy off after agreeing to provide references could hurt him with his supplier. Maybe not overtly, but maybe his defect rate goes up or his shipments start getting delayed or incomplete. Lots of passive aggressive ways for a vendor to get back at him while still accepting his trade.

      Using the polite reply, even if he doesn't go into depth about his reasoning, and cc: the vendor lets the vendor know that he's still willing to provide references, just not to direct competitors.

      You'll notice Ryan mentioned that the references he got were from people outside his market. And that's as it should be.
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      • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        You're welcome - and wait 'til you get the bill...
        Umm, I have some old bonds I've been meaning to toss out...

        Terra
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

          Umm, I have some old bonds I've been meaning to toss out...

          Terra
          That'll work. Or if you have any old Bear-Sterns stock laying around...
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    I had a friend who had an incrdible source for a tourist type hard good from deep in Mexico. He would never have it shipped for fear his competitors would find the source. When he did go for more inventory he would make sure no one was following him down or back. There were a number of times people did try. His markup was fantastic but it was still a good buy here in the U.S. His competitors regularly asked or tried to trick him for his source. When he first got the source he had traveled in mexico for many weeks seraching for a good supplier and finally found a village that could do it. The village prospered and loved him. He made a lot of money for years until he sold the business. He made a lot of money selling the business. It included a route of stores here tha he wholesaled to and some inventory but the biggest thing the buyer wanted was the source.

    I would not tell the competitor anything. They apparently already know the source but they have no way of knowing if you use them still, exclusively, or anything else. That is not being mean or a jerk it is just being a shrewd business person.
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