
Originally Posted by
ImanCarrot
I get the same all the time.
I tell them in black and white what the costs are for 1, 5, 10, 100 and 1000.
Occassionaly I'll do a loss leader on one off prototype work, but never twice for the same customer- do NOT be fooled by crap like "If you can make this one part for like nothing we'll give you an order for a zillion next month.. if it works...", invariably they are the same people who say things like "oh, your cheque is in the post".
I check all customers for credit references, if ok then they get 30 days to pay, if not I'll want a post dated cheque or Bank guarantee, but I'm talking quite big lumps of cash here.
Making things is nice, but don't forget you're in this to make money, everything else is just trimmings.
GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING
Also, on your Terms and Conditions, if you're adding tooling costs then make sure that it's clear who ends up owning the tooling. It's also attractive to state that this is a "non- recurring" tooling cost (ie next time he orders the same parts you'll chop off the tooling costs).