Buyer wants exclusivity

[Cabooties]

So my best wholesale customer wants to be the only one to sell Cabooties in their whole country. That's more than I am willing to commit to, but she is awesome and I want to do what I can to help her business. I have some idea on how to compromise with her, but I'm curious: what would you do in this situation?

[ShopIdeable]

I have an awesome wholesaler that I dearly love and appreciate...she requested exclusivity and I had to tell her that I am not offering exclusivity on my products. I just couldn't see offering that. But, she is still purchasing from me and I still dearly love and appreciate her!

[rocksandsalt]

We offer exclusivity by neighborhood, and have, in the past, offered exclusive fabrics for a store. Maybe you could do that?

[UniqueArtPendants]

No way I would do that.
Here's why - Years ago I had a boutique who wanted exclusivity. They were good buyers and I wanted to make them happy but they wanted to be the only shop in Minnesota that could sell my items. I thought about it and then told them no, I don't offer exclusivity.
Two weeks after they had asked for exclusivity one of the USA's top modern art museums, The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, began to buy from me for their gift shop. The items sold so well at the Walker Shop they started to invite me to participate in different events at the museum and sell my items during those events. The exposure I got from the Walker lead to magazine features, tons of boutique orders, etc. and my business really took off.
If I would have agreed to the exclusivity with that one boutique I would have never been able to sell to the Walker.
The boutique continued to order from me even though I denied exclusivity.

IMO, here's what you need to remember -
Obviously your items are good sellers for that customer. They would be shooting themselves in the foot if they stop doing business with you if you don't offer exclusivity to them.
You could offer custom colors or something like that as an alternative if they insist.

[artzfolk]

You can tell them this. If they want exclusivity for a certain product then they need to purchase at least ( whatever said amount a year ) from you. Make a contract and then they can have the exclusivity for their zip code and if you want to add two other zip codes close by in their area. I have found over the years that for the most part it is just something they want and it goes away on it's own....... while they still purchase items the idea of " I want it only me...me...me " usually disappears when surrounding companies find something similar or a knock of said item and they give up the idea.

[Former_Member]

I wouldn't do exclusivity on my products, but I would TOTALLY do exclusivity on Private Label. If someone wants a certain scent combination to be theirs alone, that's no problem. Otherwise, nope.

[MaggieJJewelry]

What country? I have never sold wholesale outside the US, so I am not sure what the customs are. Within the US, it is customary to have exclusivity within a certain mile radius, or county. It is mutually beneficial, you don't want your work competing against itself down the street.

[Former_Member]

I have a wholesale customer in Japan who has asked for exclusivity and I have agreed to that for her since she has to submit my formulas for approval and import my products. She has also been proactive in gifting my products to beauty editors who have published them in their magazines (December Elle Japan and Mme Figaro, for example). I understand that she wants to be the sole retailer and if my products sell well, both of us benefit. She's certainly doing her part to make that happen!

However, I would not consider exclusivity here in LA or within the USA.

[Former_Member]

I am with artzfolks, I tell them about a contract base on zip code and the amount they will have to purchase every month to stay exclusive. Then they always tell me okay let me think about it.