Giving up percentage discount to control cost.

Once again, I'm giving up discount percentage points to retain some semblance of control over when and how much I'm shipped. 

I can get an extra 10% from both Scholastic and PenguinRandomHouse, but they are so bad about shipping that it drives me crazy.

I lose 10% with Ingram but I can control when and how the product arrives. The minimums are easily achievable.

I made a last couple of orders from PRH and they are arriving in bits and and pieces every day. Sabrina can file them, and it's probably good for her to do so as a learning experience. 

But it drives me crazy. It plays havoc with the cash flow.

I'm working Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays now. If I order from Ingrams I can make sure that all the books arrive on Monday and Tuesday. For one thing, it gives me something to do. Sabrina is already dealing with games and comics, so she has her part of the store to take care of.

This giving up on discounts with the goal of controlling costs isn't new. A long time ago, I gave up on buying sports cards directly from the manufacturers because they came in too large of minimum quantities and costs. By buying through the middle-man I could could buy exactly how much product I wanted--but I had to pay about 15% more. 

I don't think it's an accident that Pegasus Books survived the collapse of sports cards and most other shops didn't. (At the peak, 85% of our sales were cards!!)

I used that control over costs by using middlemen during the Beanie Baby, pogs, and first Pokemon surge, to my advantage. I never had to overspend and I could cut orders in a timely manner.

Recently, I chose to go back to Diamond Comics even though I lost about seven percentage points--for the same reasons. Again, it is all about control over costs and shipping.

This also gives me an advantage in book keeping. Instead of ordering from multiple manufacturers, I can order through a few distributors and keep track of what is happening. 

Believe me, I love higher discounts and I order product at lower discounts every chance I get.

But not when it means losing control over quantity and cost.