I have worked for an electronics parts place that sells components and related tools, etc. on a wholesale and retail basis. When I went to work there in 1995 we had a pretty large number of 30 day accounts, over 1000 of them. Most were not all that big, TV shops and small repair centers that bought small amounts at a time. Made sense to have an account where one bill could be paid instead of two or three a day. As far as I know, there were a few delinquent accounts but hardly ever did we get stiffed from non payment. And then it was because someone died or went bankrupt. That has changed over the years. Now we still have those accounts, and will entertain opening new ones. However, the vetting process has changed. Good ole boy tactics have just about gone away. The worst offenders have been old friends of the owner.
Also, more and more customers are using credit cards. Their reasons are varied, but one is the bookkeeping is evidently easier, as indicated by one of the posts here. Many purchases but one bill to pay a month that is easier to track, etc.
20 years ago we had many TV shops here that all together did a lot of business with us. Now there are only two that trade with us, the rest are gone. No rocket science here, TV's aren't repaired much any more. My point is that business and cash flow has changed a lot. Money is too easy to acquire, and lose.
The cash up front references hit home here with us. We also have an area in the back room full of ordered, but never picked up items. It hasn't been too much of a problem yet, but it's a source of irritation. I now size up the situation before ordering a non stocked item. In all likelyhood we will soon have to adopt the same pay in advance policy before ordering. It's funny that about 20% of our unclaimed items back there were paid for up front, and still not picked up. Don't know what's up with that. One person, when finally contacted with a new phone number, said he simply forgot about it, but wondered why we hadn't called him earlier. I don't know about everyone else, but if I paid for something and was waiting for it I would be checking up on it myself.
I know this is kinda long, but it hit home on several levels.
One last thing about freight damages. We ship a lot. We use UPS for the most part, because we are on a "route" and it's much easier. With that said, we always over insure stuff just a bit. The reasons are obvious to those who use them and the other competitors for shipping. We have a camera in the back room to take photos of incoming packages that appear damaged or mishandled. This has been very helpful in recent years. The drivers know us, and often point out damage that might be missed now.
Bottom line: Get used to it. It ain't gonna get better soon.
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Today's Featured Article - Harvestin Hay: The Early Years (Part 2) - by Pat Browning. The summer of 1950 was the start of a new era in farming for our family. I was thirteen, and Kathy (my oldest sister) was seven. At this age, I believed tractor farming was the only way, hot stuff -- and given a chance I probably would have used the tractor, Dad's first, a 1936 Model "A" John Deere, to go bring in the cows! And I think Dad was ready for some automation too. And so it was that we acquired a good, used J. I. Case, wire tie hay baler. In addition to a person to drive th
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