Lost a big job last week

[mike802]

Vu: 

I probably just not completely understand this liability issue, but I do need to invent something that will make buying fabrics from me more attractive then buy it somewhere else.

If you come up with something please let the rest of us in on it.  The trouble with using COM is we really do not know what the customer has.  Products usually sell for less money for a good reason. It could be someone decided to sell wholesale to the public, or they are peddling seconds.  The possibility that a second my not be noticed until it falls apart within a short amount of time is to great not to warn our customers.  I view it as protecting my customer from a costly mistake, and also protecting my reputation.  My profit is based on my labor, so fabric sale's are an extra bonus. 

A very important aspect to consider is if a customer supplies their own fabric and the shop owner assumes responsibility for the fabric and he, or she makes a mistake the shop owner must buy more fabric, if it is available at all at full cost.  If the shop owner supplies the fabric and makes a mistake that fabric can be replaced at wholesale.  The general public views us as professionals and pro's never mess up right?  If its COM the customer knows you messed up, even if we pay for more fabric.  If its shop supplied fabric the customer never knows about the screw up and we can keep our professional image.  That is worth paying for, but buying your customers fabric for them is not a sound business plan.