How We Saved a Client $22K by Challenging Supplier Claims

When Smart Sourcing Saves the Day: How We Fought for Our Client’s Best Interest

When Smart Sourcing Saves the Day: How We Fought for Our Client's Best Interest

Nombre del experto en abastecimiento

nombre del cliente/empresa

industria

Costo ahorrado

Antecedentes del proyecto:

One of our valued VIP clients came to us with an urgent request just two days after placing a substantial order. They wanted to cancel certain product models that represented about 10% of their total order value (approximately $7,500 worth of goods).

After careful market analysis, they realized these particular models weren’t selling well and wanted to replace them with more marketable alternatives.

What seemed like a straightforward modification request quickly turned into a complex negotiation when our supplier claimed that materials had already been ordered and couldn’t be returned.

Las dificultades:

Our supplier immediately pushed back, presenting what appeared to be solid evidence:

A formal letter from their upstream material supplier claiming $1,875 in mold costs and $1,875 in special materials
Official company stamps and detailed cost breakdowns
Claims that the materials were “special” and couldn’t be used for other products
Insistence that cancellation was impossible without the client bearing these costs

At first glance, it seemed reasonable. After all, if materials were already ordered, what could we do? Many sourcing agents would have simply passed these costs along to the client or advised them to accept the original order.

Nuestra solución:

Instead of accepting the supplier’s claims at face value, we put on our detective hats and started asking the right questions:

We analyzed the timeline: How could 5 sets of molds be cleaned in just 2 days when each typically takes half a day? The math didn’t add up.

We questioned the materials: The supplier claimed 1,100 lbs of “special materials” for products that were mostly ABS plastic – standard materials that can definitely be used across multiple products. Plus, the small plastic components in the cancelled models wouldn’t require nearly that much material.

We challenged the logic: If our supplier typically delays shipments for weeks citing material shortages, how did materials arrive so quickly this time?

Armed with these observations, we directly confronted our supplier: “This doesn’t add up, and here’s why…” We laid out our analysis point by point, demonstrating that the claimed costs were either impossible or fabricated.

El resultado:

Within 24 hours of our client’s initial cancellation request, we had completely resolved the situation. The supplier’s business manager sent an email the next morning confirming successful cancellation of the unwanted models with zero additional costs.

Our client was able to replace those slow-moving products with bestsellers, turning a potential $7,500 loss into approximately $22,500 in sales potential (given the typical 3x markup in their market).

Timeline: Problem identified → Investigation completed → Resolution achieved in just 24 hours.

At Asian Sourcing Group, we don’t just process orders; we protect our clients’ interests every step of the way.

Reseña de nuestro cliente:

“I was prepared to eat the cost of those materials because it seemed legitimate – official letters, company stamps, the works. But Asian Sourcing Group didn’t just accept it. They dug deeper, asked the hard questions, and saved us not just the immediate costs, but helped us avoid tying up inventory in products that wouldn’t sell. That’s the difference between a good sourcing agent and a great partner. They think like business owners, not just order-takers.”