mycatisadog
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- Jan 12, 2014
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Greetings - I am a new member and have a question concerning business ethics. I am trying to start an online and mail order business.
A longtime friend of mine owns a business. His business produces and packages his own brand name house cleaning products and sells them wholesale to big retail stores. Think of products like Windex, Lysol, or Ajax, stuff like that. His business also wholesales the individual chemicals that they use to make their products. Think of pure chemicals like ammonia, alcohol, etc. He sells these chemicals in bulk to whoever will buy them. There is no branding to these products other than their chemical names. He buys them direct from a chemical company.
I told him about an idea I had to buy certain chemicals from him in order to make a pool cleaning product to sell online and via mail. He said it sounded like a good idea, so I started figuring out the logistics involved. I devised some packaging options, dosing procedures, and how I would deliver the product to my customers.
I started working on the website recently and asked him for some advice. He shot down all of my ideas, which is fine.
Where my question comes in is he is now trying to take charge of packaging and dosing. He says his business will create the packaging and handle the mailing of it to the customer. I take the orders, and he says he will fill them. I tell him that the logistical part of the business should be my decision, and that I will consider every suggestion he gives me. I tell him I need price breakdowns in order to make a decision, but he is being stubborn and insisting that I go with his ideas because it would be the easiest way for me to do the business. He also says I should place it under one of his company names, as a parent company, so that I can use it as a selling point. He says that I will pay a license fee per sale for this privelege.
We don't have a contract. I am ready to call it quits and forget about the whole thing because I consider he is overatepping, and trying to take over the product and receive the majority of the profits. I am confused because I consider I can buy these chemicals basically anywhere, and don't really need him at all. Yet, he is being very controlling, and this rubs me the wrong way. Am I being unreasonable and greedy? If I decide to continue, do I have an obligation to go along with his ideas because I am buying the raw generic (no brand) chemicals from him? In this instance, is anyone acting inappropriately?
I hope I gave enough information, and I appreciate any feedback I get about this. I need to know which one of us is being unreasonable, because I am feeling bad about this whole thing, like I'm blinded by my own greed. Thanks for reading.
A longtime friend of mine owns a business. His business produces and packages his own brand name house cleaning products and sells them wholesale to big retail stores. Think of products like Windex, Lysol, or Ajax, stuff like that. His business also wholesales the individual chemicals that they use to make their products. Think of pure chemicals like ammonia, alcohol, etc. He sells these chemicals in bulk to whoever will buy them. There is no branding to these products other than their chemical names. He buys them direct from a chemical company.
I told him about an idea I had to buy certain chemicals from him in order to make a pool cleaning product to sell online and via mail. He said it sounded like a good idea, so I started figuring out the logistics involved. I devised some packaging options, dosing procedures, and how I would deliver the product to my customers.
I started working on the website recently and asked him for some advice. He shot down all of my ideas, which is fine.
Where my question comes in is he is now trying to take charge of packaging and dosing. He says his business will create the packaging and handle the mailing of it to the customer. I take the orders, and he says he will fill them. I tell him that the logistical part of the business should be my decision, and that I will consider every suggestion he gives me. I tell him I need price breakdowns in order to make a decision, but he is being stubborn and insisting that I go with his ideas because it would be the easiest way for me to do the business. He also says I should place it under one of his company names, as a parent company, so that I can use it as a selling point. He says that I will pay a license fee per sale for this privelege.
We don't have a contract. I am ready to call it quits and forget about the whole thing because I consider he is overatepping, and trying to take over the product and receive the majority of the profits. I am confused because I consider I can buy these chemicals basically anywhere, and don't really need him at all. Yet, he is being very controlling, and this rubs me the wrong way. Am I being unreasonable and greedy? If I decide to continue, do I have an obligation to go along with his ideas because I am buying the raw generic (no brand) chemicals from him? In this instance, is anyone acting inappropriately?
I hope I gave enough information, and I appreciate any feedback I get about this. I need to know which one of us is being unreasonable, because I am feeling bad about this whole thing, like I'm blinded by my own greed. Thanks for reading.
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