How can a seller send goods to his new customer in a distant state in Nigeria without any party being hurt and the 'element of trust' eliminated? What are the best means of delivery and payment? (Both parties met online ) I'll appreciate nice contributions. Thanks.

I'm actually trying to find out what documents will be involved and presented to the bank to claim payments.

i dont think this is purely a bank matter.

in other countries, they use Escrow Services.

the closest i've come to what you described here in Nigeria is kasuwa.com, who do Cash On Delivery, but they'd have to use their own agents/workers to deliver the goods so they can collect the payments, unlike you who might be looking at sending it through courier.

ur best bet still remains an Escrow Service.

yamakuza: i dont think this is a bank matter.

in other countries, they use Escrow Services.

the closest i've come to what you described here in Nigeria is kasuwa.com, who do Cash On Delivery, but they'd have to use their own agents/workers to deliver the goods so they can collect the payments, unlike you who might be looking at sending it through courier.

ur best bet still remains an Escrow Service.

Thanks. I always appreciate your contributions. I'll take a look at the kasuwa.com service.

Speaking of the escrow service, are there companies offer the service in Nigeria at the moment?

mbatuku2:

Thanks. I always appreciate your contributions. I'll take a look at the kasuwa.com service.

Speaking of the escrow service, are there companies offer the service in Nigeria at the moment?

these Nairalanders might be able to create a custom solution for you/us :

https://www.nairaland.com/878593/escrow-service-needed#10262662
https://www.nairaland.com/1005336/eyowo-vs-voguepay/1#11661053

you can do further research on this:

https://simplepay4u.com/howspescrow.php

Ok. I'll read through.

www.nairaland.com/1013193/pre-order-car-0-deposit-very

You can use letter of credit with the bank bn the intermediary. You can check the above link to know more about letter of credit.

oatlala: www.nairaland.com/1013193/pre-order-car-0-deposit-very

You can use letter of credit with the bank bn the intermediary. You can check the above link to know more about letter of credit.

thats for int'l transactions, no?

anything similar for transactions within Nigeria, as OP wants?

^
Very correct. Letter of credit guarantees good and safe transactions in international trade. Something like that if extended to local trade transactions within Nigeria will also be good because our naija people really dey bad. Na mistake to trust for business here o.

mbatuku2: ^
Very correct. Letter of credit guarantees good and safe transactions in international trade. Something like that if extended to local trade transactions within Nigeria will also be good because our naija people really dey bad. Na mistake to trust for business here o.

how far have you gone? is it foodstuff you want to buy?

yamakuza:

how far have you gone? is it foodstuff you want to buy?

Yeah. I might consider travelling physically to collect the items. I'm still making my feasibility studies at the moment to see profit margin.

mbatuku2:

Yeah. I might consider travelling physically to collect the items. I'm still making my feasibility studies at the moment to see profit margin.

eh yah ...

not everyone can travel like you plan to na? lets try and come up with a solution.

the greatest problems i see for now are volume, margin and risk.

she can only afford to deal small volume with the capital she has, you might need to buy large volume to make reasonable profit.

even if we solve the money exchange problem, theres still the transit problem thats out of your control. goods missing in transit and all ...




left to me, this is what i see:

1. she needs key distributors in each state/zone she wants to cover. they will do large volume, say N200k
2. those buying small, say N20k will pick up from the key distributor(s) to streamline logistics
3. she ships to the key distributor(s) every night/week
4. the key distributor pays her (50% to 100%) upfront (no escrow)
5. the retailers/secondary distributors pre-order and pay the key distributor(s) with escrow
6. the key distributor gets a markup, so you need to compare market prices to see if/how feasible
7. should the goods get missing in transit, key distributor looses 50% and she 50% while retailers get full refunds (or 30,30,40)

[s]
once we iron out the business process, we can then setup a storefront on facebook or where people can order from (and pay with their debit cards).
[/s]

Thats basically where the problem lies. Her limited funds and the need for her distributors to buy in large quantities to ensure a good profit margin. From the little market analysis I did in markets in my neighbourhood here in Lagos, her prices are like half of what is being sold. Which means that goods worth of 20k will cost about 35k or so. I'm to find out the cost of transport, though I have the feeling it will take close to 15k, making all the profit margin to disappear. So it might be a problem dealing in small quantities. Have you done any findings on how much people around you are willing to buy for a small sack?(I presume you live in Nigeria)

Thinking of delving into agro produce very soon and this thread seems to be exactly what I need. Let's see how it goes.




Frawzey.

mbatuku2: Thats basically where the problem lies. Her limited funds and the need for her distributors to buy in large quantities to ensure a good profit margin.

was i able to solve this above?

lets imagine she has 30k capital (she mentioned N20k line of credit earlier). if we go by the 30/30/40 formula, you will have to send her N70k and expect N100k worth of goods. 30k from that 70k will be from your pocket while 40k will be from/guaranteed by 5 to 10 retailers who have paid in escrow. in the event of a loss, u both loose 30k of your 30k each while the retailers loose 4k/10k (10 ppl) to 8k/20k (5 ppl) max each.

From the little market analysis I did in markets in my neighbourhood here in Lagos, her prices are like half of what is being sold. Which means that goods worth of 20k will cost about 35k or so. I'm to find out the cost of transport, though I have the feeling it will take close to 15k, making all the profit margin to disappear. So it might be a problem dealing in small quantities.

u mean 20k produce will resell for N35k, giving N15k profit? if so, 5 retailers (x 20k = 100k above) can pool 5k each (25k total) for transportation.

Have you done any findings on how much people around you are willing to buy for a small sack?(I presume you live in Nigeria)

i do, but selling groceries might not exactly be my thing ....

yamakuza:

i do, but selling groceries might not exactly be my thing ....

Same thing myself. I usually do not like dealing with perishables. But then again i'm nothing but a full time merchant, if I get serious customers that need these things badly and ready to pay nicely, never say never.

mbatuku2:

Same thing myself. I usually do not like dealing with perishables. But then again i'm nothing but a full time merchant, if I get serious customers that need these things badly and ready to pay nicely, never say never.

you are in touch with her, right?

like how many people from the other thread does she say are interested?

i think about 5 people based in lagos will be enough to start something. (as a middleman, you might not need to retail).

yamakuza:

you are in touch with her, right?

like how many people from the other thread does she say are interested?

i think about 5 people based in lagos will be enough to start something. (as a middleman, you might not need to retail).

I haven't actually made any contacts with her. It's just that the business isn't in my agenda at the moment. But I do have her contacts just in case. There are other business interests I'm attending to for now.

It would have been nice to know all the guys interested and work out something like you pointed out. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of those guys.

mbatuku2:

I haven't actually made any contacts with her. It's just that the business isn't in my agenda at the moment. But I do have her contacts just in case. There are other business interests I'm attending to for now.

It would have been nice to know all the guys interested and work out something like you pointed out. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of those guys.

ok then. guess we'll continue when things change.