I’m lining up two new vendors and both want 500-unit MOQs; one offers Net 30, the other Net 45 but higher FOB — what’s been the smarter play when you’re building mixed pallets to a 3PL in Dallas to keep landed under $0.18/unit? Also curious if anyone’s had luck getting case-pack flexibility without bumping price.
Model Net 45 as financing: if your monthly cost of capital is about 1.5%, the extra 15 days is about 0.75% — so unless the FOB premium is under 0.75%, the Net 30 vendor keeps you closer to ‘under $0.18’ on mixed pallets to Dallas. For case-pack, I’ve gotten flexibility by locking a 90-day forecast/blanket PO and paying a small one-time repack to get 12/24 inners — pallets hate air — would they do that if you commit to 2 pallets per quarter?
I’ve gotten the Net 45/higher-FOB vendor to work by issuing a 500-unit blanket PO with three dated releases and requiring layer-multiple packs; they invoiced per release and trimmed FOB enough to keep landed at ~$0.17 into our Dallas 3PL… > pallets hate air — we spec 10-up layers with 12/24 inners, and they waived the case-pack bump when we committed to two pallets/quarter; will they do release-based invoicing for you?
Building on @allen49, model both as delivered-to-3PL per unit using each vendor’s master-carton L×W×H, tie/high, and pallet pattern — pallet Tetris usually moves the needle more than the FOB line. With the pricier terms, I’ve traded a 90‑day forecast and scheduled drops for a 0.5–1% rebate or early‑pay discount, plus inner-qty flexibility as long as the outer stays full‑layer friendly. What are their carton dims and inner counts, and does your Dallas 3PL bill per pallet or per case?