Wholesale & distribution debt recovery

Large volume orders, trade credit, and seasonal payment cycles. We recover outstanding trade receivables from distributors and retailers worldwide.

PIERRE, Finance manager, Marseille. Offered Net 30. Received Net whenever. An Italian collector agrees new terms. In writing. Net 30 means 30 again.

Wholesale operates on a principle that sounds reasonable until you think about it carefully: we'll send you a large quantity of goods, and you can pay us later. The entire industry is built on trade credit — the commercial equivalent of lending money to someone you met at a trade show, shaking hands, and trusting that the cheque will arrive in 30 days. For the most part, it works. For a very expensive minority of cases, it doesn't.

The wholesale debt scenario is particularly frustrating because it involves goods that are, by the time you're chasing payment, probably already sold. A French wine distributor ships €56,000 of product to a UK importer on Net-30 terms. By day 60, the importer has sold through 80% of the stock at a healthy markup. The money exists. It's sitting in the importer's bank account, having been generated by your product. The importer offers a 40% settlement — not because they can't pay, but because they've calculated that you'll accept a loss rather than pursue the full amount across an international border.