Re: Late payment from advertiser

From: Adam Boettiger <boettiger_at_pobox.com>
Date: Mon 21 Aug 2006 17:56:49 -0500

Jacky wrote:
> ... is 1 month+ late in making a payment due us, according
> to the terms on their web site. They haven't replied to any emails,
> either, including ones from our attorney. We've had late paying
> advertisers before, but we've never been forced to take legal action,
> but it looks like we are heading in that direction very, very quickly.

Jacky

Here are some suggestions...

1. 30 days late is not a candidate for legal action.

Most collection agencies won't consider something ready to be assigned until
it reaches 90 days. Your taking legal action on a 30 day late invoice will
send the message that you have a cash flow problem, which may not be the
message that you want to project.

2. In the past ten years in the interactive advertising space Net 30 has
been the norm for payment terms; however most agencies (and many
advertisers), despite agreeing to Net 30 terms on the IO will float your
money up to 90 days or more.

While unfortunate, this is the reality of doing business with agencies and
larger advertisers. What you need to understand especially when dealing with
agencies is that they will not issue you payment until they are paid by
their client. This is because they are not in the business of being a bank
and loaning clients money - that would be foolish on their part and a good
way to go out of business fast.

3. If you need the money that badly, then I would suggest moving to a
pre-payment model rather than giving terms to buyers. That way collections
won't be an issue.

However this will limit who is willing to do business with you. Bottom line
is that you just want to get paid and the way to do it is to require
prepayment from all first-time advertisers and on second and subsequent
purchases, ease into payment terms with them.

Hope this helps. Getting paid is a challenge that everyone faces.
Naming a vendor as being just 30 days late in a public forum is not the best
way to get them to pay you what they owe you.

/AB
--
Adam Boettiger - Portland, Oregon
(503) 382-9548 phone | (928) 438-7999 fax | adam_at_adamboettiger.com |
AdamJBoettiger AIM | http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamboettiger

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Received on Mon Aug 21 2006 - 17:56:49 CDT