What is required of prospective resellers?
We require all our resellers to purchase an evaluation unit through the website in order to become more familiar with our offering and be in a better position to market our PCs. After that, the minimum wholesale order is 25 units at a time. The price difference for the evaluation order (or for additional samples) will be returned to you when you place your first wholesale order.
What is the process of becoming a reseller?
We’d like to get a sense of how you plan to position our products and in which regions. Also, what paths to market do you plan to take — retail, web, tradeshows, etc. Above all, we’d like to know what other hardware or technology products you’ve marketed before, and how our systems complement that experience or your existing product portfolio. After that initial email, the next step is always an order as it demonstrates commitment and begins the sales process. We have a standard legal agreement that we can supply but only following an order.
We have a large opportunity – how can we obtain a free sample?
Our products come with a 90 day return policy so if you purchase a sample and the opportunity does not work out or you don’t love the system you can return it for a full refund including the original cost of shipping it to you. We do not provide free samples as our experience is that people do not value products as much if they have not paid for them. We realise that our products are unique and that there is a risk to bringing them into a market which is why we offer the return policy.
We’re going to put a lot of effort into marketing Aleutia PCs and want to make sure it’s not wasted – can we have an exclusive?
We’ve signed exclusives in the past only to have a partner fail to sell any units, losing a sales region for us. Now we do not offer general exclusives for the first 6 months. If sales are strong after 6 months, we are willing to provide an exclusive agreement and further strengthen our partner’s market position. Alternately, a reseller can agree to quarterly sales targets that guarantee exclusivity from the beginning. Failure to meet the targets results in a loss of exclusivity. A typical target for a mid-sized country would be 150 units per quarter.
How will you benefit from being an accredited reseller?
We will provide technical and marketing support to your sales efforts. We’re happy to attend conference calls with your clients, and lend credibility to your relationship with us. We can produce co-branded datasheets and other marketing materials.
Lastly, we will drive business your way by listing you on our website and by pushing opportunities we come across in your market to you. We always aim to have business handled through our channel partners, as our customers, particularly in emerging economies, value that local presence and relationship.
Who provides technical support and warranty fulfilment?
All our products come with a 3 Year Return to Base Warranty so failed units can be sent back to London for repair. The customer or partner shoulders the cost of sending them back while Aleutia returns them. However, to avoid delays, resellers are expected to keep extra stock in their region. This also enables partners to charge for more immediate warranty services.
