Cash to grab a supplier deal before it disappears

The call comes on a Wednesday. Your supplier has a pallet of stock at a price you’ve never seen, a manufacturer is offering a big discount on a full container, or a competitor is closing and selling everything. The catch: you have to pay by Friday.

Some of the best money a business ever makes comes from deals like this. Some of the worst losses do too. The difference is a five-minute calculation.

How do you know if a deal is worth funding?

Work it out in dollars, not percentages:

1. The saving. What would this stock normally cost you? What does it cost now? The difference is your gross saving.
2. The time. How many weeks until you’ve sold most of it and been paid?
3. The funding cost. What will the cash cost, in total dollars, for that period? (A specialist can give you real numbers for your situation.)
4. The extras. Storage, freight, handling, insurance, and any discounting needed to clear the tail.

Net benefit = saving − funding cost − extras. If it’s clearly positive with conservative sell-through, it’s worth a serious look. If it only works if everything goes perfectly, it’s a pass.

Check	Good sign	Warning sign
Sell-through	Your regular lines, proven sellers	New or unproven product
Time to sell	Weeks	Many months
Storage	Room on site	Paying for extra space
Margin after saving	Comfortably higher	Barely better than usual
Supplier	Reliable, known	New, unverified, “cash only”

What about early-payment discounts?

Some suppliers offer a discount for paying early, such as within seven days instead of 30. That’s a deal too. Compare the dollars saved with the cost of funding the extra days. If a supplier regularly offers this, a business cash line lets you take every discount and repay when your own customers pay. business.gov.au’s cash flow guidance also suggests negotiating better supplier terms, so ask what’s on offer. Our supplier terms guide covers that conversation.

Deal on the table with a deadline? Start the 60-second enquiry and tell us the amount and the date.

How do you get the cash quickly?

Speed is the whole point, so prepare:

• Get the offer in writing. Quantity, price, payment deadline and delivery date.
• Have bank statements ready. Recent business statements covering the full period.
• Know your sell-through plan. Where and how fast will it sell?
• Answer your phone. A quick call back can be the difference between same-day and next week.

Same-day funding is possible for smaller unsecured amounts. See quick business cash for what speeds things up.

A worked comparison

Illustrative only. Say a supplier offers 600 units you normally buy at $50 each for $38 each, if you take the lot and pay this week.

Item	Amount
Normal cost (600 × $50)	$30,000
Deal cost (600 × $38)	$22,800
Gross saving	$7,200
Funding cost for about three months (example figure)	$1,500
Extra storage and handling	$600
Net benefit	$5,100

Now stress-test it. If the stock takes six months to sell instead of three, the funding cost roughly doubles and storage grows. Does the deal still work? In this example it does, with room to spare. If your version only works under perfect conditions, walk away.

Using a cash line for regular deals

If deals come up often in your industry, such as end-of-season clearances, manufacturer promotions or auction lots, a standing business cash line means you can act on the day without a new application each time. Draw for the deal, repay as the stock sells, and the limit is ready for the next one.

When should you walk away?

• The supplier insists on unusual payment methods or won’t put anything in writing.
• You’d need to discount heavily to sell it.
• Funding repayments would start before you can sell much of it.
• It would push out stock you already know sells.

There’ll be another deal. There’s only one cash balance.

An illustrative example

Illustrative only. A Newcastle hardware store is offered a discontinued range of power tools at well below normal trade price, on condition it takes the full lot and pays within three days. The owner checks that the tools match lines he already sells, estimates three months to clear them, and confirms the saving comfortably exceeds the funding cost plus storage. A short-term unsecured loan is funded the next day.

Say yes to the right deals

Opportunities don’t wait for the bank’s credit committee. If you’ve got a deal on the table and the numbers stack up, tell us about it. The enquiry takes about a minute, there’s no credit check when you ask, and we keep your details with one team instead of spreading them across the market. A real person checks the numbers with you and calls straight back.

Please give us accurate details of the amount and the payment deadline. That’s what lets us move at deal speed.

Grab the deal →