Suppliers receive no trade discount disputing, Home Depot receives …?

Happy Summer Vendorville,

There’s no better way to kick off summer than disputing deductions, am I right? 🥴

As of May 16th, Home Depot Suppliers cannot dispute trade discounts.

What’s a trade discount?

A trade discount is an amount that a supplier reduces a product's market price when selling to a retailer. This allows the retailer to sell the product at market price but with better margins than what they might regularly pay.

These discounts are based on percentages that a supplier and merchant agree upon when the agreement is created, usually at the beginning of the partnership or at a key point each year.

Is it a fair trade?

This might come as a surprise to suppliers however, Home Depot does have other limitations on what suppliers can dispute. For instance, suppliers are unable to dispute any deduction under $25.

The compounding revenue loss from the discontinuation of trade discount disputes leaves suppliers with fewer actionable disputes. If you sell to Home Depot, you may want to consider the impact this update will have on your larger business.

Track your trade discounts. Even though suppliers can no longer dispute trade discounts, it may be advantageous to track whether your negotiated discounts work for your business and not against it. Understanding if you are over-paying or under-utilizing these discounts could be helpful information when renegotiating your supplier agreement.

Tackle actionable disputes. There are now only 2 disputable categories for Home Depot chargebacks: shortages and pricing discrepancies.

Shortages are commonly the type of deduction that trip up most suppliers. This is when the supplier is charged for the product that the supplier did not receive.
Pricing discrepancy chargebacks are when the supplier invoiced amount exceeds what Home Depot thinks the product should cost.

Refocus your efforts on other retailers. Home Depot may have more restrictions on which deductions a supplier can dispute, however, that’s not necessarily the case for other retailers. Consider zooming out and looking at all the cash flow leakages that occur at other retailers. For example, Walmart and Target allow you to dispute trade discounts and allowances. You can read more here about how to dispute allowance codes at Walmart.

Home Depot points suppliers to the Supplier Self-Service Portal in Supplier Hub. Any questions are to be directed to the “Contact Us” question on the left side of the Self-Service Portal.

P.S. SupplyPike can help you track visibility on Home Depot disputes – and dispute them.

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Rick’s Tips 💘

If you’ve been an avid reader of Vendorville so far, you'll appreciate seeing more of Rick on SupplyPike’s LinkedIn Page. If Rick had his own LinkedIn, he’d be considered a “Top Voice.” We asked him to disclose what kind of top voice, and he declined to comment. 🫥

"Did you know most overages are tied to shortages, especially at Walmart? You should bill for overages when there’s not a shortage attached. Otherwise, dispute them together! "

Let’s Circle Back 🌀

How it feels when you’re on a roll disputing retailer deductions.

Here’s an offer you can’t refuse. 🤌

Playing Pac-Man is nostalgic and apparently good for you. At least that’s what you can tell your boss when they walk past your desk.

An actual doctor professed her love for Ms. Pac-Man as a tool to promote learning, relieve stress, and promote mental health and wellbeing (she’s cited her sources, too).

So take 10 minutes to chomp those Pac-Dots or go for a walk, you’ve earned it.

Until next week,

❤️ Sincerely, Your Friends in Vendorville

SupplierWiki

No Deal: Home Depot Cuts Trade Discount Disputing