News · Partnership
Distribution franchise — how does sourcing work?
Discount tiers, territory protection and how Asia Energy ships straight to your end customer.
News · Partnership
Discount tiers, territory protection and how Asia Energy ships straight to your end customer.
Not everyone wants to open a factory. Many people simply need to source at origin and resell. That is where a solar distribution franchise comes in. This article covers how it works in practice and what to ask before signing.
An ordinary dealer buys outright: takes stock into a warehouse, sells it, carries the inventory risk. A distribution franchise normally adds three things — a discount tier based on volume, sales support, and territory protection. Those three are the real value, not the purchase price on its own.
How the discount is calculated. Discounts usually run in volume tiers rather than one fixed figure. Ask specifically: what the first tier requires, whether it is counted monthly or quarterly, and whether missing a tier drops you immediately or there is a grace period. The site currently states discounts of up to 32% and a start from 20 panels — illustrative numbers that need confirmation from Asia Energy before they go into a contract.
Whether goods ship direct to the customer or to your warehouse. If the supplier ships straight to the end customer you need no warehouse and tie up no capital in stock — this is what makes the model suit online sellers. But settle who invoices the end customer, and who deals with goods damaged in transit.
What conditions come with territory protection. Protection almost always comes with a volume commitment. Ask: if you miss the volume, do you lose protection immediately or is there a warning first, and during the protected period will the supplier sell directly to customers inside that territory.
That last one is often underestimated. A customer who bought through you calls you first when something goes wrong, not the factory. Settle at the outset how the warranty process runs and how long it takes.
At minimum: a business licence so you can issue invoices, a sales channel that already has customers, and enough technical grounding to advise on sizing — the first three steps in the package table on the home page cover most household customers. No warehouse is needed if the supplier ships direct, but you do need working capital for orders where the customer pays only a deposit.
Asia Energy surveys your roof free of charge and returns a plan with estimated output, all-in cost and payback time.
Asia Energy
No volume commitment, no deposit. Thirty seconds to fill in and an Asia Energy engineer will call you back.
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