john

My 7-figure brand got burned by our supplier. $8M in revenue—gone. I had to circle back to this tweet I made some time ago. If you're scaling an ecom brand, you need to read this. This mistake cost us millions. At the end of 2022, I launched a beauty brand called TravX. By 2024, we scaled to $8M in revenue, became the #1 best seller in Europe, and even secured the patent for our product. But we had one major problem. Our supplier. And that problem ended the brand. When you scale hard, you assume your supplier wants you to win. Wrong. From the start, there were red flags. Our defect rate was 10-15%, even though we hired V-Trust to inspect everything. Customers kept complaining that the product didn’t work. Our supplier's response? "Customers just don’t understand how to use it. Make more tutorials." Not "we’ll fix the product." Not "we’ll improve QC." Just excuses. It got worse. - Late lead times - Fake product improvements - Refusing to refund defective units - Not honoring agreements. Then, in mid-2024, they made us an offer: "Let us handle your entire supply chain. Faster lead times. Cheaper rates. We’ll help you scale bigger." Sounded great. But the moment they got control, everything fell apart. They started "losing" shipments in their own warehouse. Orders went out late. Communication became nonexistent. And then, the final straw: a massive hole in our PnL. By December 2024, I checked our numbers and saw how much money we had lost. Chargebacks. Refunds. Payment processor bans. All because of our supplier. I told them: "We’re not paying the outstanding balance ($317K) until we settle the damages you caused." They refused. And instead of negotiating, they tried: - Spreading fake stories about us on Instagram - Blackmailing us with fake lawsuits - Using pressure tactics to force payment They also illegally exported our customer database from Shopify and emailed a fake message to our customers, breaking European privacy laws. At this point, they weren’t just a bad supplier—they were committing fraud. And I quickly realized this was a Chinese business move—spread false info to make you panic and pay ASAP. But my audience isn’t stupid. Nobody believed them. And then I remembered—I had recorded our entire call. The second they realized I had proof of their lies, everything changed. I gave them a final offer: "I’ll pay you $148K instead of $317K. We both move on." Let’s be real—even $148K was too much to pay for the damage they caused us. But I wasn’t trying to fight. I wanted to move on. They agreed. Contract signed, stamped, done. I sent the payment. Then, the biggest betrayal. Two weeks later, they messaged: "We are still checking on the payment." I knew immediately. They were stalling again. Then the real reason came out. "Your payment was not authorized. You still owe us the remaining balance." After signing the contract, they broke their word and tried to force us to pay the full amount. At that moment, I knew. This was over. I left the group chat and cut ties forever. Business is war. Especially if both parties don’t trust or respect each other anymore. Some people let their suppliers walk all over them and go bankrupt. I didn’t. Key takeaways: - Never fully trust your supplier - Never ignore red flags just because you’re making money 2025 is our comeback year. New brand. New supplier. No second chances. I’ll be documenting everything along the way. If you're in ecom, learn from this. Don't let your supplier kill your business.