I know i always clown around but this is a very serious matter so please if you not here to advise you better waka exit this thread, thank you.


I started my own little business as a graduate student, since i couldnt find a job to do part time. So i sell bags and other beauty accessories. A particular friend of mine which i met years back wanted to buy a particular travel handbag from me. At first she asked if she could get it and then pay me after 6months when she got money. Since i obviously was still a novice at the game i couldnt afford doing that and i told her i get her the bag for her in 6months when she had the money.
Months later after i got new stock she came back with another proposal that she would pay in 2months half and half because she really liked the bag. As a friend i eventually agreed and she even pleaded for a small discount since we are friends.
I only agreed to keep it and give her when she makes the first instalment. I started having problems when she gave excuses at the end of every month. This month it would be im behind on rent, next month it would my mother got sick and the next one it was her brother's school fees.
She didn't want to pay 1/2 the price but she kept insisting that i give her the bag and she would pay the next month. After 5months of all the wahala she eventually came to me with with 1/4 of the price and insisted that i gave her the bag and she would pay the rest next month.
I told her it wasnt the intial agreement but if she gave me the 1/4 i would definitely keep the bag for her and as soon as she make pays the other 3/4 she would definitely get the bag. Month end is here and the story has changed, she insisted on paying me by beginning of the next month but she has not stopped disturbing me that she needs the bag urgently because she has to travel home this weekend. She even discussed sending her younger brother to come fetch the bag for her today.
My problem is that i have not received full payment and with the way things are going now i feel like returning what she gave me already and tell her to come back next month when she has the full money, but im also torn between being a good friend and just trust she will pay first thing next month and give her the bag so she can travel home with it.

If anyone has ever been in the predicament how have you handled it? Be it with a friend or family. Mature, candid advice needed.

you already know she will never give you the full balance
when eventually she gets the bag...

unless you have to make provision for bad debt

She won't pay you. She isn't the paying type. Choose between keeping your bag and losing the parasite friend or giving her the bag and losing the money.

Nonsense. Abeg gv her her money bak biko...



My mum has suffered in d hands of all these friend frnd nonsense...


Rubbish.

Don't give her that bag without her paying in full. You are still a novice, u need balance before selling on credit. When it comes to biz, i have no brother or sister talk of friend.

christinie:
She won't pay you. She isn't the paying type. Choose between keeping your bag and losing the parasite friend or giving her the bag and losing the money.

You don't have a choice but to go with this.

Op I like ur style of business oo.

She won't pay u...if she wud,she wud hav been payin installmentally.

FRIENDS have shown me in this world

HenryDion:
Don't give her that bag without her paying in full. You are still a novice, u need balance before selling on credit. When it comes to biz, i have no brother or sister talk of friend.

Thank you so much, sometimes its hard to deal with close people because creating boundaries with them at times can feel like you are betraying them or you have no trust in them at all. I might have to train myself to be more like you.

Pls be careful and never u try to mix biz with pleasure. U can be friends but let her knw dat wen it comes to biz, there is a boundary u can’t cross. With her type of behaviour u will be on a long thing if u eventually give her d bag without full payment cos she don imagine wetin she go use d bag do wen she has not paid yet. sentiment in biz pulls people down. Gracias.

christinie:
She won't pay you. She isn't the paying type. Choose between keeping your bag and losing the parasite friend or giving her the bag and losing the money.

lol @ parasite friend. You really have got me thinking

teddybear007:
Pls be careful and never u try to mix biz with pleasure. U can be friends but let her knw dat wen it comes to biz, there is a boundary u can’t cross. With her type of behaviour u will be on a long thing if u eventually give her d bag without full payment cos she don imagine wetin she go use d bag do wen she has not paid yet. sentiment in biz pulls people down. Gracias.

wise words thank you girl.

MarryMeee:

Thank you so much, sometimes its hard to deal with close people because creating boundaries with them at times can feel like you are betraying them or you have no trust in them at all. I might have to train myself to be more like you.

Don't act cruel to them. Just make them understand the reason why u are afraid of selling on credit. If that business fail, they will blame it on ur inefficiency without blaming themselves for patronizing u on credit. At this beginning stage, u need to have a cold heart until u have balance well to sell on credit. Wishing u more customers who are willing and able to pay.

A bag is not a necessity but a luxury
If she can't afford it she doesn't need it
Please keep it professional.
I'd you give her the bag and she does not pay it would be the end of the friendship.

If it's me, I would have sold the bag long ago to someone else.
Bags are fashion items. By the time she comes with money to buy, the bag will be out Fashion and she will prefer a new bag.
.
Don't keep any fashion item for anyone beyond a month!!

For future purposes : never tell a customer u've kept an item 4 dem. Tell dem once d money is paid u order it. As for this friend, just apologise, tell her another customer took the item against ur will, tell her u'll get another the next time u shop & forget about her. She'll call u asking for her money

Mzflexydeeva:
For future purposes : never tell a customer u've kept an item 4 dem. Tell dem once d money is paid u order it. As for this friend, just apologise, tell her another customer took the item against ur will, tell her u'll get another the next time u shop & forget about her. She'll call u asking for her money

hahaha you remind me of my aunt, she had the same mindset and i will tell you that its one of the reasons she became successful but she was obviously hated by her untrustworthy customers who attempted pulling a fast one on her

HenryDion:

Don't act cruel to them. Just make them understand the reason why u are afraid of selling on credit. If that business fail, they will blame it on ur inefficiency without blaming themselves for patronizing u on credit. At this beginning stage, u need to have a cold heart until u have balance well to sell on credit. Wishing u more customers who are willing and able to pay.

thank you so much

You need to see your one man business like a grocery shop such as shop rite with a cash register.

Would you pay a quarter of the price and take the item and promise to pay back.


Your friend has long throat syndrome she cant afford the bag thays she wants it for free. If you make the mistake of giving her that bag the next you will here is that the bag was overpriced and you cheated her. You will never get that money.

Sell the bag NOW. No explanations

Return her cash.

Funny Mugabe w.hore........

Mutendiwashe:
hahaha you remind me of my aunt, she had the same mindset and i will tell you that its one of the reasons she became successful but she was obviously hated by her untrustworthy customers who attempted pulling a fast one on her

@Op:She will never pay that money once you give her the bag.Most friends are just wicked, wanting you to always dash them things you are selling.I had such experience with a so-called friend who bought something from me and paid after like two years.She came back again, and me being a good friend, I sold to her again and she has refused to pay till now (it's close to two years now).Her initial excuse was that she was too busy to go to the bank and when I asked her to send recharge card, she didn't answer me till now.If you must do business with family members and friends, you have to keep it formal and strict, that's what I have learnt.

Tell her you are very sorry that you need cash for something and someone wants to pay for the bag.

You are going to loose this "parasitic" friend either way (as someone here called her). So which would you prefer? Loose your money and the friend, or loose your friend and keep your money?

I can just imagine her when you've asked for your money for the umpteenth time. "WHAT? IS IT BECAUSE OF ORDINARY BAG?" You can bet she is going to say that.