Buyers and brands often argue about discount percentages when they are actually disagreeing about a different question. The model comes first, the percentage follows from it.
Showroom and direct shipping
The store displays one or two pieces, sells, and the brand ships to the end customer. The retailer takes a commission and carries no stock.
It is the lightest way to start and the easiest to say yes to, because the risk sits almost entirely with the brand. For a store with limited space or a buyer testing an unproven line, it removes the objection before it is raised.
Its limit is delivery time. If the goods ship from a factory eight weeks away, the customer who sat on the sofa in your showroom waits eight weeks. That works for a premium made to order positioning and struggles for anything faster.
Consignment
The brand places units in the store, the retailer sells from physical stock and the brand invoices on sale, or takes the unsold pieces back after an agreed period.
The customer gets immediate availability, the retailer commits no cash. It is the model that makes a line feel real on a floor without forcing a buying decision.
The cost sits with the brand, which finances stock in a location it does not control. It works when the brand has buffer stock in market and wants presence quickly. It does not work from a factory with no local buffer.
Outright purchase
The retailer or distributor buys at the trade price and resells. Best margin for them, stock risk on their side.
This is the model that scales, and the only one that supports true container volume. It is also the one that requires proof: a buyer commits cash to a line that has already sold somewhere comparable.
The sequence that works in practice is to enter light, prove the sell through, then move up. A brand that demands outright purchase from a first meeting is asking a stranger to finance its market entry.
How to choose in one question
Ask where the goods physically are. If there is buffer stock in your market, consignment and direct shipping are genuine options and delivery will be fast. If everything sits at a factory weeks away, only outright purchase gives your customer a real date.
That single question exposes more about a supply agreement than a page of terms, and it is the one most buyers forget to ask.