Fidget spinner factories demand ‘bags of cash’ from suppliers

WANT to sell fidget spinners? Bring “bags of cash”. Companies scrambling to keep them on shelves claim they’re being hit with extortionary practices.

WANT to sell fidget spinners? Bring “bags of cash”.

As demand for the whirling contraptions continues to spiral, companies scrambling to keep them on shelves claim they’re being hit with extortionary practices at the overseas factories that make them.

The ball-bearing weights that cause the spinners to move are in short supply — and some charge that Asian manufacturers are hoarding them and asking for much higher prices than the roughly 25 cents apiece they used to charge.

Portland, Oregon-based Zing, which sells two kinds of spinners called Spinzipz and Spinbladez, has been forced to bring “bags of cash” to some factories in China just to make sure its orders are confirmed, Zing vice president Josh Loerzel told The New York Post.

“The factories are asking for cash upfront, and the price varies daily — anywhere from 50 per cent to 200 per cent more,” said Loerzel, whose firm supplies big retailers like Target, Walmart and Toys R Us.

In response, Zing recently began hoarding its own stash of the nickel-sized devices, buying up large quantities for their production needs, Loerzel said.

Zing expects to sell up to five million spinners in the US this year and has already shipped about one million of them to its retail customers.

“The factories would tell us, ‘We don’t have any more of the ball bearings unless you want to pay more’,” Loerzel said. “That’s why we had to change our tactics.”

Almar Sales Co., which sells fidget spinners to Michael’s Stores among other retailers, has also heard of demands for 100 per cent, upfront payment, executive vice president Allen Ashkenazie said.

“Factories across China are using every opportunity to control prices by limiting and controlling supply of the original bearings,” he griped.

With demand for the gadgets still raging out of control, the factories may keep the upper hand for months to come, sellers fear.

Fanatics, the largest licensor of sports merchandise, said sales of the spinners increased by 1000 per cent over the past week as sports fans scooped up spinners with their favourite team’s logo.

“We see this trend continuing through the back-to-school season and possibly through the holidays,” said Fanatics president of merchandising, Jack Boyle.

This article originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission.