Sale or Return

Some accounts — particularly independent shops and smaller chains — will only take your beer on a sale-or-return basis. This means they don't pay for it until it sells, and if it doesn't sell, you take it back. The risk is entirely yours. You've brewed it, packaged it, delivered it, and if it sits on the shelf past its best-before date, you eat the cost.

Sale or return might get your beer into places that wouldn't otherwise stock it, but it's a terrible deal for a small producer. You're essentially providing free stock to a retailer and hoping for the best.