Company Summary: In 1994, Reliable, a company with a rich 75-year history of providing office products to all types of businesses, became a part of Boise Office Solutions. In December 2003, Boise Office Solutions and OfficeMax merged to become one of the premier office supplies companies in the US and around the world.

Today, with nearly 90 years experience, Reliable continues to lead the industry with our World Class customer service, extensive product selection, competitive prices and next day delivery to 95% of the continental US. Reliable is based in Naperville, Illinois with customer fulfillment centers located nationwide-from California to Maine.

Why should you care:  Reliable is one of the many office supply companies that a business credit company will get you in the beginning.  Their selection is ok, but not amazing, and their credit terms are not as lenient at other companies’.  Their prices . . . Don’t get me started.  Reliable does have lightning-fast shipping, and enough of a selection to get your office out of a crunch if you need supplies yesterday.  Their website isn’t the easiest to navigate (no pictures of items, just lists), and their credit department hawks over new companies like you wouldn’t believe.  Most of their emails and verification is just fluff, but they have been known to deny an account or two if your DnB file isn’t up to par, or found via name search.

Reporting:  Reliable was one of the first credit vendors to fight the surge of business credit customers with tighter restrictions.  Their accounts aren’t as easy to get, especially with newer corps, and their CRS’s will swear to you that they don’t report.  Between you and me, they’re lying.  They still report, but have probably moved their newer accounts to a quarterly reporting schedule to dissuade newbies from using them in a one-and-done fashion.

Final Verdict:  Reliable has it’s ups and downs as a business credit vendor.  If you are new, they may treat you as if you have the plague, but returning customers are welcomed with open arms.  Their website is in drastic need of an upgrade, but their shipping will show up as fast as humanly possible.  I will always use and recommend reliable’s net-30 account, even to my newer clients who may need to verify some info with their credit dept before they can get their items, they are well worth the trouble.

–Elijah

eyoung@mysmallbizcredit.com

614-625-2907

Company Summary: Not quite as old-fashioned as its name suggests, Quill Corporation is a distributor of office products to more than one million small and medium-sized US businesses. To compete with office supply superstores, Quill markets some 50,000 products under the Quill brand as well as other national brands (Bic, Hewlett-Packard, Mead, Papermate, Pendaflex, Xerox). It offers office supplies (binders, paper, envelopes, toner), furniture (bookcases, chairs, desks, file cabinets), and technology products (PCs, copiers, phones, software); it sells its wares through catalogs, by phone, and on the company’s Web site. Former CEO Jack Miller founded Quill in 1956; the company was acquired by office retail giant Staples in 1998.

Why should you care: Quill is always one of the first companies to give business credit, as soon as immediately after you have a DnB file showing. Quill also has one of the largest selection that I have seen in a net-30 for quite a while, and their massive catalogs don’t begin to describe the amount of inventory they have on hand, and have access to. A couple of phone calls revealed that you can have custom hats, t-shirts, and even pens created by Quill, and of course you can use your trusty net-30 account to leverage your resources. I don’t know of another starter net-30 where you can go from pens and pencils, to furniture and ipods all from the same company , all on business credit.

Reporting: The debate is pretty fierce between those who swear that Quill reports, and those who think that it’s a now “worthless” net-30. In my personal business credit experience, I have known Quill to report monthly, and lately quarterly, which may explain some frustration. (Imagine paying for your first order, only to find out that you missed the reporting cycle by a couple of days!) Unfortunately DnB has a strict policy against identifying its reporting members, I would still venture t say the Quill reports, but maybe not as often as you may like.

Final Verdict: Quill is a top 5 net-30 account whether you like it or not. I would stay under $100 for a first order, under $500 for a second, and under $1000 for a third, after that I think they give you a free reign to do as you like after you’ve proven the ability to pay within the net-30 billing period. Worst case scenario is that you may get a friendly email asking you to call in, but don’t be concerned, just answer the questions that they ask and you should be on your way with your first business credit account.

–Elijah