See original story here<\/A><\/P>But I supect the issue is more about cash flow than consumers having to wait months to get a product.<\/P>
As Gerry Harvey, CEO of Harvey Norman and arch enemy of Ruslan Kogan, was calling on the Federal Government to introduce a 10 percent GST on all online transactions under $1,000, Ruslan Kogan would have been sweating on how much business overseas web sites are sucking out of the Australian economy.<\/P>
In reality overseas web sites are more of a threat to Australian online sites than they are to branded retail stores in Australia because a consumer who is prepared to shop online is most likely shopping for the cheapest price.<\/P>
Having owned Digital Home, which was an online trading site that we sold to JB Hi fi to become what is today, JB Hi Fi’s online operation, I know firsthand the difficulties of running a local online trading operation.<\/P>
By majority, local online operators are running web sites that are nothing more than a marketing front. Once an order is placed the operator who often takes the money up front for a product, then places an order on his supplier, which in a lot of cases is a distributor like Ingram Micro, or Synnex, or the hundreds of other distributors who are now selling products such as Smartphones, Apple accessories, TVs or PCs to online operators.<\/P>
This mode of operation means that the cash is in the bank before the online operator has had to place an order on his distributor.<\/P>
In the case of the Kogan Technologies’ web site he is primarily selling “Made in China” products such as TVs appliances, Tablets, Set Top Boxes.<\/P>
<\/P>
<\/DIV>
<\/P>
Another issue for Kogan is that Australia is known for short runs, when it comes to manufacturing products for this market and the fact that Kogan is a very small operator further impacts his ability to get the cheapest price from a manufacturer who is more interested in large runs than short runs. On the up side Kogan can very easily identify a no brand product made in China and then have the manufacturer slap a Kogan logo on the device. <\/P>
For Kogan the issue is cash flow and I suspect that this is why he has started offering consumers an upfront deal that if they pay for a product before it is manufactured they get a discount.<\/P>
The Kogan model operates in almost reverse as to how most online operators trade for the simple reason that he has to mostly, pay for a product up front, then wait for it to be manufactured and shipped from China to Australia. There are also handling and distribution costs which have to be paid for upfront.<\/P>
In some cases Kogan is advertising a product for sale using pictures and words, taking an order and then having the consumer wait for delivery. Ben Knapinski is a disgruntled Kogan customer who had to wait two months to get delivery of a Kogan 46″ LED TV which Kogan claimed was superior to what Gerry Harvey was selling in his stores. <\/P>
When Knapinski finally got his Made in China TV he described it as “absolute rubbish”.<\/P>
“I don’t even want to put it in the kids play room as I am worried the flickering and jitter will hurt their eyes it’s that bad” he said.<\/P>
In any online operation cash flow is king and margins are thin. I also suspect that Australian independent online operators that are not aligned with a major consumer electronics or IT brand are going to come under pressure next year as more consumers move online, Kogan among them.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COMMENT: The move by Kogan Technologies to solicit consumers to pay upfront before one of his products is manufactured in China smells more like cash flow issues than offering a consumer a big discount benefit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-archive","category-marketing","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\n
Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems? - Smart Office<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems? - Smart Office\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"COMMENT: The move by Kogan Technologies to solicit consumers to pay upfront before one of his products is manufactured in China smells more like cash flow issues than offering a consumer a big discount benefit.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Office\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-05T22:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Richards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Richards\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Richards\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#\/schema\/person\/6ed028a8569636ee2d70d979fa540e66\"},\"headline\":\"Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-05T22:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":690,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Archive\",\"Marketing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/\",\"name\":\"Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems? - Smart Office\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-05T22:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Office\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Smart Office\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Smart-Office-Logo-Final-Yellow-1_page-0001.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Smart-Office-Logo-Final-Yellow-1_page-0001.jpg\",\"width\":1359,\"height\":477,\"caption\":\"Smart Office\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#\/schema\/person\/6ed028a8569636ee2d70d979fa540e66\",\"name\":\"David Richards\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Richards\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/author\/david-richards\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems? - Smart Office","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems? - Smart Office","og_description":"COMMENT: The move by Kogan Technologies to solicit consumers to pay upfront before one of his products is manufactured in China smells more like cash flow issues than offering a consumer a big discount benefit.","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/","og_site_name":"Smart Office","article_published_time":"2017-07-05T22:00:00+00:00","author":"David Richards","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Richards","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/"},"author":{"name":"David Richards","@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#\/schema\/person\/6ed028a8569636ee2d70d979fa540e66"},"headline":"Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems?","datePublished":"2017-07-05T22:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/"},"wordCount":690,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Archive","Marketing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/","name":"Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems? - Smart Office","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-07-05T22:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/2017\/07\/06\/comment-has-kogan-online-got-cash-flow-problems-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Comment: Has Kogan Online Got Cash Flow Problems?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/","name":"Smart Office","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#organization","name":"Smart Office","url":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Smart-Office-Logo-Final-Yellow-1_page-0001.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Smart-Office-Logo-Final-Yellow-1_page-0001.jpg","width":1359,"height":477,"caption":"Smart Office"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/#\/schema\/person\/6ed028a8569636ee2d70d979fa540e66","name":"David Richards","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Richards"},"url":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/author\/david-richards\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}