Distributors, retailers ‘lose out’ on sales to unfair competition

Nigeria

The Christian retail channel in Nigeria continues to be negatively impacted by e-mail scams that have targeted U.S. evangelical bookstores in recent years, according to a leading member of the industry in the African country.

Sylvester Ejeh—owner of Edysyl, a bookstore, distributor and publishing house in Nigeria—told Christian Retailing “the majority of Nigerians suffer image problems overseas because of few that are involved in scams.”

“Sometimes merely introducing myself as a Nigerian turns off prospects,” said Ejeh, Christian Trade Association International’s (CTAI) vice chairman.

“Most of the time we are not given the opportunity to prove ourselves because (we are marked) as fraudsters. But I can tell you that most of us are genuine businessmen and businesswomen who have the fear of God and are ready to be ... good (Christian product) distributors and representatives.”

Melissa Mitchell, director of loss prevention for LifeWay Christian Stores, told Christian Retailing the Christian retail channel currently does not have a system in place to report Nigerian scams—which have featured bogus e-mails from there requesting help with Bibles from Christian bookstores in the U.S. The scam artists typically use fraudulent credit cards to pay for the Bibles, so the retailers end up responsible for replacing the funds.

CBA addressed the issue with a workshop on loss prevention during the International Christian Retail Show in 2006.

“It is difficult to know who their target will be at anytime,” said Ejeh, who buys products from all around the world. “No particular industry is free from it.”

CTAI President Jim Powell added: “Christian publishers in America were the major victims only a few years ago, but they’ve learned from the experience.”

He told Christian Retailing that a typical Christian store in Nigeria “can purchase through a local wholesaler most of the products it requires.”

“Of course, Nigerians and everyone purchase through the Internet,” said Powell, noting that scams have also come from Indonesia. “But for a retail store in America to become an important supplier to an individual or store in Nigeria defies economic sense.

Powell added that American Christian retailers are not the only victims of the scams. “Christian distributors and retailers in the country (where) the product are shipped to also lose out from lost sales and unfair competition,” he said.

Ejeh encouraged Christian stores to be vigilant regarding Nigerian scams. “The Christian retail network (must) insist on a particular mode of payment that cannot be reversed,” said Ejeh, who noted that prospective buyers from his country can be verified through CBA Nigeria.

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