Buy stock or inventory for sell-through across the season.

Yes, stock and inventory finance is one of the most common short-term-loan purposes in the NZ market. Lenders treat it as a defined working-capital gap. Retail, wholesale, hospitality, and trade-supply businesses make up the bulk of stock-finance volume.

Indicative amounts run $10,000 to $300,000 for unsecured short-term loans across most NZ alternative lenders, with stock-secured facilities running larger for established wholesalers and distributors.

Indicative rates on unsecured short-term loans for stock commonly sit in the 12% to 22% per annum band. Stock-secured facilities (PPSR over identified inventory) typically price below the unsecured band.

The maths is the trigger. A 5% discount on a $50K order saves $2,500. A 6-week loan funding the early payment at indicative 18% p.a. costs around $1,040 in interest. In that scenario the discount route wins.

Common terms run 6 to 18 months and ideally match the sell-through window of the underlying stock. Term-to-turn match is the standard discipline.

Interest on a loan used to buy trading stock for the business is generally deductible against business income in New Zealand, subject to the accountant's confirmation.

Stock-secured facilities are available in the NZ market through some specialist lenders, with the security registered on PPSR over identified stock items. Advance rates typically run 30% to 50% of cost value.

Standard documents are NZBN, business owner ID, the last 6 months of business bank statements, and a brief on the stock build, supplier, and expected sell-through.

First-year retailers face a harder application because the sell-through has not been demonstrated. Most lenders prefer 6 to 12 months of trading history before serious stock-finance facilities open.

Yes, container imports are a common stock-finance scenario in NZ. Lead times of 6 to 10 weeks are typical, so the term is sized to the in-transit period plus the local sell-through window.

On a term loan, the schedule continues regardless of stock-turn performance, so the borrower wears the cash impact through end-of-season clearance or carry-over. On a stock-secured facility, the lender has PPSR recovery rights.

Common pitfalls include skipping the cost-of-credit-versus-margin maths, overstocking against a slow turn, ignoring supplier credit as a cheaper alternative, and stacking restock loans across cycles instead of running a line of credit.