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.:Hi! Could I get some advice from you e-comm veterans?.:

Pyrrhic

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Hi everyone! I'm sort've in a predicament right now.. and I could use any advice that I can get right now. I can't tell if I am trying too hard (struggling to make a first business live) or if I am not trying hard enough.

My backstory is surprisingly similar to many others on here (young 19yr old, existential crisis in college, read Fastlane, etc.),so I'll just skip that for now. :)

Anyways, after sponging in some of this site's AMAZING information, I finally decided to take initiative.
I got in contact with a manufacturer, bought some samples, and sold them pretty successfully to some friends. So I then decided to buy 100 units of -insert WIDGET here- hoping that it would catch fire before anyone else sold it. Apparently, I was already late to that idea as there were some tough US competitors on Amazon and eBay.

"No worries," I thought to myself. "I'll just start my own e-comm website and avoid those other platforms entirely."

And this is where I am stuck at. While I did get my e-comm website up and running, I cannot understand how to gain the right traffic toward the site. I read up a little about PPC campaigns, and started an adwords campaign that hasn't garnished a single buy.(But has gotten between 10-20 clicks per day) I also started a facebook campaign a couple days ago, (which has gotten me more clicks for less money) but still not a single buy. Money is running lower and lower, and I'm running out of ideas.

I can't tell if my sales suck because A) the product isn't as intriguing as I thought it would be B) I'm doing something wrong in PPC campaigns/haven't read enough C )Some other option that is being completely overlooked right now.

And this is where I would love to have some expert opinion.. I can't tell if I'm just action faking and I should just abandon the project or if I can still turn this around. I was hoping someone could take a quick peek at my site and give me any sort of constructive feedback. And by any, I really do mean any; don't hold back on any harsh or brash comments! (I'd actually prefer it that way)
Thank you so much again to this entire community, for I wouldn't have even taken that first step without it. I really do appreciate everyone, and I hope to hear from you soon. :)

Tl;Dr: Am I action-faking at this point (and should just abandon this project) or am I not trying hard enough? I'd love to get some expert opinions on whether I can still turn this thing around or if I should abandon ship and start swimming.. Thank you.

PS: I didn't post my website in fear of creating one more competitor than I need. But I'll gladly PM the website address to anyone interested.. Sorry for the inconvenience.. If it truly is troublesome, then I'll just edit the site address into this post. Thank you!

Edit: Also, please don't hold back on any harsh critique if I did something wrong on my post. (ie. Unorganized, wrong category for post, etc.) Really trying to avoid seeming like a noob.. so don't be afraid to speak your mind! :)
 
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MoneyDoc

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PM me the website. Don't worry, I'm not one of those...

How is your price compared to your competitors?
 

Pyrrhic

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The WIDGET on Amazon is priced at $24.99 (Not including shipping); My item is currently priced at $29.99, but I also added a coupon pop-up on the site that offers a 20% discount, which brought it down to $24 (Not including shipping). After thinking about it, this could be a possible deterrent.. :sorry:
 

MoneyDoc

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The WIDGET on Amazon is priced at $24.99 (Not including shipping); My item is currently priced at $29.99, but I also added a coupon pop-up on the site that offers a 20% discount, which brought it down to $24 (Not including shipping). After thinking about it, this could be a possible deterrent.. :sorry:
Do you have margins to lower your price to say $21.99 without shipping? Or $23.99 including shipping?
 
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Pyrrhic

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Do you have margins to lower your price to say $21.99 without shipping? Or $23.99 including shipping?
I could probably go as low as $19.99 w/o shipping if it is necessary.. just a little over breaking even would be good for me right now.

Also, I'm not sure whether it really matters.. but would you suggest bringing the WIDGET down to $24.98 and keep the 20% coupon popup on the cart page.. (indirectly bringing it down to $19.99) or would you just bring the WIDGET down to $19.99 and get rid of the discount entirely?
 

MoneyDoc

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I could probably go as low as $19.99 w/o shipping if it is necessary.. just a little over breaking even would be good for me right now.

Also, I'm not sure whether it really matters.. but would you suggest bringing the WIDGET down to $24.98 and keep the 20% coupon popup on the cart page.. (indirectly bringing it down to $19.99) or would you just bring the WIDGET down to $19.99 and get rid of the discount entirely?
I would get rid of the coupon entirely and just make the price $19.99. But remember, take into accounts hosting, ecomm store fees, etc... You need to be making more than just breaking even. But even if your left with $5 in profit, building your customer base is much more important.
 

Pyrrhic

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WIDGET was originally $10 + $2 shipping per unit.. + Website fees (hosting, plugins, etc.) were $100. If I were to sell the item at $20 (with them paying shipping), I believe I would end up somewhere around $600 - $700 ($6-$7 profit ea unit) after all 100 sold..

EDIT: I forgot to include the amount spent for PPC campaigns; I spent around $50 spent already and will probably spend a bit more later..
 
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biophase

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Why don't you sell on Amazon? To me, that would be the easiest way to get traffic. Is your product branded? If not, brand it and then go FBA on Amazon at $24.99. Be sure to listen to some podcasts on how to write Amazon product descriptions and how to use their keywords. Take good photos. Get some initial sales via friends and family. Get some good reviews. You should be able to sell your 100 units.
 

MoneyDoc

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Why don't you sell on Amazon? To me, that would be the easiest way to get traffic. Is your product branded?
@biophase, say I rebrand a food product with my own name, will amazon be a good place to start selling?
 

Pyrrhic

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Why don't you sell on Amazon? To me, that would be the easiest way to get traffic. Is your product branded? If not, brand it and then go FBA on Amazon at $24.99. Be sure to listen to some podcasts on how to write Amazon product descriptions and how to use their keywords. Take good photos. Get some initial sales via friends and family. Get some good reviews. You should be able to sell your 100 units.

I am currently on Amazon at $21.99,but I am not currently using FBA. (trying to prevent Amazon from reducing my margins to $2-3 >.>) I've read that FBA drastically increases your sales ratings so I might jump into that..

Also, Would it be possible if I could get some of your thoughts about my site, pleease? ^^; PM sent..
(only if you're not busy.. I understand time=money, and I definitely don't want to waste your money so..)
(also sent my amazon page, perhaps if I'm lucky I could get some thoughts on my writing/pics as well? :D)
 
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biophase

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Definitely go FBA. Increase your price to $24.99. At $21.99 you would get about $16 per unit sold.
 

Pyrrhic

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Thanks again biophase! Going to start changing my Amazon descriptions right now.. Also, I will be looking toward selling my stuff on FBA.

If you don't mind me asking, what were your thoughts on the website itself? I'd love to create an e-comm site that can sell that type of electronic products by itself so I don't have to rely on the other platforms (and their evil fees), but I'm not sure if I'm just wasting my time and should focus only on amazon or should I try something else for my site.. Penny for your thoughts?
 

elad

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Hi Pyrrhic, I work full time in startup ecommerce, I'd be willing to have a look at your website and give you some feedback. Feel free to PM me the address. What are your traffic stats?

El
 
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biophase

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Thanks again biophase! Going to start changing my Amazon descriptions right now.. Also, I will be looking toward selling my stuff on FBA.

If you don't mind me asking, what were your thoughts on the website itself? I'd love to create an e-comm site that can sell that type of electronic products by itself so I don't have to rely on the other platforms (and their evil fees), but I'm not sure if I'm just wasting my time and should focus only on amazon or should I try something else for my site.. Penny for your thoughts?

Honestly, I would concentrate on your amazon listing and forget the ecom store for now. You only have 1 product line, so you really don't have an ecommerce store but a one product website.
 

Pyrrhic

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First, thanks a lot for the help bio! Really loved the podcast, alot of tacit info for Amazon sellers - highly recommended to anyone looking toward the e-comm route.

So I got everything prepared for FBA and was just about ready to ship -WIDGETS-, (bought address stickers,new sku's, boxes prepared, etc.) but then I got thrown into "Hazmat Hell" which completely caught me off guard. :/

It's so funny because I would never even think that my -WIDGET- would be an item tagged for Hazmat search. So after a quick google search + some extra reading, I've concluded that my -WIDGET- won't be selling on FBA anytime soon until it gets cleared.. :/ (In hindsight, I did have "lithium-ion" in my bullet points which might have raised some hazard flags)

Intuition tells me to just put this on the backburner.. but I'd love to get the ball rolling right now if possible..

------------
That said, would anyone be interested in receiving my -widget- for FREE?
I'll even pay for shipping; all I ask is for some honest, customer reviews just to help get me noticed. (
and hopefully, they are 5 stars.. :)) If you're interested, feel free to contact me and I'll send you the link + the code right away..
---------------

Also, When you guys are looking for items to sell, is there any particular niches you gravitate toward/or away from to help bypass Hazmat entirely? (ie.like stay away from battery-powered consumer electronics, certain-sized toys, gasoline products, etc.)

Thanks again,
Pyrhhic
 
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Ninjakid

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Ahhhh I remember the days when I first ventured into the entreprenueal world. I was totally prepared to make my first million in this project. My Frankenstein was going to come to life with spectacular bolts of lightning.

Boy was I ever F*cking wrong.

I had only a small stash of intenvtory. And one of each product to sell. ONE OF EACH. DID YOU EVER GO TO WHOLE FOODSAND BE HAPPY TO GET THE ONE STEAK THAT THY HAPPENED TO SELL??? NO I BET YOU DIDN'T. Also my potential suppliers were unreliable possibly nin-existent companies from Communist China, which had no legal obligation to deliver anything I ordered. Does this sound pretty? I sure hopes not because that business is now as non-existent as dinosaurs.

My new business which is doing quite well I GUESS can be called e-commerce, but the difference is I have a product that is THE FACE OF MY BUSINESS and I have MANY TO SELL. That way, customers now that they can get what they see. Plus, it's a product that they actually want, I'm not selling useless crap like I was before.

Of course I wouldn't call myself a "veteran" as I am new to the game and only a year older than you, but feel free to learn from my successes and failures.

May a thousand glasses of the finest ale be raised in your honor.
 

biophase

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First, thanks a lot for the help bio! Really loved the podcast, alot of tacit info for Amazon sellers - highly recommended to anyone looking toward the e-comm route.

So I got everything prepared for FBA and was just about ready to ship -WIDGETS-, (bought address stickers,new sku's, boxes prepared, etc.) but then I got thrown into "Hazmat Hell" which completely caught me off guard. :/

It's so funny because I would never even think that my -WIDGET- would be an item tagged for Hazmat search. So after a quick google search + some extra reading, I've concluded that my -WIDGET- won't be selling on FBA anytime soon until it gets cleared.. :/ (In hindsight, I did have "lithium-ion" in my bullet points which might have raised some hazard flags)

Intuition tells me to just put this on the backburner.. but I'd love to get the ball rolling right now if possible..

------------
That said, would anyone be interested in receiving my -widget- for FREE?
I'll even pay for shipping; all I ask is for some honest, customer reviews just to help get me noticed. (
and hopefully, they are 5 stars.. :)) If you're interested, feel free to contact me and I'll send you the link + the code right away..
---------------

Also, When you guys are looking for items to sell, is there any particular niches you gravitate toward/or away from to help bypass Hazmat entirely? (ie.like stay away from battery-powered consumer electronics, certain-sized toys, gasoline products, etc.)

Thanks again,
Pyrhhic


Everyone goes into hazmat hell at the beginning. It didn't matter on what you were selling. What I would do is wait about 7 days and then have Amazon customer support call you and then tell them you've been waiting a week. It will usually get pushed through a few days after that.
 

LightHouse

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You aren't action faking if you are working on the biz and putting effort into making it with in different sales channels.

While price is a big factor, the reason FBA brings a magnitude of sales is speed and expectation of delivery time.

Much like google has raised your expectations of the speed of delivery of answers, Amazon has done the same to e-commerce.

Even if you offer two day shipping, I won't know how much extra it costs, I won't know when you will actually ship it.

When I see prime for a product on Amazon that may cost a dollar or two more then another retailer, I pick again because I know exactly when it'll show up and it won't cost me extra (in a sense)
 
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Pyrrhic

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Everyone goes into hazmat hell at the beginning. It didn't matter on what you were selling. What I would do is wait about 7 days and then have Amazon customer support call you and then tell them you've been waiting a week. It will usually get pushed through a few days after that.


Thanks for responding Bio..!

So I got off the phone with Amazon's seller support a while ago, and they explained how some products can get cleared faster when you provide alot of details about hazardous products.

Without saying too much, I was selling a consumer electronic product with a lithium-ion battery; and although smaller, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (like the ones in phones,computers,etc.) aren't really dangerous to amazon, it can easily be mistaken for something hazardous like, A CAR BATTERY, when you don't provide more details about the product.

Rookie mistake.. I definitely won't bypass the "More Details" tab next time. As punishment, I gotta wait another week for it to clear.. fml. :/
---
dr; When in doubt, be very thorough with details. You just might be able to speed up Hazmat process or even bypass it entirely.. just FYI.
 

Pyrrhic

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So while that's still cookin' on the backburner, I've been looking at another product on alibaba. Found one that is affordable in my budget, but will probably only yield about $3-4 in profit x 100. (using FBA) And that's only if it sells, I don't even want to think about it if it fails..

May a thousand glasses of the finest ale be raised in your honor.
And may the force also be with you.. Appreciate the post Ninjakid, and I am looking forward to learning more from ya! :)

When I see prime for a product on Amazon that may cost a dollar or two more then another retailer, I pick again because I know exactly when it'll show up and it won't cost me extra (in a sense)
I'm noticing that the pros/cons of FBA vs FBM can be night and day depending on the product. I forgot where I read it, but this was one among many reasons to choose FBA when trying to sell a branded product. If the profit is decent, I'm totally going to send everything their way and will reap the FBA benefits. Thanks for the advice Lighthouse, look forward to learning more from you!

---

Anyways, I've got alot of respect for anyone who can make a decent living off of this. I have no clue how you guys make it look easy on top of that.. >.>

Just out of curiousity, do you guys only focus on selling imported items on Amazon? I've been reading about a few success stories of those who've made their living either by flipping store products, auction sites, going Goodwill hunting (heh), etc. and I was wondering if I'd be more effective trying something else instead of China imports. Would appreciate it to hear about your experiences.. Thank you! :)

dr; Curious, where do you e-comm vets source your product(s)?
 
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