Idea validation on a sustainable product

[stockyal]

Hi guys , been on this forum about a year now and read some great threads on importing products from china. Having had a tiny bit of success in the past only to get blown out the water by competitors ive learnt a few lessons. my old method of sales was through ebay and i found out that no matter what the quality of my products the customers always went running for the cheapest option. however, now i want to go down a different route of running a shopify online store and hopefully using a fulfillment service in the future to run my business off my laptop. since coming away from ebay ive re-read TMF and i am going for a different approach concentrating a lot more on what value i can add.

so far ive found my niche and products i wish to sell.
Main value points:

.sustainability
.design your own service
. recycling discount of old products for new purchases (get returning customers)
. quick effective shipment ( experience through ebay )

im currently in contact with a manufacturer in china who can supply not only my main products but a wide range of products if i wish to expand my range in the future. during my ebay spell i was in contact with traders so during my time off ive followed @Walter Hay thread and ive learnt a lot and started to contact more manufacturers to skip the middle man.

im also currently in the process of making my website base however, i really want to validate my idea before i make a big order after my sample order. what is the best way you have acheived idea validation? landing pages? monitoring a checkout page?

some other feedback questions:
do sustainable products make you buy them instead of unsustainable products?
are there any companies you know that go down this route so i can check them out?

 

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[Walter Hay]

Hi guys , been on this forum about a year now and read some great threads on importing products from china. Having had a tiny bit of success in the past only to get blown out the water by competitors ive learnt a few lessons. my old method of sales was through ebay and i found out that no matter what the quality of my products the customers always went running for the cheapest option. however, now i want to go down a different route of running a shopify online store and hopefully using a fulfillment service in the future to run my business off my laptop. since coming away from ebay ive re-read TMF and i am going for a different approach concentrating a lot more on what value i can add.

so far ive found my niche and products i wish to sell.
Main value points:

.sustainability
.design your own service
. recycling discount of old products for new purchases (get returning customers)
. quick effective shipment ( experience through ebay )

im currently in contact with a manufacturer in china who can supply not only my main products but a wide range of products if i wish to expand my range in the future. during my ebay spell i was in contact with traders so during my time off ive followed @Walter Hay thread and ive learnt a lot and started to contact more manufacturers to skip the middle man.

im also currently in the process of making my website base however, i really want to validate my idea before i make a big order after my sample order. what is the best way you have acheived idea validation? landing pages? monitoring a checkout page?

some other feedback questions:
do sustainable products make you buy them instead of unsustainable products?
are there any companies you know that go down this route so i can check them out?

If your manufacturer can supply a wide range of products there could be a risk that they are not the real manufacturers.

There are many industries, such as watches for example, where nobody makes everything from start to finish, yet it is still reasonable for them to call themselves manufacturers because they have subcontracted parts manufacture and from all those bits they produce a finished product.

If the wide range of products you refer to are all closely related and can be produced in the same factory by much the same methods and equipment, yes, they probably are manufacturers. Using my watches example, if they have a range that includes watches, clocks, heart rate monitors and pedometers, they probably produce them all.

It's worth doing all you can to be sure, so that you know you will be getting a genuine manufacturer's price.