Thread: YAY! My first order from a retailer

That's great. I have my prototype being made right now.

Did you have it made in us or overseas?

Keep us posted for sure

Originally Posted by supermannpc

Did you have it made in us or overseas?

Some of it is made here, some of it is made overseas, all of it is assembled by me. When it gets too big for me I'll farm that out too.

That is great news! I will keep an eye on this thread to see how it pans out. Wishing you the best of luck with the first launch.

Originally Posted by Amail

My brainchild's alive, and I'm PUMPED!!

Woo hoo! Big congrats!

Try to remember/anchor what you're feeling right now. I call it a "live the dream" moment, a birthing moment when the world acknowledges your ingenuity and creativity. No boss. No directives. Nothing but you're own sweat and brain power. The world is being exposed to your creation and it's saying YESSSSS!

What you're feeling is highly addictive. When you start making money via this process, it's truly a natural high and hard to mimic. In other words, you'll never be the same and going back to a cubical existence is virtually impossible.

Again, big congrats!!

Originally Posted by Amail

My brainchild's alive, and I'm PUMPED!!

I remember when I made my first sale. Amazing feeling to create something that someones willing to buy. Hard to describe, but it feels insanely good. Puts your confidence through the roof.

Anyway, Congratulations! Keep pushin Cheers

Great... yet as I read your text the word PASSIVE came to mind.

I guess the confidence will come later once you have done this a few times or this item starts to stand on its own two or three or four legs or whatever. I do not mean to be crass. I understand and deduce my conclusion by your following statement:

In order to get the ball rolling I offered him a price just above my cost to place the initial order. When everything sells, he will reimburse me the difference between what he paid and what normal wholesale pricing will be.

He's taking on all the risk, so I'm willing to defer my profit in exchange for getting these into his hands quickly so we can sort out the real value to the end user.

You have to look out for yourself in the future. Do not just leave it up to your customer, whomever they are, to look out for you.

This is just a friendly prompt to let-you-know/remind-you that you took some risks also and that your time is worth more consideration than I think you are giving it in this case. There will always be more than one person interested in what you have. Do not sell yourself short and be sure to do as we are all being encouraged to do -- know our value and the value of our products/works/thoughts/etc.

All in all, congrats.

You did good.

You will do better next time, on the next one as you will have learned a lot from the PROCESS it took to do this product, which you can implement in your next venture, whatever it may be.

Originally Posted by MJ DeMarco

Woo hoo! Big congrats!

Try to remember/anchor what you're feeling right now. I call it a "live the dream" moment, a birthing moment when the world acknowledges your ingenuity and creativity. No boss. No directives. Nothing but you're own sweat and brain power. The world is being exposed to your creation and it's saying YESSSSS!

What you're feeling is highly addictive. When you start making money via this process, it's truly a natural high and hard to mimic. In other words, you'll never be the same and going back to a cubical existence is virtually impossible.

Again, big congrats!!

MJ,, thanks. You are so right. This is an amazing feeling! There will be several of these moments over the next few months. Every time I land a new retailer, every new order a retailer places, positive customer feedback, things customers want changed or improved. I'm digging this.

Yahdmon, I hear you. I'm not suffering from lack of confidence though. I've got a feeling these will sell like hotcakes.

I gave my retailer a break on the buy in to get more in his hands quickly. It's more important to me right now to get retail sales feedback than it is to maximize profit from day one. I am definitely break-even from the start. I will get my profit - I'm just giving him terms on that part of the sale. I'm more interested in nailing down solid, reliable MSRP numbers than I am in making my profit on the first small order.

Getting this established gives me a firmer footing when getting future retailers. I can quote actual sales rates at different price points.

Originally Posted by Eskil

That is great news! I will keep an eye on this thread to see how it pans out. Wishing you the best of luck with the first launch.

Thanks Eskil! I'm very excited and grateful for the good wishes.

All that hard works coming together VERY nicely Amail!

Keep up the good work!

Thanks. You took it like a champ.

Originally Posted by Amail

Yahdmon, I hear you. I'm not suffering from lack of confidence though. I've got a feeling these will sell like hotcakes.

I gave my retailer a break on the buy in to get more in his hands quickly. It's more important to me right now to get retail sales feedback than it is to maximize profit from day one. I am definitely break-even from the start. I will get my profit - I'm just giving him terms on that part of the sale. I'm more interested in nailing down solid, reliable MSRP numbers than I am in making my profit on the first small order.

Getting this established gives me a firmer footing when getting future retailers. I can quote actual sales rates at different price points.

You definately know what you are doing. I was just concerned to know that you know you do not have to give your lunch away to gain a foothold in this marketplace, where ever it is. In the short term maybe but not in the long run. Good for you. You got it all planned out nicely.

Now ---------- care to share what this vehicle is?

First, Congratulations!

Second, I am not an expert in retailing, but I always hear to have MSRP of four or five times your production cost is a good idea. Given that some customers at the retailer expected to pay 4X to 10X your cost, I'd say you are right on target. I hope somebody here with real retailer experience can she more light on this (and I know the type of product makes a huge difference in margins).

Speed++

Speed+

Just to make sure I haven't given the wrong impression, my retailer is NOT Target, Walmart, or Costco! This is just a small brick and mortar store, not even a chain. I'm not rolling in dough with this sale, but it validates everything I've done to this point. I need to see how the buying public reacts to finish the play. Once I get a better data on prices people are willing to pay and some feedback to improve the product, the fine tuning will be done. After that it's just a matter of hitting every retailer in the country and getting my ecommerce store up and running.

If I could leave my job in 2013 I would be a happy man.

Originally Posted by yahdmon

Now ---------- care to share what this vehicle is?

I second that!! The anticipation is killing me (I'm assuming you have IP already covered/protected.....so it's 'safe' to share with us).

Originally Posted by Amail

If I could leave my job in 2013 I would be a happy man.

You and me both Good Luck!

Originally Posted by Amail

After that it's just a matter of hitting every retailer in the country and getting my ecommerce store up and running.

Why after that?

Why not create the web page now, and offer to send some 'select' clients your test version, and ask them to fill surveys with feedback?

Originally Posted by andviv

Why after that?

Why not create the web page now, and offer to send some 'select' clients your test version, and ask them to fill surveys with feedback?

Good point! There's no reason to wait to make the ecommerce site. I was just saying after getting price info and making subtle improvements the process would be down to sales, either face to face or online.