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Ask me anything about eCommerce (2012)

mosdef

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how do you do with pictures? Lets say i want to sell nike shoes, can i just google nike shoes and take some pictures? I thought this was illegal? Since its not my pictures?
 
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biophase

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Hey Bio,

what would you recommend if I want to expand my store internationally? I know both English and French so I could write a translation. How much are people willing to pay for shipping? I have a large market in india but shipping cost around 200$. And is it even worth going international?

Thanks,

Ben

I would just offer shipping to those countries and charge whatever you need to cover shipping. If people order from you, then you know the need is there. But I'd be more careful as I have had a higher percentage of fraudulent transactions in foreign countries than in the USA.
 

biophase

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How the hell do people ship from Canada...

I currently use a dropshipper from china, but the shipping times would not make my customers order again...

Does anyone have a "secret" to shipping from Canada.. I would owe you for life... This is ridiculous.

You need to import from China and carry inventory. This provides value as your delivery times will be faster than your competitor.
 

MoneyDoc

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You need to import from China and carry inventory. This provides value as your delivery times will be faster than your competitor.
I understand, but, I shipped a dog collar from toronto to Mississauga (15 min drive) - cost me $13. I sold the collar for $10....

So imagine international shipping from canada.... I'm thinking of using amazons FBA.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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biophase

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hey @biophase

Thanks for offering your advice and expanding our minds :)

I'm building an audio course to teach Spanish which I generally intend to market with a travel blog and/or Spanish learning blog.

The course is almost done and after testing, editing and recording, I should be done in 2-3 weeks, maybe more, maybe less. Not sure.

A few questions:

1. How do you recommend I start out with pricing/distribution? should I give out for free for a while to establish testimonials/reputation/word of mouth, or start selling at some price point straight away - if so, what price seems to be a sweet spot?

2. Have you got any marketing strategies to recommend?

3. Can you think of any other concerns which I have to address if I'm going to be entering this industry which you can think of? Besides the quality of the product itself, what will be important in getting it out there and selling it?


Thanks mate :)

1) I don't have an answer to this. I would probably charge for it right from the start. Move pricing around depending on how sales go.
2) No, this question is too broad
3) I don't know this market at all so I can't help you with that.
 

biophase

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is this legal? I thought it was illegal to take someone elses picture and use it on your website?

You should be able to find out which photos are manufacturer photos and not photos that a website specifically generated. Your dropshipper should also have photos for you to use.
 

biophase

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how do you do with pictures? Lets say i want to sell nike shoes, can i just google nike shoes and take some pictures? I thought this was illegal? Since its not my pictures?

I think you need to figure out your niche and contact suppliers/dropshippers in your country. If you live in a small country, then the market will be small (compared to USA) so ideally you'd want to be in a niche that sells a consumable that people will buy over and over again.

Your population is small and you just have to figure out how to get passed that constraint.
 
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mosdef

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I think you need to figure out your niche and contact suppliers/dropshippers in your country. If you live in a small country, then the market will be small (compared to USA) so ideally you'd want to be in a niche that sells a consumable that people will buy over and over again.

Your population is small and you just have to figure out how to get passed that constraint.

thanks for your answer! The niche i have choosen is indeed a product that the consumer would need to buy more of in 2-3 months.

The only thing scaring the shit out of me is the 3k searches a month. Ive tried many keywords and all have small searches each month still there is tons of e commerce in sweden. Maybe people just go directly to the webpage from ads?
 

marklov

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If I am an foreigner how do I form an LLC in the US specifically Delaware ?
I have been trying to google this but I keep getting darted around and every site is saying something different.
 

Mike Kavanagh

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If I am an foreigner how do I form an LLC in the US specifically Delaware ?
I have been trying to google this but I keep getting darted around and every site is saying something different.
Call a business attorney there. Most will give you free advice. You're probably also going to need a P.O. Box in Delaware as a business address.
 
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Ryback8888

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Quick question guys, I am based in UK and using shopify as my platform and want to know if I can have my site in front of USA audience and use USA dropshipper? Is this possible?
 

Mike Kavanagh

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Quick question guys, I am based in UK and using shopify as my platform and want to know if I can have my site in front of USA audience and use USA dropshipper? Is this possible?
Yes.

Google Adwords targeting U.S. and see what else you need to get legal by calling a business attorney.
Most dropshippers over here require a Tax Id or Business license
 

marklov

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Yes.

Google Adwords targeting U.S. and see what else you need to get legal by calling a business attorney.
Most dropshippers over here require a Tax Id or Business license

I have called some of the attorneys and got quoted around $400
Forming an llc without one paying customer I don't know if I should do it.

The drop shipping business model is the only one I can do right now because I am outside the US.

So I am looking into other markets/niche and see if any manufacturers will dropship (decent margins) without one or at least until I have a few customers to cover the cost of the license.
 
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Mike Kavanagh

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I have called some of the attorneys and got quoted around $400
Forming an llc without one paying customer I don't know if I should do it.

The drop shipping business model is the only one I can do right now because I am outside the US.

So I am looking into other markets/niche and see if any manufacturers will dropship (decent margins) without one or at least until I have a few customers to cover the cost of the license.
$400 is a bit ridiculous in my opinion. Then again I'm inside the US and live about 2 hours from Delaware.
What did they tell you that service included?


You could always do the page test method posted by someone a few pages back.

Set up a page and see if you get orders.
Instead of fulfilling them re-direct them to a "Sorry we're sold out, Please leave your e-mail so we can message you when we have stock"

Or import from China straight to FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon)
 

marklov

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$400 is a bit ridiculous in my opinion. Then again I'm inside the US and live about 2 hours from Delaware.
What did they tell you that service included?


You could always do the page test method posted by someone a few pages back.

Set up a page and see if you get orders.
Instead of fulfilling them re-direct them to a "Sorry we're sold out, Please leave your e-mail so we can message you when we have stock"

Or import from China straight to FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon)

I am getting different info on what the llc package includes but they are pretty much saying the same thing.

Tried the landing page testing method and drove some traffic there and got a few orders but the LLC price is what my obstacle is right now.

I am researching and maybe ordering some products at MOQ and try selling those through the FBA you mentioned ( looking more into it) and if I can get at least a decent margin even if its slim but enough to be profitable I can build on it.

It comes down to this
Spend the $400 on forming the LLC
Spend the $400 on product samples and have amazon do the fulfillment

Going to research some more on this and then make a judgment on which risk to take.
 

Mike Kavanagh

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Tried the landing page testing method and drove some traffic there and got a few orders but the LLC price is what my obstacle is right now.
You got orders? Great. I think you know where you should go with this.

The great thing about LLC's are you can form them back to when you first started doing business.
 
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marklov

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You got orders? Great. I think you know where you should go with this.

The great thing about LLC's are you can form them back to when you first started doing business.


You are right in the back of my mind I know what I have to do.

Thinking of fronting the cost of the llc then using an amex card for paid traffic

I just discovered another niche its not SEXY but its evergreen and I think I can provide some value , gonna do some research and testing on that too.
 

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As far as Facebook ads do you notice the best action(sales) being from boosting posts, boosting the page, or any other method on Facebook?
 

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I had a quick question for you. I currently have several ecommerce websites that are profitable. I'm interested in connecting with other successful owners doing online businesses or ecommerce to exchange ideas and stay up to date on what is happening in the industry. Do you know of any forums or groups that specialize in this type of thing? For example, there is an group called Joe Polish's 25K Group which caters to high end entrepreneurs and business owners. Yanik Silver also has a group called Maverick 1000 and also puts on an annual seminar called Underground. I'm looking for something like this in the ecommerce space or annual seminars that are put on. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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Mike Kavanagh

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Yanik Silver also has a group called Maverick 1000 .
Going to assume this is you, since your name is what the group is called.
I can't tell if you are spam or not since this is your first post.

This is the kind of despicable marketing. If you want to get your site out there, provide value. Don't jock ride on someone else's hard work.

If you aren't that and actually looking for stuff based in eCommerce, I apologize for the tangent and, I recommend Andrew from eCommerce fuel. They have a $5K members section where you have to verify 5k/month in sales.
His e-mails alone are valuable.

Also read through this thread.
 

Mike Kavanagh

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As far as Facebook ads do you notice the best action(sales) being from boosting posts, boosting the page, or any other method on Facebook?
Can't remember who said it but someone else said they send Facebook ppc traffic directly to the product page.

I think I have a general idea of who said it, but I don't want to run the risk of misquoting someone or attributing it to the wrong person.
 

Maverick 1000

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Going to assume this is you, since your name is what the group is called.
I can't tell if you are spam or not since this is your first post.

This is the kind of despicable marketing. If you want to get your site out there, provide value. Don't jock ride on someone else's hard work.

If you aren't that and actually looking for stuff based in eCommerce, I apologize for the tangent and, I recommend Andrew from eCommerce fuel. They have a $5K members section where you have to verify 5k/month in sales.
His e-mails alone are valuable.

Also read through this thread.
Thanks for your response Mike. Yes this is my first post, but definitely not SPAM. I apologize if my profile name implied I was trying to promote something. One of my favorite movie characters was Tom Cruise in Top Gun thus the reason I chose the screen name.

I appreciate your recommendation and will definitely check out ECommerce fuel. I am currently in the process of reading through your thread. Thanks for contributing to this forum and helping other people succeed. My intention as a new member is to do the same for others in this forum.
 
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leonbenj

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When a retailer asks for samples from your ecommerce website, how do you deal with them?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Mike Kavanagh

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When a retailer asks for samples from your ecommerce website, how do you deal with them?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Never dealt with this. I would honestly just send them some.

Think about @snowbank 's millionaire's math

Send them 10 or so samples -

lose a bit of money (limited downside)
or
Get a new route of distribution (unlimited upside)
 

biophase

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When a retailer asks for samples from your ecommerce website, how do you deal with them?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Don't know why a retailer would ask for a sample? I wouldn't send them any for free. They are a retailer??
 
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leonbenj

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Don't know why a retailer would ask for a sample? I wouldn't send them any for free. They are a retailer??
In this case, I am referring to physical barbershops which would use my products on their clients. Also, making my products available for sale to their clients. Not sure which category (retailer, distributor) that would fit into.


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Jesus christ. Finally read this thread through and oh buy, what a gold mine. I can't thank you enough Bio. Your the real deal.

I have for the last couple of days done some research on a niche and have a couple of questions. I have been scanning through Alibaba for MANU's, but the biggest 'problem' I have (I still havn't had personal contact with any of them) is that the niche product I have been looking at ships for $80-100 (In general. I have only been looking at Gold suppliers) per piece, and the delivery time is usually around 30-45 days. From China.

The 'natural' thing to do would be to drop-ship, I assume? Since it's a pretty hefty priced niche, making it quite difficult to stock up. Atleast in the start. But I'm just thinking about the long delivery time. Wouldn't customers see it, in general, as a pretty big negative? If I were to try drop-shipping that is.

Thank you once again Bio, and everyone else sharing their valuable information in this thread.
 

biophase

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In this case, I am referring to physical barbershops which would use my products on their clients. Also, making my products available for sale to their clients. Not sure which category (retailer, distributor) that would fit into.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

In that case, I would give them free samples. You want to prove to them that your product is useful and it sounds like it is a repeat buy product.
 
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biophase

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Jesus christ. Finally read this thread through and oh buy, what a gold mine. I can't thank you enough Bio. Your the real deal.

I have for the last couple of days done some research on a niche and have a couple of questions. I have been scanning through Alibaba for MANU's, but the biggest 'problem' I have (I still havn't had personal contact with any of them) is that the niche product I have been looking at ships for $80-100 (In general. I have only been looking at Gold suppliers) per piece, and the delivery time is usually around 30-45 days. From China.

The 'natural' thing to do would be to drop-ship, I assume? Since it's a pretty hefty priced niche, making it quite difficult to stock up. Atleast in the start. But I'm just thinking about the long delivery time. Wouldn't customers see it, in general, as a pretty big negative? If I were to try drop-shipping that is.

Thank you once again Bio, and everyone else sharing their valuable information in this thread.

Shipping time would be a big issue. If you are going to have long shipping times, then you probably need to compete on price. I don't mind getting something in 2 weeks from Aliexpress when the price is 1/3 off. I would carry some stock at your house, just 1 of each product. But it sounds like the product is big? and double shipping would ruin your margins?
 

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Shipping time would be a big issue. If you are going to have long shipping times, then you probably need to compete on price. I don't mind getting something in 2 weeks from Aliexpress when the price is 1/3 off. I would carry some stock at your house, just 1 of each product. But it sounds like the product is big? and double shipping would ruin your margins?
Well, there are a couple of alternatives to the niche, which is a cheaper / piece and has a average on 15-25 days, but to be honest they are not nearly as premium and expensive looking as some of the other I have looked at. Yes, your right about that. A average piece weighs in at around 7-12 KG but the shipped box/package is not super big. A container could load very many.
 

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