8 Eyewear: From Idea, to Launch, to Growth (And Quitting the Job)

[Vick]

100% QC will be expensive, but will certainly help when you scale. Just need to be very clear what the 3rd party QC should be looking for. You should have a good idea of the type of defects that occur after inspecting your current stock.

Have you looked at advertising to any other countries outside the US/Canada? Australia is currently in the summer. Might be something to consider once you have 100% QC setup, then you can look into 3PL in other countries. Might be just as cost-effective to ship from the States though?

shipping to Australia is around 75$ and that's with our 60% discount. I have sold a few there, but not many, because of that. Sometimes certain remote parts of Aus are even more, I think 1 was 109$

Florida, Texas and Cali are buying sunnies like crazy right now, I think about 60% of my sales are from those 3 states alone.

 

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[slodki]

shipping to Australia is around 75$ and that's with our 60% discount. I have sold a few there, but not many, because of that. Sometimes certain remote parts of Aus are even more, I think 1 was 109$

Florida, Texas and Cali are buying sunnies like crazy right now, I think about 60% of my sales are from those 3 states alone.

$75 after a 60% discount is MASSIVE for pair of sunnies. Is this for 2-3 day shipping or something? I know here in Aus and USA they have international flat rate boxes. Maybe give the option of a week long delivery at a cheaper price.

I used to ship USPS flat rate boxes from USA to AUS for ~$60 US which had a max weight of 20lbs and would get here around 5-8 days.

Can't believe those prices for a pair of sunnies!

 

[Vick]

$75 after a 60% discount is MASSIVE for pair of sunnies. Is this for 2-3 day shipping or something? I know here in Aus and USA they have international flat rate boxes. Maybe give the option of a week long delivery at a cheaper price.

I used to ship USPS flat rate boxes from USA to AUS for ~$60 US which had a max weight of 20lbs and would get here around 5-8 days.

Can't believe those prices for a pair of sunnies!

Ya. Thats canada for ya. The only method available is UPS Express Saver.

 

[Vick]

So this FB ad has been doing pretty good for awhile now. Thought I would try a video ad. It maintains about 14-16% CTR. Has had a ton of shares.

The vid is from IG, so its about 15 sec long. This seems to be performing fairly well. So im gonna do a couple more simple vids, short and sweet like these, but with better quality and more brand driven.

 

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[Guest12120]

What is you conversion rate from a video ad like this? How many out of 2811 website clicks ended up in a sale?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vick]

What is you conversion rate from a video ad like this? How many out of 2811 website clicks ended up in a sale?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ya thats what I'd like to know, trying to figure that out, Facebook doesn't show Conversions from this type of ad. All I know is, ever since I put this ad up, I get 3-5 more sales a day. It would probably be way more if I had some frigin Matte Black and Matte Black/red to sell. Get a lot of inquiries about those ones.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

Ya. Thats canada for ya. The only method available is UPS Express Saver.

Have you considered using a fulfillment center in Australia?

Here's one that looks pretty good: http://www.shipwire.com/pricing/.

The price for half a pallet of products is $24.95 a month. After that, it's a small variable cost for each item they ship.

To test the Australia market you'd have to send some inventory (let's say 20 sunglasses), and figure out import taxes. Assuming your manufacturer is in Asia, then it should be relatively inexpensive to send 20 pairs to Shipwire and see how it goes.

 

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[Guest12120]

ya thats what I'd like to know, trying to figure that out, Facebook doesn't show Conversions from this type of ad

Can you put a conversion pixel on your order confirmation page?

 

[slodki]

Are you using the FB conversion pixel? Otherwise it should showup in your analytics where the source was from - It should show facebook or similar?

If you want to go down the path of 3PL in Aus - have your China factory FedEx a package to a 3PL in Aus. Shipping from China to Aus is cheap.

I can recommend a 3PL company in Sydney, Australia who I have personally used to ship large items (children's furniture). I have stopped using them because I'm developing a new product so have no reason to use them right now.

1 month pallet storage is approx $20 AUD /month. Their express post rates are $10 AUD Australia wide. This is through Australia Post who they have huge discounts with. There are the associated pick/pack and inbound fees etc. The other downside is a $20/week admin charge.

You can also use Australia to send packages to nearby countries - NZ for example.

If you want some help with testing the Aussie market let me know.

 

[csalvato]

Florida, Texas and Cali are buying sunnies like crazy right now, I think about 60% of my sales are from those 3 states alone.

And the currency on your website is still in CAD?

 

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[ddzc]

And the currency on your website is still in CAD?

I was going to mention this also. Vick, I would change your pricing to U.S. You can be making 28.96 more per unit (today's exchange rate).

 

[Vick]

I was going to mention this also. Vick, I would change your pricing to U.S. You can be making 28.96 more per unit (today's exchange rate).

I was going to mention this also. Vick, I would change your pricing to U.S. You can be making 28.96 more per unit (today's exchange rate).

Ya. I'm using Shopify Payments for my Gateway, it only offers CAD funds, because my Bank account is in CAD. Wont let me switch to USD for some stupid reason.

im lookin into it

 

[csalvato]

Ya. I'm using Shopify Payments for my Gateway, it only offers CAD funds, because my Bank account is in CAD. Wont let me switch to USD for some stupid reason.

im lookin into it

Switch to stripe?
Open offshore USD bank account?

 

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[Vick]

Are you using the FB conversion pixel? Otherwise it should showup in your analytics where the source was from - It should show facebook or similar?

If you want to go down the path of 3PL in Aus - have your China factory FedEx a package to a 3PL in Aus. Shipping from China to Aus is cheap.

I can recommend a 3PL company in Sydney, Australia who I have personally used to ship large items (children's furniture). I have stopped using them because I'm developing a new product so have no reason to use them right now.

1 month pallet storage is approx $20 AUD /month. Their express post rates are $10 AUD Australia wide. This is through Australia Post who they have huge discounts with. There are the associated pick/pack and inbound fees etc. The other downside is a $20/week admin charge.

You can also use Australia to send packages to nearby countries - NZ for example.

If you want some help with testing the Aussie market let me know.

We need to check our inventory for defects. This wont work right now. But later on when we pay 3rd party 100% defect free, we can do this.

I have a Conversion Pixel setup for FB on my site, But FB doesnt track the Video Ad conversions. You have to pick Conversion Ad.

Im looking into it. Going to porbably setup Google Analytics conversion tracking, but its crazy a$$ confusing.

 

[csalvato]

We need to check our inventory for defects. This wont work right now. But later on when we pay 3rd party 100% defect free, we can do this.

I have a Conversion Pixel setup for FB on my site, But FB doesnt track the Video Ad conversions. You have to pick Conversion Ad.

Im looking into it. Going to porbably setup Google Analytics conversion tracking, but its crazy a$$ confusing.

Check out KISSMetrics/MixPanel. Easier to set up and understand than Google Analytics in my opinion. If you pay for KISSMetrics, I believe they include support staff to help you get conversion tracking up and running ASAP.

 

[ddzc]

Ya. I'm using Shopify Payments for my Gateway, it only offers CAD funds, because my Bank account is in CAD. Wont let me switch to USD for some stupid reason.

im lookin into it

There's a couple of options here which I recommend and have been looking in to, especially b/c of exchange rates. Every time you accept funds in U.S dollars in a paypal account for example, the exchange rate is in favor of Paypal and they scam you in a way with the conversion rates they offer if you look closely. If you do a lot of sales, it adds up. I recommend either opening a U.S Dollar Account (CAN) or an actual U.S Based Bank Account and connect that to your paypal of payment gatway of choice so you receive and withdrawl in U.S funds.

If your with TD, they have TD Cross-Border Banking...I would look in to that. I have a U.S bank account set up and my home branch is in Miami, FL. It's not bad...the only pain is taking money out, you gotta call and wire transfer it over, no easy web. I haven't really used it in depth, just scratching the surface at this point. If your with TD, you can set the account up over the phone and they mail you all the details - 1-877-700-2913 is the number. If I was doing high volume of sales, I would take this route and change the pricing immediately to U.S, increase those margins.

 

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[Vick]

There's a couple of options here which I recommend and have been looking in to, especially b/c of exchange rates. Every time you accept funds in U.S dollars in a paypal account for example, the exchange rate is in favor of Paypal and they scam you in a way with the conversion rates they offer if you look closely. If you do a lot of sales, it adds up. I recommend either opening a U.S Dollar Account (CAN) or an actual U.S Based Bank Account and connect that to your paypal of payment gatway of choice so you receive and withdrawl in U.S funds.

If your with TD, they have TD Cross-Border Banking...I would look in to that. I have a U.S bank account set up and my home branch is in Miami, FL. It's not bad...the only pain is taking money out, you gotta call and wire transfer it over, no easy web. I haven't really used it in depth, just scratching the surface at this point. If your with TD, you can set the account up over the phone and they mail you all the details - 1-877-700-2913 is the number. If I was doing high volume of sales, I would take this route and change the pricing immediately to U.S, increase those margins.

Thanks. I am with TD. def look into this. Thanks again

 

[theag]

I have a Conversion Pixel setup for FB on my site, But FB doesnt track the Video Ad conversions. You have to pick Conversion Ad.

No, you're wrong, you can set it up for video ads in power editor:

Keep in mind, those seem to be view-trough conversions, so they dont necessarily click through to your website right when they see the ad. It also fires if they see the video and then google you the next day (I think).

Also, for google analytics just put the UTM tags in the optional url tags field, like this:

utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=newsfeed-video&utm_campaign=instagram-15-sec-video

You can change the bold parts to your liking. Then in analytics you can see the results for this ad under Acquisition -> Campaigns

Thats it. Takes 2 minutes and voilá, you're tracking everything.

 

[Vick]

No, you're wrong, you can set it up for video ads in power editor:

Keep in mind, those seem to be view-trough conversions, so they dont necessarily click through to your website right when they see the ad. It also fires if they see the video and then google you the next day (I think).

Also, for google analytics just put the UTM tags in the optional url tags field, like this:

utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=newsfeed-video&utm_campaign=instagram-15-sec-video

You can change the bold parts to your liking. Then in analytics you can see the results for this ad under Acquisition -> Campaigns

Thats it. Takes 2 minutes and voilá, you're tracking everything.

Bitchin! thanks!

 

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[Vick]

Website is in USD now. Also created a USD bank account.

hopefully not to many people notice or complain.

 

[TedM]

shipping to Australia is around 75$ and that's with our 60% discount.

Vick, sorry if i missed an answer to this one. What i did with a similar problem is i found someone i could trust locally and sent them a large package, to break down and reship at local postal prices.

Going to porbably setup Google Analytics conversion tracking, but its crazy a$$ confusing.

just get it set up. you don't need to worry about how to analyze it for now - the data will be there later.

I use clicky - it's much easier to use, unless you are really deep-data mining - https://clicky.com/ a free single account would be enough for you to try.

 

[wilddog]

Ya. I'm using Shopify Payments for my Gateway, it only offers CAD funds, because my Bank account is in CAD. Wont let me switch to USD for some stupid reason.

im lookin into it

For Shopify payments you just need a US dollar account. TD and RBC offer decent accounts.

 

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[wilddog]

If your with TD, they have TD Cross-Border Banking...I would look in to that. I have a U.S bank account set up and my home branch is in Miami, FL. It's not bad...the only pain is taking money out, you gotta call and wire transfer it over, no easy web. I haven't really used it in depth, just scratching the surface at this point. If your with TD, you can set the account up over the phone and they mail you all the details - 1-877-700-2913 is the number. If I was doing high volume of sales, I would take this route and change the pricing immediately to U.S, increase those margins.

He doesn't even need the cross-border account for shopify payments. The US currency account should be good enough.
HOWEVER, if you want to protect yourself from liability, I recommend a TD business US-dollar account. It's like $30/mo with ~30 transactions a month.

 

[Vick]

For Shopify payments you just need a US dollar account. TD and RBC offer decent accounts.

yup. setup a US Business dollar account last night

 

[ddzc]

He doesn't even need the cross-border account for shopify payments. The US currency account should be good enough.
HOWEVER, if you want to protect yourself from liability, I recommend a TD business US-dollar account. It's like $30/mo with ~30 transactions a month.

True, for shopify...but if you accept anything in paypal, you'll have trouble with that us dollar canadian bank account. I had one, couldn't link it up in paypal.

Which brings me to the subject of paypal...I assumed you accepted it Vick. I would suggest adding it as an option, might increase sales a little from customers who either have no ccs or have cash stashed away in a paypal account (many).

Nice to see the currency changed over to USD, you've already increased your margins.

 

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[Vick]

True, for shopify...but if you accept anything in paypal, you'll have trouble with that us dollar canadian bank account. I had one, couldn't link it up in paypal.

Which brings me to the subject of paypal...I assumed you accepted it Vick. I would suggest adding it as an option, might increase sales a little from customers who either have no ccs or have cash stashed away in a paypal account (many).

Nice to see the currency changed over to USD, you've already increased your margins.

I got rid of Paypal.

 

[exclusives88]

Hi Vick, I'm trying to go back through the 46 page thread to look to see how much your initial injection molds were. I remember you mentioned it somewhere but I can't find it. Do you mind sharing again? I'm in the process of working with a manufacturer to get molds done. Does it sound right that each mold piece is roughly $1,500? Of course, it all varies but it should be a pretty simple mold. The product I'm making will need 3 to 4 molds. That will bring the mold up to roughly $6,000 which seems very high.

 

[Vick]

Hi Vick, I'm trying to go back through the 46 page thread to look to see how much your initial injection molds were. I remember you mentioned it somewhere but I can't find it. Do you mind sharing again? I'm in the process of working with a manufacturer to get molds done. Does it sound right that each mold piece is roughly $1,500? Of course, it all varies but it should be a pretty simple mold. The product I'm making will need 3 to 4 molds. That will bring the mold up to roughly $6,000 which seems very high.

we have 2 molds. and the metal logo and side blade were done by CNC

total cost was around 6-7k

 

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[Vick]

It's 2:30 am. Friday.

Slacking tonight.

Doing lots of thinking over the past week.

My day job is getting heavier.

It's been about 4 years since I started this journey to free myself from the prison I created.

Not sure how much longer I can last.

 

[tafy]

I think its a good time to give your notice

Then you can work on your business full time, worst case scenario is you get another job right?