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Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

biophase

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@biophase If you use a custom URL shortner, you will at least be able to see how many people came from Instagram. It still won't tell you conversions, but it's a small piece of the puzzle.

I've often wondered if on instagram people would click less on a shortened URL vs a readable URL. But that is a good idea. I need to change it up. Will do this right now.
 
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biophase

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Kenric, for your ecomm sites, what is the marketing strategy? google adwords, social media ad's? If you're not buying ad's now, how long/$ did you buy ad's? Also I believe you mentioned ~50% of your business is amazon & 50% ecom sites, do you plan to keep it this way?

My ecomm sites are 100% organic traffic now. I still do some adwords, but not alot, like $10 a day. No other ads. FB pages have 5000+ likes but I hardly post there. I used to do google shopping for the sites but I shut that down this year and it does show in my sales. Amazon is around 75% now.
 

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I've found a niche that I want to exploit with my own ecommerce site. The products are very expensive though ($500-$1000). I don't have enough capital to even buy one of the products, but what I wanted to do was basically presell to customers and then the dropshipper/wholeseller will ship it to them directly. I'm wondering if this is a good niche to exploit, because the cost for these products is so high?
 
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ThinkDifferent

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I login in on the same IP many times. When I go on vacation or over to a fastlaner's home, we all log into our amazon accounts from the same place. If we had to worry about that, we couldn't go on vacations together or work togther at all.

And I do have different physical addresses for my businesses.

Amazon links IP addresses and even your computers EMEI address. Amazon is ahead of Ebay in its security.
 

biophase

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I've found a niche that I want to exploit with my own ecommerce site. The products are very expensive though ($500-$1000). I don't have enough capital to even buy one of the products, but what I wanted to do was basically presell to customers and then the dropshipper/wholeseller will ship it to them directly. I'm wondering if this is a good niche to exploit, because the cost for these products is so high?

This is usually how dropshipping works. Not sure how you are exploit the niche though.
 
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biophase

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Hey bio

Thanks for the thread. Can you elaborate more on this? Maybe some examples.
Thanks a lot

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sure I can think of a bunch just sitting here.

1) I have a product that has no on and off switch. I have to take the batteries out after I use the product to keep it from draining down. On Amazon, this is the #1 complaint on this product. This one just needs a small switch added and some plastic cover redesign.

2) My biking knee pads slide down my quads while peddling. Someone needs to put some rubbery type of material on the upper insides of them.

3) My biking elbow pads are too bulky, I need a lighter, but less protective one, sort of like a sleeve that the NBA players use. Maybe I can modify a current sleeve and add some protection on them

4) I just got bigger tires on my SUV. Now this device I had bought for it doesn't work as well. They only make this for cars and regular SUVs. There is no device on the market for a lifted/larger tire SUV. Pretty easy to make, just make the product bigger!

5) My wrist heart rate monitor doesn't fit right. I need to put it further upper on my forearm for good contact. But then it slides down a little when I'm working out. I need a neoprene sleeve to go over it to keep it in place.

6) A certain product I bought had a head cover that was too small. All the amazon reviews wished it had a larger head cover and that it was a little longer.

7) A tarp I bought has weak grommets. Amazon reviews also complain about it and that the tarp rips easily. So I'm redesigning the grommets to be stronger and making the tarp a few mils thicker.
 
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ThinkDifferent

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What is an EMEI address?

The code from your computer/laptop. Amazon detects it and if one account gets suspended the rest are going too, even tho it takes several months longer if all other data such as IP addresses, personal data, are different.

PS. Using a VPN for different IP addresses doesnt work because all those servers are registered by Amazon, even the paid ones like HMA etc. You should use a private static one that doesnt change.

Sure I can think of a bunch just sitting here.
1) I have a product that has no on and off switch. I have to take the batteries out after I use the product to keep it from draining down. On Amazon, this is the #1 complaint on this product. This one just needs a small switch added and some plastic cover redesign.
2) My biking knee pads slide down my quads while peddling. Someone needs to put some rubbery type of material on the upper insides of them.
3) My biking elbow pads are too bulky, I need a lighter, but less protective one, sort of like a sleeve that the NBA players use. Maybe I can modify a current sleeve and add some protection on them
4) I just got bigger tires on my SUV. Now this device I had bought for it doesn't work as well. They only make this for cars and regular SUVs. There is no device on the market for a lifted/larger tire SUV. Pretty easy to make, just make the product bigger!
5) My wrist heart rate monitor doesn't fit right. I need to put it further upper on my forearm for good contact. But then it slides down a little when I'm working out. I need a neoprene sleeve to go over it to keep it in place.
6) A certain product I bought had a head cover that was too small. All the amazon reviews wished it had a larger head cover and that it was a little longer.
7) A tarp I bought has weak grommets. Amazon reviews also complain about it and that the tarp rips easily. So I'm redesigning the grommets to be stronger and making the tarp a few mils thicker.


Hey thanks a lot for your ideas, it's good for inspiration. Im now at page 10, I will read everything before asking a question.

This has been thus far the most valuable thread for me. I love how you think and create your own barriers to entry based on your own logic and ability to reason.
 

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Sure I can think of a bunch just sitting here.
1) I have a product that has no on and off switch. I have to take the batteries out after I use the product to keep it from draining down. On Amazon, this is the #1 complaint on this product. This one just needs a small switch added and some plastic cover redesign.
2) My biking knee pads slide down my quads while peddling. Someone needs to put some rubbery type of material on the upper insides of them.
3) My biking elbow pads are too bulky, I need a lighter, but less protective one, sort of like a sleeve that the NBA players use. Maybe I can modify a current sleeve and add some protection on them
4) I just got bigger tires on my SUV. Now this device I had bought for it doesn't work as well. They only make this for cars and regular SUVs. There is no device on the market for a lifted/larger tire SUV. Pretty easy to make, just make the product bigger!
5) My wrist heart rate monitor doesn't fit right. I need to put it further upper on my forearm for good contact. But then it slides down a little when I'm working out. I need a neoprene sleeve to go over it to keep it in place.
6) A certain product I bought had a head cover that was too small. All the amazon reviews wished it had a larger head cover and that it was a little longer.
7) A tarp I bought has weak grommets. Amazon reviews also complain about it and that the tarp rips easily. So I'm redesigning the grommets to be stronger and making the tarp a few mils thicker.

Anyone notice a trend?

Bio isn't trying to solve a problem for millions of people. He is merely focusing on his own pain points. And if he is having these issues, then other people probably are too.

Businesses and products are all around you, you just need to stop going through life with blinders on. Pay attention... every time you hear someone complain or you see something that pisses you off, there is an opportunity there!

Good stuff as always @biophase !
 
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Mac

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This is usually how dropshipping works. Not sure how you are exploit the niche though.
I mean take advantage of it, because there's low competition, but the price per unit is very high. Do you prefer to sell products underneath 100 dollars or what's your preference?
 

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Thanks BioPhase for that great thread!!

When you release a new product, how do you go about package design? Do you design it yourself or run contests on 99designs etc? Or do you simply use the current package design from the China manufacturer until the product gets some traction?
 

biophase

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I mean take advantage of it, because there's low competition, but the price per unit is very high. Do you prefer to sell products underneath 100 dollars or what's your preference?

Many times I've found that there is low competition because the market for the product is tiny. That's why noone else has jumped into it. But the question still is, how are you going to take advantage of it. Just creating a website is not "taking advantage" of something.
 
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biophase

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Thanks BioPhase for that great thread!!

When you release a new product, how do you go about package design? Do you design it yourself or run contests on 99designs etc? Or do you simply use the current package design from the China manufacturer until the product gets some traction?

I don't worry about the packaging. I usually ask for it to be polybagged. I'd put a brand sticker on it or a header card inside the polybag. I design my own packaging.
 

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My ecomm sites are 100% organic traffic now. I still do some adwords, but not alot, like $10 a day. No other ads. FB pages have 5000+ likes but I hardly post there. I used to do google shopping for the sites but I shut that down this year and it does show in my sales. Amazon is around 75% now.
Great thread, as I've mentioned in the past, tons of extremely helpful information for all to gobble up.

My question is why did you decide to drop Google Shopping? In my experience, Google Shopping is a relatively easy way to get very targeted traffic for cheaper than traditional PPC prices, particularly in the case with a large number of SKUs. This is of course given it is setup and maintained properly.
 

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@biophase - I bolded my questions so it's easy to read for you. I hope they have not been asked before.

Do you consistently look for new products now that you have 80 SKUS (I think based on previous pages)? or do you focus more on expanding your current product lines/brands? You have 2 threads going on with new businesses in 2014/2015.

I ask because I currently have 6 products and 3 brands in difference niches. I've been working on them for the past 3 months. I don't see myself getting into new products just yet as I am still not getting consistent sales. When do you know the products are duds?

How do you manage your time on each businesses?

Do you need an intern? (I'm only half joking) o_O
 
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biophase

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Great thread, as I've mentioned in the past, tons of extremely helpful information for all to gobble up.

My question is why did you decide to drop Google Shopping? In my experience, Google Shopping is a relatively easy way to get very targeted traffic for cheaper than traditional PPC prices, particularly in the case with a large number of SKUs. This is of course given it is setup and maintained properly.

You know it was really because google shopping would constantly change their requirements and then my ads would all get shut down until I uploaded a new spreadsheet with the new required data. Sometimes I wouldn't know my ads weren't running for a few weeks. So basically my data feed is probably so far behind the times now that I'd have to redo everything to get my ads restarted again. I never really quit google shopping, it's just that I never went and updated my feed. I have 4 ecommerce sites, so everytime it happens it's such a pain.
 

biophase

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@biophase - I bolded my questions so it's easy to read for you. I hope they have not been asked before.

Do you consistently look for new products now that you have 80 SKUS (I think based on previous pages)? or do you focus more on expanding your current product lines/brands? You have 2 threads going on with new businesses in 2014/2015.

I ask because I currently have 6 products and 3 brands in difference niches. I've been working on them for the past 3 months. I don't see myself getting into new products just yet as I am still not getting consistent sales. When do you know the products are duds?

How do you manage your time on each businesses?

Do you need an intern? (I'm only half joking) o_O

I am always looking for new products within my current lines. The number of SKUs needs to keep growing or you will get swallowed up by your competition.

My 2 new threads from 2014/2015 are new businesses, separate from my other one. I may shut down or sell the 2014 one, as I am concetrating on the 2015 alot more.

Products are duds if you are not turning them over fast enough. You have to allocate your capital wisely.

If you have a product that costs you $10,000 and you can't turn that in 12 months, then you wasted $10k because you could have spent that on another product that may have turned that $10k over 2x in a year. I have some right now that I'm shutting down just based on math and capital.

One product is $80 cost, profits only $25. I have to buy 300 at a time. So $12000 initial investment. Profit is $7500. But it takes 1 year to sell them all.

Another product is $25 cost, profits $25. I have to buy 500 at a time. So $12500 initial investment. Profit is $12500. But they sell out in 6 months. So each year this product brings in $25000.

The second product is clearly better even thought their capital outlay is relatively the same. The first product is a GOOD product. But when you only have so much money, you need to choose the better one. If I had a ton of money, I'd do both.
 

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I am always looking for new products within my current lines. The number of SKUs needs to keep growing or you will get swallowed up by your competition.

My 2 new threads from 2014/2015 are new businesses, separate from my other one. I may shut down or sell the 2014 one, as I am concetrating on the 2015 alot more.

Products are duds if you are not turning them over fast enough. You have to allocate your capital wisely.

If you have a product that costs you $10,000 and you can't turn that in 12 months, then you wasted $10k because you could have spent that on another product that may have turned that $10k over 2x in a year. I have some right now that I'm shutting down just based on math and capital.

One product is $80 cost, profits only $25. I have to buy 300 at a time. So $12000 initial investment. Profit is $7500. But it takes 1 year to sell them all.

Another product is $25 cost, profits $25. I have to buy 500 at a time. So $12500 initial investment. Profit is $12500. But they sell out in 6 months. So each year this product brings in $25000.

The second product is clearly better even thought their capital outlay is relatively the same. The first product is a GOOD product. But when you only have so much money, you need to choose the better one. If I had a ton of money, I'd do both.

With so many SKUs, how many brands do you have then?

I find it difficult to manage so many brands (instagram, facebook, websites...etc)
 
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biophase

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With so many SKUs, how many brands do you have then?
I find it difficult to manage so many brands (instagram, facebook, websites...etc)

Two brands. Only one brand is on instagram and FB and has its own webpage. Other brand is a low end brand with no other stuff going on.
 

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I never really quit google shopping, it's just that I never went and updated my feed. I have 4 ecommerce sites, so everytime it happens it's such a pain.

I can't speak yet to having to update the feed, but I will add that I recently set this up, and it was a total breeze to transfer over my Shopify inventory. It was a pretty seamless integration through the Shopify backend. Google Shopping is the only profitable paid traffic I've run so far, although volume happens to be low for my niche, it does get me 2-3 sales a day on the site.
 

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Thank you for this great thread.

What would you do in a situation like this:

You've developed a product for your higher end Outdoors products brand. After this you then realize there is also a substantial need for this same product in a slightly altered form, but in an unrelated category, such as indoor products for pets. The altered product can easily be made by the same manufacturer you already have, just a slightly different process, so not much extra work on that front.

Would you start a new brand for this product? Or somehow try to tie it in with your existing brand in the unrelated niche? Or just pass on it? Something else?

Thank you for your time!
 
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biophase

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Thank you for this great thread.

What would you do in a situation like this:

You've developed a product for your higher end Outdoors products brand. After this you then realize there is also a substantial need for this same product in a slightly altered form, but in an unrelated category, such as indoor products for pets. The altered product can easily be made by the same manufacturer you already have, just a slightly different process, so not much extra work on that front.

Would you start a new brand for this product? Or somehow try to tie it in with your existing brand in the unrelated niche? Or just pass on it? Something else?

Thank you for your time!

It depends on if the new product is for pets to use outdoors. If it is, then I'd probably go with the same brand name. So if my name were ExtremeX Outdoors, I would probably call it ExtremeX Outdoors Pets, or ExtremeX Pets.

I would pass on it if it wasn't worth my time to start a whole new brand just for one product. However, if I thought it could be a huge product itself I may do it.
 

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I wired the money over instead.
Do you only do this with manufacturers you have built relationships with? Is there any measure you take with a new supplier? Granted the first orders will be of low quantities. I would figure PayPal fees may be worth it in case you need to dispute a transaction.


In regards to your thought process, do you pay attention to what products you want to modify are already patented or patent pending? I know you stated the changes you make are very minor, and not worth patenting themselves. I'm not an attorney, but I had this conversation many years ago with a professor. I believe it is allowed if you take a product (even if it is patented already), and improve upon it and sell it as your own.

EDIT: Forgot to wish you, and everyone else Happy Holidays! :)
 
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Hey Bio,

Since I've sold 50 units of my product already on Amazon and didnt get a single review I was wondering, what do you do to get customer reviews?
I use feedback genius to mail people and kindly ask them to leave a review.
Unfortunaly not one customer ever left a review, even tho I didnt get any complaints about my product quality.
My ebay customers love my product and most of them leave customer feedback.
I know about myself that I never leave feedback on amazon.
For my next order I have 2 ideas how I could get reviews:
1) Put a little "guarantee card" inside the the product which got a 30 day refund and 365 day guarentee on the front side, and a request to leave a review on the backside.
2) Put a little gift card inside the product. Ask the customer to leave a review. If he does, here is a code to get a add-on product (it costs 0.30$ for me) for free.

Problem is that I dont think amazon would like both ideas a 100%. I've read on feedbackgenius that it is not allowed to advertise another product. Even when its free I think.

What do you think about these ideas? I want ways to get "real" reviews, not only reviews from people who bought at 1$ or friends.

I got a second question regarding the reviews of friends. I will add a lot more products to my listing in 2016, do you think amazon will get suspicious if all my reviews come from the same 7 people at each listing?
I could tell them, that these are the most loyal customers in my brick-and-motar store, but if they dont like that, they will close my account anyways.
Did you ever got problems with amazon because of your friends leaving reviews?

Thanks and merry christmas!
 
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biophase

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Do you only do this with manufacturers you have built relationships with? Is there any measure you take with a new supplier? Granted the first orders will be of low quantities. I would figure PayPal fees may be worth it in case you need to dispute a transaction.

With a new supplier, I just start with a smaller order first. Anytime I send money to China, it's money I'm willing to lose.

In regards to your thought process, do you pay attention to what products you want to modify are already patented or patent pending? I know you stated the changes you make are very minor, and not worth patenting themselves. I'm not an attorney, but I had this conversation many years ago with a professor. I believe it is allowed if you take a product (even if it is patented already), and improve upon it and sell it as your own.

EDIT: Forgot to wish you, and everyone else Happy Holidays! :)

No, I don't pay attention to this. My products are very simple and I don't believe any of them have patents.
 

biophase

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Hey Bio,

Since I've sold 50 units of my product already on Amazon and didnt get a single review I was wondering, what do you do to get customer reviews?
I use feedback genius to mail people and kindly ask them to leave a review.
Unfortunaly not one customer ever left a review, even tho I didnt get any complaints about my product quality.
My ebay customers love my product and most of them leave customer feedback.
I know about myself that I never leave feedback on amazon.
For my next order I have 2 ideas how I could get reviews:
1) Put a little "guarantee card" inside the the product which got a 30 day refund and 365 day guarentee on the front side, and a request to leave a review on the backside.
2) Put a little gift card inside the product. Ask the customer to leave a review. If he does, here is a code to get a add-on product (it costs 0.30$ for me) for free.

Problem is that I dont think amazon would like both ideas a 100%. I've read on feedbackgenius that it is not allowed to advertise another product. Even when its free I think.

What do you think about these ideas? I want ways to get "real" reviews, not only reviews from people who bought at 1$ or friends.

I got a second question regarding the reviews of friends. I will add a lot more products to my listing in 2016, do you think amazon will get suspicious if all my reviews come from the same 7 people at each listing?
I could tell them, that these are the most loyal customers in my brick-and-motar store, but if they dont like that, they will close my account anyways.
Did you ever got problems with amazon because of your friends leaving reviews?

Thanks and merry christmas!

If you are not getting any reviews you may want to look at your feedback genius emails. Maybe you need to send them a 2 email sequence. You should be getting a response unless your customers just don't care too much about your product.

I really think if depends on the product. Some of my products get many reviews and some get no reviews. If it's something people are passionate about they will leave reviews for you.

I have one product that I've been selling for 4 years and it has 200 reviews. Another one product that's been selling for 2 years and has 5 reviews. And finally one that I've been selling for 3 months has 75 reviews.

I probably would not have all your friends review each listing, especially if they are not verified purchases.
 

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If you are not getting any reviews you may want to look at your feedback genius emails. Maybe you need to send them a 2 email sequence. You should be getting a response unless your customers just don't care too much about your product.

I really think if depends on the product. Some of my products get many reviews and some get no reviews. If it's something people are passionate about they will leave reviews for you.

I have one product that I've been selling for 4 years and it has 200 reviews. Another one product that's been selling for 2 years and has 5 reviews. And finally one that I've been selling for 3 months has 75 reviews.

I probably would not have all your friends review each listing, especially if they are not verified purchases.

Thanks for your answer. I will start sending them 2 emails. One after their product is shipped and one after it arrived at their place.
I think the problem is that my product isnt a product you become passionate about, just a product some people need from time to time.

All of my friends really buy my product (And I give them their money back + get my product back) so they are verified purchases.
I try to get more people for leaving me reviews and dont let all, always review each product.
 
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Hey Bio,

How do you determine that you've done enough research before just launching your product? Do you have a set date and launch it whether or not you feel you've done enough due diligence?

What would you do in this situation? I found a product I want to improve upon. I emailed a couple of manufacturers. At this point I have only created an email account dedicated to this niche. I plan on selling on Amazon for several months to see if it catches traction and hopefully start its own website. I got an email back asking for my company name, full address, telephone number, and website. I'm sure they get a lot of inquiries, and got tired of answering questions that don't go anywhere. I am still working a full time job, and plan on communicating entirely via email at this point since I can do that after work and weekends.

Also, in regards to returns/refunds..how do you handle them? Let's say someone emails you many months later and asking for a refund because the product breaks.

Thanks as always.
 
Last edited:

biophase

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Hey Bio,

How do you determine that you've done enough research before just launching your product? Do you have a set date and launch it whether or not you feel you've done enough due diligence?

What would you do in this situation? I found a product I want to improve upon. I emailed a couple of manufacturers. At this point I have only created an email account dedicated to this niche. I plan on selling on Amazon for several months to see if it catches traction and hopefully start its own website. I got an email back asking for my company name, full address, telephone number, and website. I'm sure they get a lot of inquiries, and got tired of answering questions that don't go anywhere. I am still working a full time job, and plan on communicating entirely via email at this point since I can do that after work and weekends.

Also, in regards to returns/refunds..how do you handle them? Let's say someone emails you many months later and asking for a refund because the product breaks.

Thanks as always.

I don't set any date or anything like that. I don't do much due diligence. What kind of due diligence are you talking about exactly?

I don't understand your second question. Was there a question in there?

Refunds/returns I just give the refund or send them another product. Most of that is handled through Amazon. Be prepared to get a decent amount of returns as Amazon makes it so easy.
 

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