Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

[biophase]

I'm know I'm late to the party but just a quick bit of personal experience on this.

I had a friend who I helped set up a website for at almost the exact same time I set up my website. I helped him get advertising running taught him how to add products the entire bit. The friend decided his niche just wasn't working out so he copied every product I had and started competing directly with me. To top it all off he was charging $10 less per item on every single product so he would take sales away from me. There was one thing that I did differently than him... I reinvested everything into adding more products, marketing, etc. He used his business to live on barely reinvesting anything. Fast forward to December 2016. I closed the year out grossing nearly 2 million in sales. He closed the year out going back to a job because his business had dwindled to almost nothing. Yes, reinvesting the profit back into the business is vital!

What an a**hole. I'm sure there was also a huge disparity in skills and intelligence that accounted for the success difference.

 

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[Ecom man]

What an a**hole. I'm sure there was also a huge disparity in skills and intelligence that accounted for the success difference.

Actually not much at the beginning. We both had very similar backgrounds and skills at the time. Today... yeah I have tons of skills he doesn't have because I learned them while growing the business. (Sorry for sidetracking your thread btw.)

 

[maverick]

My first question is? Which product will you provide better value on?

I don't even look at margin vs volume because if you can't sell or rank your product it doesn't matter.

I agree 100% on this. Focus on providing value first. After that look at customer lifetime value (e.g. how much does the customer spend in their 'lifetime' with you/ your brand) and what you can do to increase it.

If you have a low margin product but you provide it with the best possible value, then you're effectively using that to generate leads i.e. customers that demonstrate that they have a particular need that you're fulfilling (..remember that value we emphasized earlier!). You can advertise your higher margin (and value!) products to them to effectively grow their lifetime value.

 

[illmasterj]

My first question is? Which product will you provide better value on?

I don't even look at margin vs volume because if you can't sell or rank your product it doesn't matter.

In all cases I am trying to provide as much value as possible. The highest quality product for the lower quality price. I don't have the knowledge/investment to custom design my own products yet (just packaging), but intend to in future.

 

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[AllorNothing]

Hey @biophase great thread. I just finished reading from Page 1 to 43. Took me 2 hours

What softwares are you using right now?
Still stichlabs + bench.co? Thanks!

 

[biophase]

Hey @biophase great thread. I just finished reading from Page 1 to 43. Took me 2 hours

What softwares are you using right now?
Still stichlabs + bench.co? Thanks!

Just bench.co now. Stitch labs became too expensive. I've also switched to Shopify. Using shipstation for shipping.

 

[jsdev]

@biophase So better late than never! I want to give a big thanks to you man. The old ecommerce thread (back in 2013) gave me everything I needed to start first ecommerce business, which I ended up selling last year. Really was a game changer for me. Looking forward to contributing and catching up on this thread! Happy to answer questions on Bigcommerce, Shopify, Ebay & selling a business

 

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[JAJT]

The old ecommerce thread (back in 2013) gave me everything I needed to start first ecommerce business, which I ended up selling last year. Really was a game changer for me.

I'd certainly love to learn more about this and I'm sure there is a TON of value in that story for others as well.

Why not start a new thread about what you learned, how you did, how the sale went, and what your future plans are?

Thanks for coming out of the shadows and posting

 

[amp0193]

@biophase which I ended up selling last year.

I 2nd @JAJT . I'm working on selling my business now, and would love to hear your experience.

 

[jsdev]

I 2nd @JAJT . I'm working on selling my business now, and would love to hear your experience.

Sure guys, give me a few days to write something. @amp0193 Are you using a broker?

 

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[amp0193]

Sure guys, give me a few days to write something. @amp0193 Are you using a broker?

Yes. Working with quietlight

 

[Longinus]

Forever Jobless podcast with Biophase.

Surprised this wasn't shared yet on this forum.

 

[amp0193]

Forever Jobless podcast with Biophase.

Surprised this wasn't shared yet on this forum.

Thanks for the share, I hadn't seen the podcasts.


@biophase Maybe you've shared some about this in the dog business thread, but I think it'd be good if you made a post elaborating on what you talked about on the podcast. Specifically: The reasons for starting a business, and how doing business for the right reasons can make your business more resilient and ultimately more successful.

I think a lot of forum members would get value from that.

 

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[kutlarvadisi]

Hi
I find a product on amazon and I find a manufacture on china who can make the improvement that I want
I'm going to place a sample order of 200 units but they ask USD1750 for The shipping cost for DDP to Amazon Warehouse
I find the shipping cost very expensive
what do you think guys is'it normal ??
sorry for my English

Thanks

 

[Longinus]

Hi
I find a product on amazon and I find a manufacture on china who can make the improvement that I want
I'm going to place a sample order of 200 units but they ask USD1750 for The shipping cost for DDP to Amazon Warehouse
I find the shipping cost very expensive
what do you think guys is'it normal ??
sorry for my English

Thanks

Shipping costs depend on volume and weight and DDP is the most expensive formula you can choose. Yes, that can be normal.

Fyi: my last shipping costed $1900 for 110 units (DDP) and my next will cost $2400 for 240 units (DDU).

 

[kutlarvadisi]

thank you so much for your reply

1750$+ 1400$(the cost to manufacture 200unit)=3150$
so with this numbers my profit is gone
for those who live outside the USA what can you do with situation
please give me your opinion

thanks

Shipping costs depend on volume and weight and DDP is the most expensive formula you can choose. Yes, that can be normal.

Fyi: my last shipping costed $1900 for 110 units (DDP) and my next will cost $2400 for 240 units (DDU).

 

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[MoneyDoc]

Hi
I find a product on amazon and I find a manufacture on china who can make the improvement that I want
I'm going to place a sample order of 200 units but they ask USD1750 for The shipping cost for DDP to Amazon Warehouse
I find the shipping cost very expensive
what do you think guys is'it normal ??
sorry for my English

Thanks

How big is your units?

I've imported products from China direct to amazon and shipping cost me more than the product it self... Sometimes there's no way around that.

 

[kutlarvadisi]

What's your product cost per unit?

7.25$

 

[Longinus]

thank you so much for your reply

1750$+ 1400$(the cost to manufacture 200unit)=3150$
so with this numbers my profit is gone
for those who live outside the USA what can you do with situation
please give me your opinion

thanks

I am also one of "those".

A very general rule of thumb is 1/3 for shipping & handling, 1/3 for manufacturing costs and 1/3 profit, but this depends of course for any situation.

For my first batch now it's like 50% for shipping, 30% for manufacturing and 20% profit.

You could look for another product or sell at a higher price.

 

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[samuraijack]

edited

 

[QDF]

Hey @biophase

I'm sure you have experience with people ripping off your listings.

I've had this happen before, and again now. Someone is selling a product that is a variation to mine, and they copied my title word for word, and my description word for word. And they create an offer under my listing for a cheaper price.

I've messaged them multiple times, they apologize, and they continue to do the same thing. Reported them to Amazon too. I'm still in the top 2000 for sales rank while they are around 50,000 though, so not hugely concerned yet, but I'd prefer to get rid of them.

Have you had anything similar happen? What was your experience?


Other question I've been meaning to ask in this thread too. Part of my product and value proposition to customers is a killer warranty for a product that typically has durability issues. What do you think of having a warranty and sending people to your website to register for the warranty after they purchase the product on Amazon.

Up to this point, I've just stuck to my warranty either way (and I'd continue to do so), but I've had people ask or say that there is no way to register for the warranty. Very few, but people have mentioned it occasionally. I figure I could put an insert in the bag or on the packaging to register for the warranty, and could get some leads this way. Haven't done it to this point because I don't know how Amazon would take it, and very few people have asked about it.

 

[biophase]

Hey @biophase

I've messaged them multiple times, they apologize, and they continue to do the same thing. Reported them to Amazon too. I'm still in the top 2000 for sales rank while they are around 50,000 though, so not hugely concerned yet, but I'd prefer to get rid of them.

Have you had anything similar happen? What was your experience?

Other question I've been meaning to ask in this thread too. Part of my product and value proposition to customers is a killer warranty for a product that typically has durability issues. What do you think of having a warranty and sending people to your website to register for the warranty after they purchase the product on Amazon.

Up to this point, I've just stuck to my warranty either way (and I'd continue to do so), but I've had people ask or say that there is no way to register for the warranty. Very few, but people have mentioned it occasionally. I figure I could put an insert in the bag or on the packaging to register for the warranty, and could get some leads this way. Haven't done it to this point because I don't know how Amazon would take it, and very few people have asked about it.

Did you report to Amazon that they are selling counterfeit items? Place a test order and when you receive it, report it to Amazon that it is a counterfeit product.

Yes, I have a warranty on my products and ask them to register it on the packaging.

 

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[QDF]

Did you report to Amazon that they are selling counterfeit items? Place a test order and when you receive it, report it to Amazon that it is a counterfeit product.

I placed a test order anyway, but they removed their offer from my listing when I sent them a message.

The real problem that's quite annoying is they still have their own ASIN (just their version of my product) where they have copied the title and bulletpoints word for word from my product. Over time, I don't expect their version of this product to get near as good of reviews as mine, but for now, they're moving up the sales rank while directly stealing my title and descriptions, and from what I can understand, Amazon won't do anything about this part.

Yes, I have a warranty on my products and ask them to register it on the packaging.

Do a significant percentage of your Amazon customers actually register for the warranty? This sounds like a great way to use Amazon sales to slowly develop an outside customer base.

 

[DrkSide]

The real problem that's quite annoying is they still have their own ASIN (just their version of my product) where they have copied the title and bulletpoints word for word from my product.

You can file a copyright claim against them. Go to Amazon.com - Report Infringement and fill out the form and give a link to your website where they copied it from. I have done this in the past with wording and photos that were copied from my listings and website and it has worked.

 

[QDF]

Done.

Thanks! Going to wait to see if this will work. Rep+

Seems I've had a constant supply of overseas sellers leaching onto my listings as soon as I'm out of stock too. It's getting to be impossible to fight them all off. I feel like I'm on the greens at the golf course constantly swatting away all of gnats - no matter who many you swat, they're still there.

 

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[biophase]

Do a significant percentage of your Amazon customers actually register for the warranty? This sounds like a great way to use Amazon sales to slowly develop an outside customer base.

No, a very low percentage of people sign up.

 

[Era]

I've also switched to Shopify.

Hey Bio, why the switch away from Sparkpay?

 

[biophase]

Hey Bio, why the switch away from Sparkpay?

They charged for bandwidth so it was actually more expensive than Shopify. Also, my sites lost alot of SEO ranking after I switched. When I moved it back to Shopify, my rankings came back.

 

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[samuraijack]

So quick question...

what's the general consensus on getting product reviews?

Feedbackfive vs feedbackgenius vs feedbackz

# of emails in email sequence

time after delivery for first email + time in between emails in sequence

Email content

Also i've heard some people on the seller forums say that it's better not to ask for feedback and let amazon handle it. They said amazon sends out emails for product reviews (but I've never recieved one from them).

Thoughts?

 

[jsdev]

I'd certainly love to learn more about this and I'm sure there is a TON of value in that story for others as well.

Why not start a new thread about what you learned, how you did, how the sale went, and what your future plans are?

Thanks for coming out of the shadows and posting

its up My experience selling my ecommerce business