Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

[biophase]

How do you guys ship internationally?

I enabled FBA export but Amazon has not approved my product as eligible.

My product is 1lb and cheapest option I found is $22.50 from USPS first class international. At that price, it's almost the price of my product itself.

You just need to charge $22.50 for shipping. I charge whatever they charge me.

 

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[uupro]

Just finished reading the 47 pages of this thread. One of the best "books" I have ever read, thank you all so much and for those starting out, don't give up, it's not too late, learn and execute.

 

[secondhanddog]

Quick question for everyone. Has anyone had issues with being made in china tainting the product? After having had manufacturer in china finish my samples and they'll be sending them shortly (followed the process of taking an existing product, designing it with higher quality materials).

The materials in this case come from Italy, and the marketing will be focused on "high quality material from italy" and leaving out the fact they were made in china (non-chinese companies are balls to detail with).

Process I'm following into order to make sure it's a viable product:
Order samples -> create high quality photos/marketing with the samples (get feedback from people) -> run ads with marketing to store -> if people actually click the buy button, refund or display a "sold out" with discount for buying when in stock -> if successful buy the MOQ from Chinese supplier. -> sell

 

[biophase]

Quick question for everyone. Has anyone had issues with being made in china tainting the product? After having had manufacturer in china finish my samples and they'll be sending them shortly (followed the process of taking an existing product, designing it with higher quality materials).

The materials in this case come from Italy, and the marketing will be focused on "high quality material from italy" and leaving out the fact they were made in china (non-chinese companies are balls to detail with).

Process I'm following into order to make sure it's a viable product:
Order samples -> create high quality photos/marketing with the samples (get feedback from people) -> run ads with marketing to store -> if people actually click the buy button, refund or display a "sold out" with discount for buying when in stock -> if successful buy the MOQ from Chinese supplier. -> sell

Not sure what you mean by tainting the product. Are you sourcing material from Italy and sending it to China?

 

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[secondhanddog]

Not sure what you mean by tainting the product. Are you sourcing material from Italy and sending it to China?

Sorry for not being clearer. The material is sourced from Italy and then processed into the product in China. For selling items, do people care if the product is made in China, or is this only an issue for luxury goods?

 

[biophase]

Sorry for not being clearer. The material is sourced from Italy and then processed into the product in China. For selling items, do people care if the product is made in China, or is this only an issue for luxury goods?

I think some people care. But not that many. I don't personally see it as an issue. Made in China is pretty much like made in the USA in quality for many products. Sometimes, the only difference is literally the location of the person running the machine. They use the same machines and the same materials.

 

[secondhanddog]

I think some people care. But not that many. I don't personally see it as an issue. Made in China is pretty much like made in the USA in quality for many products. Sometimes, the only difference is literally the location of the person running the machine. They use the same machines and the same materials.

Thanks mate, good to hear that from an experienced seller. Your posts are the best.

Strangely I always thought made in china meant lesser quality until I started sourcing products. The chinese factories are 100x easier to deal with then other countries and the quality is really up there. Show them a couple photos of what you want, tell them the materials, and they have no problems getting you a design and giving you tips on changes and even selling strategies. The cash for the MOQ can be rough but that just keeps more people out of the market.

 

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[Walter Hay]

I agree with @biophase that Made in China is much like Made in the USA. I have even seen in China the exact piece of machinery that I was familiar with in Australia that had been dismantled and shipped to China. Production quality was identical.

Also, when I first started buying from China, I was able to buy better quality than I had been buying locally. The product was labor intensive, so my landed cost was about 1/4 to 1/3 of what I had been paying.

That's not to say that some Chinese factories don't turn out poor quality. Very often that's a result of being squeezed by big buyers and people who love haggling.

Don't be fooled by quoted MOQs. @biophase has previously (Sept 7, 2015) quite correctly pointed out that most sellers are flexible, but I would add that this often will not be the case if you blunder in and ask first up: "What's your MOQ?"

Walter

 

[Mr_Maravish]

So I'm ready to start validation. I have a few units, some photos, some copy that I have to enhance. Question is, My product contains 3 individual pieces that are not boxed, before I send them to Amazon would I need to put all three in a Poly Bag as per the Amazon rules?

 

[Denim Chicken]

So I'm ready to start validation. I have a few units, some photos, some copy that I have to enhance. Question is, My product contains 3 individual pieces that are not boxed, before I send them to Amazon would I need to put all three in a Poly Bag as per the Amazon rules?

yes

 

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[biophase]

So I'm ready to start validation. I have a few units, some photos, some copy that I have to enhance. Question is, My product contains 3 individual pieces that are not boxed, before I send them to Amazon would I need to put all three in a Poly Bag as per the Amazon rules?

If you didn't do that how would Amazon know that they belong together?

 

[secondhanddog]

Don't be fooled by quoted MOQs. @biophase has previously (Sept 7, 2015) quite correctly pointed out that most sellers are flexible, but I would add that this often will not be the case if you blunder in and ask first up: "What's your MOQ?"

Not too worried about the quality, more people not buying because "it's made in china, booo", but as @biophase pointed out, people don't care that much. Just going to leave it out of the marketing, focus on where the materials come from (and the quality).

Have found some flexibility in MOQ, 300 being the lowest most will go, but will do different colours in that MOQ (3 x 100 of each colour). Unless they see you have previously ordered before, they also charge for samples (not much 50~ including shipping, 100 if they have make a special order for materials). Have had a couple try to offer alternative samples for quality checking but that doesn't do me much good as the samples are used for marketing shots and feedback from people.

Love your posts too Walter, they have been a great help.

 

[NickC]

@biophase thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.

I am talking with a supplier currently about a certain product. This product has fairly low margins as the price point is low( 9.99-15.99)
I've already received samples and like what i see.

The problem comes with shipping the items. They are small and lightweight but i am ordering a custom item.

So when i ask the supplier what the CBM/Weight of the shipment will be, this is what they respond with.
"The CBM is around 0.0045.
The weight is around 0.85kg.
But it is not the correct details, just estimate."

Price of item is about 1.60 per unit FOB.

How do you feel good about pulling the trigger on a custom item without knowing the exact shipping details? Is my supplier giving me the right info? What should i do in this situation?

Thanks again.

 

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[biophase]

@biophase thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.

I am talking with a supplier currently about a certain product. This product has fairly low margins as the price point is low( 9.99-15.99)
I've already received samples and like what i see.

The problem comes with shipping the items. They are small and lightweight but i am ordering a custom item.

So when i ask the supplier what the CBM/Weight of the shipment will be, this is what they respond with.
"The CBM is around 0.0045.
The weight is around 0.85kg.
But it is not the correct details, just estimate."

Price of item is about 1.60 per unit FOB.

How do you feel good about pulling the trigger on a custom item without knowing the exact shipping details? Is my supplier giving me the right info? What should i do in this situation?

Thanks again.

Did you give them a quantity when you asked them the CBM and weight of the shipment? They are giving you the info for a single product right?

 

[NickC]

Did you give them a quantity when you asked them the CBM and weight of the shipment? They are giving you the info for a single product right?

Yes we were speaking about 500 units but her response was in single units. So I would have to multiply her number by 500.

Thanks again

 

[biophase]

Yes we were speaking about 500 units but her response was in single units. So I would have to multiply her number by 500.

Thanks again

I would ask her again, because your packaging and box may increase the CBM a little more than just multiplying.

 

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[secondhanddog]

Don't be fooled by quoted MOQs. @biophase has previously (Sept 7, 2015) quite correctly pointed out that most sellers are flexible, but I would add that this often will not be the case if you blunder in and ask first up: "What's your MOQ?"

By the way, do you have suggestions for negotiating smaller MOQs? I'd love to get a MOQ of 20-50 to test selling, but my supplier is only willing to do 3 samples with a MOQ of 300 @ $17usd per item. They are also asking for a 40% deposit (~$4000USD) before producing any other samples of different models.

 

[biophase]

By the way, do you have suggestions for negotiating smaller MOQs? I'd love to get a MOQ of 20-50 to test selling, but my supplier is only willing to do 3 samples with a MOQ of 300 @ $17usd per item. They are also asking for a 40% deposit (~$4000USD) before producing any other samples of different models.

Sometimes it depends on the price of the item. They aren't going to be interested in 50x$17 order. It's only $850. So 20 units, or $340 is pretty much out of the question. 300 x $17 is a $5100 which is just about where you get them interested on an item. I'm assuming the items are different and not just different colors?

40% deposit is high. Most places ask for 30%.

Right now I have a new product that is $38 and they want 500 MOQ which is a $19,000 order. I'm trying to get that down to 100 pcs at $45 or $50 so I can do a test run on it. I'm not testing a new product at $20k. But at $5k, I'm ok with it.

 

[secondhanddog]

I'm assuming the items are different and not just different colors?

That's right, they agreed to do up to 3 different colours at MOQ300 - so 100 of each colour. That's just the product too, going to do the packaging and sending myself for the first run.

40% deposit is high. Most places ask for 30%.

Thanks for that, thought 40% seemed a bit high.

Right now I have a new product that is $38 and they want 500 MOQ which is a $19,000 order. I'm trying to get that down to 100 pcs at $45 or $50 so I can do a test run on it. I'm not testing a new product at $20k. But at $5k, I'm ok with it.

Nice! Good luck with the new project. It's a shame more suppliers don't want to do smaller runs for product testing, maybe they don't care.

Cheers for the advice!

 

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[Scot]

What do you reccomend for shipping packages over 1lb (1lb 3oz to be exact)? FBA isn't an option for me as my product is only around $5.

I know USPS is typically the best option, but I've seen mixed reports that you need huge volume to get discounts.

Have you used 3p shipping like Shipstation, what discounts can you expect?

Thanks!


Original question posted here, but figured more people would get value if the question was asked on your thread.
Best option for Ecommerce shipping

 

[secondhanddog]

Short update, samples have arrived. Good quality but need changes. Manufacturer has supplied CAD files for the changes but won't make the samples until the 30% deposit is paid ($2000~ usd). Annoyingly, need samples for product validation. So now getting a 3d product mock-up done for validation ($300~)before committing to deposit. The manufacturer is a little pushy on the deposit, but that's understandable before they commit more resources to something that might not pan out. Not sure if I can pressure them for another paid sample before the deposit. Thoughts?

 

[mclaren]

Is it acceptable (legal?) to use the photos from the product pages on Aliexpress? I am dropshipping a few items and I asked the suppliers themselves if I can use their photos and they said yes. However, I searched for the photos on Google and found a few other websites using the same exact ones. I am not sure who owns the photos. Could be the supplier or could be one of the online stores and everybody is stealing their photos. Would it be alright if I put some sort of disclaimer on the product page saying the images are not taken by me, I don't have any affiliation with the photographer, and the designer provided them to me?

 

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[secondhanddog]

Is it acceptable (legal?) to use the photos from the product pages on Aliexpress? I am dropshipping a few items and I asked the suppliers themselves if I can use their photos and they said yes. However, I searched for the photos on Google and found a few other websites using the same exact ones. I am not sure who owns the photos. Could be the supplier or could be one of the online stores and everybody is stealing their photos. Would it be alright if I put some sort of disclaimer on the product page saying the images are not taken by me, I don't have any affiliation with the photographer, and the designer provided them to me?

Mostly likely they are just taking the aliexpress suppliers photos. Skip the disclaimer, almost no-one cares about stolen product photos, and it'll probably make people worry about trustworthiness of your store. You should probably alter the photos a little in photoshop to avoid reverse image searches.

 

[mclaren]

Mostly likely they are just taking the aliexpress suppliers photos. Skip the disclaimer, almost no-one cares about stolen product photos, and it'll probably make people worry about trustworthiness of your store. You should probably alter the photos a little in photoshop to avoid reverse image searches.

That's what I am hoping for. Just seems off to me that these are supplier photos unless these Chinese suppliers have gotten super sophisticated. By the way, I am not referring to basic product photos with a white background or something. I'm selling clothes, and some of the supplier photos include actual people wearing the apparel. Some of the photos look like model-grade quality. I'll show you an example. I just picked this out of random.

Aliexpress.com - Online Shopping for Electronics, Fashion, Home & Garden, Toys & Sports, Automobiles and more

Reverse searched it and found 2 websites selling it and using the same picture. But it looks like they definitely took that from the supplier. Maybe I'm just over complicating this since I did some more research and found many other websites using similar photos to sell the same item.

 

[secondhanddog]

Reverse searched it and found 2 websites selling it and using the same picture. But it looks like they definitely took that from the supplier. Maybe I'm just over complicating this since I did some more research and found many other websites using similar photos to sell the same item.

Ah I see what you mean, yeah I'll leave that question to some of the more experienced guys. Have heard of chinese suppliers taking instagram models images for their product photos.

 

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[AJ Archer]

Hello, just joined this page and want to find out information, I have an idea for a product, I have done some basic market research on it and I'm trying to find the steps to figuring out how to either;

A) manufacture it myself and advertise the product, or

B) manufacture and sell it to companies who might produce it themselves and sell it ..

I'm not component enough with all this to know enough and there are too many varying opinions on Google to know where to begin

 

[johnp]

@biophase

I’d really appreciate your response when you get the time. I’m still very confused about how to deal with multiple versions of the same type of product.

I finally got my product on FBA and I’m driving ppc traffic to it. I’ve almost sold out in 24 hours since getting on ppc, I think that I have 1 unit left. So now I’m convinced that I really need to pull my head out of my a$$ and focus on Amazon.

So without giving my product away, here’s the situation.

Let’s say that I sell 3 kinds of shampoo for dogs.

1. Coconut shampoo
2. Mango shampoo, and
3. Apple shampoo

Same formula, but the image on each bottle is different and the fragrance is different for each. I probably would even want to use a different product description.

Let’s say that I want to drive ppc traffic to all three products since they are my best sellers outside of Amazon.


Should I list each product individually?


Or should I create a multi-product listing?


I guess my fear is that if I list each product individually then I’ll end up competing with myself as I use the same keywords and my products gain more rank for the keywords.

Thanks!

 

[ecommerce_lovin]

Hey guys!

Does anyone know a good site for getting E-commerce product videos produced? I have been looking around for a few days now and everyone I can find is like $10K for 4-8 products.

Thanks in advance for any tips/leads.

 

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[secondhanddog]

Hello, just joined this page and want to find out information, I have an idea for a product, I have done some basic market research on it and I'm trying to find the steps to figuring out how to either;

A) manufacture it myself and advertise the product, or

B) manufacture and sell it to companies who might produce it themselves and sell it ..

I'm not component enough with all this to know enough and there are too many varying opinions on Google to know where to begin

You should probably start at the beginning of this thread and read through.

 

[AG356]

Hi @biophase!

Thanks for offering your wisdom and time to help others out!

I'll try to make it as short as possible, so here it goes:
I'm standing only an inch away from finally launching my product on Amazon, however the product appears to be bugged. Whenever I try to look at the listing through Seller Central, I'll get a 404 Error that the page is not available. The product is active and everything is like it should be, according to the Amazon Support which I don't even want to get started on. They tell me that the product is available and working for them, if they try to open it. However, neither on my laptop, my smartphone, my other computer nor on 3 different terminal equipment of friends, two of which are currently located in Germany (incase it's somehow flagged by an internet provider), the link will generate a 404 and it can't be found in through the search engine.

It's been one week and ten emails since I started the convo with the support, however no solution was found. I told them that it's probably because they access the data directly from their servers through their intranet and that the data isn't available for anyone outside their network etc. etc. Long story short, the case is getting pushed around by employees who obviously* don't care as much as I do (*), so I figured maybe it's a glitch you've come across in the past years.

Thank you!
(I'll keep you guys updated if the problem gets solved in the meantime and how they managed to do it, in case some of you experience the same fate as me)