Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

[Nrr]

BTW, A little rant and information about importing...

In my experience, the companies that ask ridiculous amounts for a sample always seem to end up being the shitty ones. I would venture that they are shitty so they only make money by asking high prices for samples.

I usually get samples from 2-4 different vendors. Some companies will charge a reasonable $10 for a sample and some will charge $50. Then some will charge $30 for shipping and others $50. Then on top of that, some will charge a 5% paypal fee.

So I usually get a sample from whoever I like in my email exchanges and I tend to ignore the high costs because in reality, I can spend $200-$300 getting samples, because I know that when I get the correct sample, I will make alot more later on.

However, after doing this a few years. I've noticed that the high sample priced companies never delivered on quality. I have never moved forward with a company that made me pay alot for a sample. I usually got the best samples from the companies that sent the sample for free or a low price and charged reasonably for shipping.

Because I am fairly experienced at this, I usually send all the information that they need in my first email. I send my quantity, all my artwork, logos, pantone colors, header card design, packaging information and even my ship to address. What I really expect is an email that just says, we can do this at XXX price shipped to your door.

But what I usually get back is a bunch of questions that I answered in the first email. However, there will always be that one vendor that read the whole email and quoted everything perfectly, or very close to it. I usually give these guys a shot at a sample no matter their price.

Just last night, I was in talks with 5 vendors on a new product. This is a fairly simple screen print onto polyester product costing between $.50-$2.00.

Vendor #1, I sent my artwork PDF and they literally printed it and sent me back a photo of a finished product within 1 hour! And it looked good. I was like holy shit, that was fast. I paypal'd them $30 and they are sending my the sample so I can see and feel it.

Vendor #2 game me excuses like they couldn't read my file, the artwork was the wrong size, and wanted me to resize my artwork. I told them I would not do it and also told them I had samples coming already. Then magically they could do it! They want $60 setup charge to make my sample and $30 to ship it. No thanks. Their prices are 60% the price of Vendor #1.

Vendor #3 could not understand my artwork, I told them I want a 2.5cm x 2.5cm logo in the corner and they sent my a proof with dimensions showing the logo at 5cm x 4cm. Not a good sign to start with. They were priced the same as Vendor #1.

Vendor #4 and #5, were out of the ballpark in pricing. My guess is that they were not a factory.

So in this case, I only ended up with one sample coming. If it matches my current offering, I'm going with them. Even if they aren't the cheapest.

I have interest in know.... Do you sign commercial agreements with your suppliers ?

If you make that ... about what number of inventory and what terms do you put in the agreement?

I m thinking in make that the next time because ... I always have big delay for everything Can you give me some tips for not lose much time ?
Especially if you cant see the inventory , my product not come to my country and go directly to Amazon Warehouse in USA (So this can be a risk , what is the correct way to work if you can't check the product yourself ? =

PD: My supplier ask me "Telephone number of the consignee of US." He need some data to submit to FDA ... Amazon warehouse have phone ?

 

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[biophase]

I have interest in know.... Do you sign commercial agreements with your suppliers ?

If you make that ... about what number of inventory and what terms do you put in the agreement?

I m thinking in make that the next time because ... I always have big delay for everything Can you give me some tips for not lose much time ?
Especially if you cant see the inventory , my product not come to my country and go directly to Amazon Warehouse in USA (So this can be a risk , what is the correct way to work if you can't check the product yourself ? =

PD: My supplier ask me "Telephone number of the consignee of US." He need some data to submit to FDA ... Amazon warehouse have phone ?

No, I do not have commercial agreements with my suppliers.

I'm not sure how to avoid delays. You are at the mercy of the suppliers. If you are constantly getting late shipments you need to determine why. You should know how much time is needed to make your goods after a few shipments. I always have it shipped to my warehouse and then to Amazon.

I am not sure what phone number to put down if you are shipping to Amazon's warehouse. Who handles the issues if your shipment arrives damaged? or boxes are missing?

 

[RisingStars]

Hey biophase,

Today I got my first product in amazon FBA and they already listed it.
If you had to build a new account and new products how would you go about ranking it as high as possible?
I thought it would be good like this:
-Make a discount
-Let friends buy --> Let them write a review and give them their money back & take the product back
-with 5 reviews (not a very competitive niche) I will do the sponsoring for amazon products to get it to page 1 and then get regular sales.

Would you do it like this? Anything to improve?

I have currently 4 products but 2 are only a color variation so I have to do this twice since 2 colors can go under 1 listing, even when they have different barcode, right?

Thanks

 

[vaizbunas]

If you sell somewhere else besides Amazon, how do you manage your stock?

I get lots of headache when people buy from Facebook pms,comes directly to store and then web. All this is just killing me. Any recommendations?

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

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[Jesus]

I would just find some place to accept the pallets. Maybe the cheapest solution is to get a self storage garage. That solves the inventory and acceptance problem.

Why would you not have time to handle all the sales coming in? How many sales do you do a month? You just need to automate and manage the process better. If you work 8 hours a day, you should be able to ship out alot of product. I remember when I used to time myself, that I could do 22 orders per hour manually printing out the packing slips and shipping labels. That would be 160 orders a day. Do you do anywhere close to that?

Thank you for the advice on storage and I guess I need to re evaluate the whole process to make time more efficient. As for the orders and packing I guess if the only thing I did for an entire workday was print and pack I can do over 100 orders per day but I can only spend so much time in packing and shipping since the rest of my time goes to answering e-mails, book keeping, researching products, listings and so on...

 

[Chazmania]

Thank you for the advice on storage...

I bought an enclosed trailer to solve this problem of where to store inventory cheaply without filling up the house. I use it for other things too but basically it's a garage on wheels. If you have space for it - it may be cheaper than renting a storage garage etc, and no travel required.

 

[biophase]

Hey biophase,

Today I got my first product in amazon FBA and they already listed it.
If you had to build a new account and new products how would you go about ranking it as high as possible?
I thought it would be good like this:
-Make a discount
-Let friends buy --> Let them write a review and give them their money back & take the product back
-with 5 reviews (not a very competitive niche) I will do the sponsoring for amazon products to get it to page 1 and then get regular sales.

Would you do it like this? Anything to improve?

I have currently 4 products but 2 are only a color variation so I have to do this twice since 2 colors can go under 1 listing, even when they have different barcode, right?

Thanks

Your plan sounds about right. This is how people did it before the review groups. But why would you need to make a discount then? Let them buy at full price.

Your color variations can go under the same listing with 2 barcodes.

 

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[biophase]

Thank you for the advice on storage and I guess I need to re evaluate the whole process to make time more efficient. As for the orders and packing I guess if the only thing I did for an entire workday was print and pack I can do over 100 orders per day but I can only spend so much time in packing and shipping since the rest of my time goes to answering e-mails, book keeping, researching products, listings and so on...

But you should be able to pack 100 orders a day in about 4-5 hours. So you have 3-5 hours to do all that other stuff.

I don't know your volume, but if is it way more than 100 orders a day, then you can probably hire a person to help you pack. Or you can spend Saturdays and Sundays packing. If you know something is going to sell, you can pack it early. Can't you really pack your stuff as soon as you get a bid? You know it's going to sell. If you have 200 iphones, why aren't they sitting in a box all ready to be shipped? How many people buy multiple iphones?

 

[biophase]

I bought an enclosed trailer to solve this problem of where to store inventory cheaply without filling up the house. I use it for other things too but basically it's a garage on wheels. If you have space for it - it may be cheaper than renting a storage garage etc, and no travel required.

His issue would be that if it got broken in to, he would lose a crap load of money.

 

[biophase]

If you sell somewhere else besides Amazon, how do you manage your stock?

I get lots of headache when people buy from Facebook pms,comes directly to store and then web. All this is just killing me. Any recommendations?

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Why don't you send the Facebook PMs to your store? I manage the inventory with Stitchlabs.

 

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[Jesus]

But you should be able to pack 100 orders a day in about 4-5 hours. So you have 3-5 hours to do all that other stuff.

I don't know your volume, but it is it way more than 100 orders a day, then you can probably hire a person to help you pack. Or you can spend Saturdays and Sundays packing. If you know something is going to sell, you can pack it early. Can't you really pack your stuff as soon as you get a bid? You know it's going to sell. If you have 200 iphones, why aren't they sitting in a box all ready to be shipped? How many people buy multiple iphones?

I guess I am not really hustling as much as I should. That is why it is good to hear others. Thank you

 

[PureA]

Bio, great stuff as always, thanks again for all your contributions to the forum.

I am about to process my first order with my chosen manufacturer. This leaves me 30 days until I can sell. I've started social profiles and joined some relevant forums... what else can I do in the interim to hit the ground running when the goods arrive?

 

[biophase]

I guess I am not really hustling as much as I should. That is why it is good to hear others. Thank you

Yes, to me it did not sound like you worked 8-10 hours a day. I think you could easily double your income as a one man show at home.

 

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[biophase]

Bio, great stuff as always, thanks again for all your contributions to the forum.

I am about to process my first order with my chosen manufacturer. This leaves me 30 days until I can sell. I've started social profiles and joined some relevant forums... what else can I do in the interim to hit the ground running when the goods arrive?

I hate the waiting part. I would get a sample of that production order shipped to you ASAP. Then you can start taking photos of it. In fact, ask them to send you 1-5 pieces. You can start selling some right away. I usually have all my listings ready to go on Amazon. I have 5 listings right now just sitting there, waiting for the product to come in. It does take some time to get the bullet points and descriptions right so you should start them now.

I don't do much pre-selling. So I just wait. You could do some pre-selling on FB or Instagram. Maybe give out codes and create buzz around it. This isn't something that I have alot of experience with though.

 

[vaizbunas]

Why don't you send the Facebook PMs to your store? I manage the inventory with Stitchlabs.

It's problematic, cause sending them to url vs selling in fb pm is huge win,they want to talk to someone and place orders as they would do in actual store. Lost many existing clients and new also refused to purchase over the website.

Thanks Bio for the recommendation

 

[biophase]

It's problematic, cause sending them to url vs selling in fb pm is huge win,they want to talk to someone and place orders as they would do in actual store. Lost many existing clients and new also refused to purchase over the website.

Thanks Bio for the recommendation

So when you sell over PM, don't you enter the order into the existing store? It's just like it was an online order right? So then the store's inventory would take care of it. Or do you fulfill using Amazon FBA?

 

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[vaizbunas]

So when you sell over PM, don't you enter the order into the existing store? It's just like it was an online order right? So then the store's inventory would take care of it. Or do you fulfill using Amazon FBA?

You answered question with stitchlab.

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Hi,
I just wanted to ask what are the advantages of Amazon FBA compared to use a different fullfillment centre?
Suppose for example that i want to use a single fullfillment centre for my Amazon, eBay and own store orders?

I am asking as i am usually out of the country for two months a year, so eventually i would need to get my orders fullfilled by a third party....

Thank you!

 

[biophase]

Hi,
I just wanted to ask what are the advantages of Amazon FBA compared to use a different fullfillment centre?
Suppose for example that i want to use a single fullfillment centre for my Amazon, eBay and own store orders?

I am asking as i am usually out of the country for two months a year, so eventually i would need to get my orders fullfilled by a third party....

Thank you!

The biggest advantage is that your stuff on Amazon is Prime eligible. Else you are just a third party seller on Amazon and many people won't buy from you.

 

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[TTG SS]

Do you have any main categories you prefer? Any main categories you won't enter besides the usual like electronics etc.

 

[RisingStars]

Hey bio,

Just a short little question. I ranked my product on amazon pretty good its now on spot 4 of the most common keyword for my product.
Should I still use amazon advertising? I saw that sponsored products are only at the bottom of the 1st page.
Is it worth it? I mean I am spot 4, people will rather see me in the normal listing then in the sponsored products, right?

 

[1step]

Hey Bio thanks for all this info. I was wondering if you could speak a bit about what percent of time your employee spends doing different tasks on a given day/week? Do you use temp workers on days when you get a truck load or are prepping a big shipment for amazon or around the holidays?

 

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[biophase]

Do you have any main categories you prefer? Any main categories you won't enter besides the usual like electronics etc.

No, I don't have any categories that I choose. I really do not choose products based on any type of metric. I would go into electronics if I thought I had a better product. Nothing is off limits.

 

[biophase]

Hey bio,

Just a short little question. I ranked my product on amazon pretty good its now on spot 4 of the most common keyword for my product.
Should I still use amazon advertising? I saw that sponsored products are only at the bottom of the 1st page.
Is it worth it? I mean I am spot 4, people will rather see me in the normal listing then in the sponsored products, right?

I still run ads even if I'm ranked high. Amazon sometimes puts the sponsored listings at the top of the page. They sometimes put it in the middle. I have a product ranked #1, and when you search my keywords my sponsored listing shows at the top and then my listing, so my listing literally shows twice in a row.

I looked at my stats and each click was only $0.07 so I decided to leave it up. I don't know if people seeing it twice helps my conversions and I can't really tell from my stats either because customers could be clicking on the 1st or 2nd listing.

 

[biophase]

Hey Bio thanks for all this info. I was wondering if you could speak a bit about what percent of time your employee spends doing different tasks on a given day/week? Do you use temp workers on days when you get a truck load or are prepping a big shipment for amazon or around the holidays?

My employee is full time. She gets a salary and benefits. She is responsible for all orders, customer service, receiving inventory. This year I was gone for 2 months on vacation and did not need to set foot into the office at all. She handles everything there.

I don't know what percent she handles of everything. But her day is basically, checking emails, returning phone calls, packing and shipping orders, determining what needs to go to FBA, determining if we are running low on anything, order more inventory, reviewing invoices and then keeping the warehouse clean.

She does need help unloading boxes from China, so I usually will come into the office on those days. Next year, I plan to have her hire people to help unload boxes and do anything around the warehouse that involves heavy lifting. This year I've been getting "fastlane helpers" and paying them with food.

I do not need to go into the office unless it is for the manual labor. This will change in 2016.

 

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[MyronGainz]

Biophase, thanks a ton for this thread, truly appreciate you putting your knowledge out here. Quick questions..I know you mentioned you have 1 employee and a warehouse... just wondering, what is your usual process in "adding value" to a product..

1) ship original product to your warehouse
2 )have your employee "add value" to it (I could imagine this can become very time consuming though?)
3) ship it to customer?

 

[biophase]

Biophase, thanks a ton for this thread, truly appreciate you putting your knowledge out here. Quick questions..I know you mentioned you have 1 employee and a warehouse... just wondering, what is your usual process in "adding value" to a product..

1) ship original product to your warehouse
2 )have your employee "add value" to it (I could imagine this can become very time consuming though?)
3) ship it to customer?

No, the value added is mainly done overseas. Then I don't need to repackage it in the USA.

However, some products I do need to "add value" while they are in the USA. That could be bundling, or adding extras, or merely adding a logo sticker.

 

[Keegan]

This thread is priceless, thanks Biophase!

Perfect timing too, I'm currently reviewing samples for my first product launch on Amazon

 

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[cheksbry]

Thank you Biophase for sharing your experiences. I'm in Africa at the moment, but I'll love to own a store on amazon where I can sell to customers in the United states, and UK.How can I overcome the challenge of being around to physically fulfill orders.?

 

[biophase]

Thank you Biophase for sharing your experiences. I'm in Africa at the moment, but I'll love to own a store on amazon where I can sell to customers in the United states, and UK.How can I overcome the challenge of being around to physically fulfill orders.?

You can hire a fulfillment company in the US or UK to handle all of your shipping and delivery needs. If you sell on Amazon, you can just use Amazon FBA to fulfill for you.