Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

[biophase]

I'm looking to add more value to a digital product but I can't think of any little things people can purchase to add to that value.

Ex. Big Mac > Want Fries with that? > and a drink?

Any suggestions?

This hard to answer without knowing your product. I assume you want to add more digital products and not real products.

 

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[rc08234]

No, I ship them in the box they came in from China. Your box looks way better than mine. My boxes are always messed up because we push them off of the container onto the ground for unloading.

View attachment 10948

Btw this is deff the coolest pic on the forum!

 

[Wisith]

Regarding asking your friends/family members to buy your items and give you feedback then you refunding the money and retrieving the items...what is the best way to ask them to do this? It might be a weird question, but I have friends who are for a lack of better word 'anti-capitalist'. I was thinking something along the line of "Hey bud, I'm launching a new product on Amazon with a modification that makes it better than the others online. Please help me out by purchasing and give me feedback to help me establish credibility. I will refund you and get the widget back once it's all done." Any suggestions or opinions?

 

[Cooper C.]

This hard to answer without knowing your product. I assume you want to add more digital products and not real products.

Yes precisely, my digital product (which is still in the making) is a book and is most likely going to be $15, but I want to have little things that people can simply add to their shopping cart to raise it to maybe $20-$25 or more.

The theme for my product is spiritual and I was going to create meditation music for perhaps a dollar or so but one could easily go on YouTube and find what they need there for free. I need something that is worth the money and also better (or attempt to be) than a free version you can find while scouring the internet.

 

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[TeflonDon]

Yes precisely, my digital product (which is still in the making) is a book and is most likely going to be $15, but I want to have little things that people can simply add to their shopping cart to raise it to maybe $20-$25 or more.

The theme for my product is spiritual and I was going to create meditation music for perhaps a dollar or so but one could easily go on YouTube and find what they need there for free. I need something that is worth the money and also better (or attempt to be) than a free version you can find while scouring the internet.

Quick brainstorm here for you, although it's not my field at all. These may help jog your mind a bit though:

pay for exclusive content (on website, or through email)
relaxing images
a mini ebook of something related (related how-to's & guides, fiction if you can work it in, poetic book, short bio's of important people in the field, new methods/techniques/equipment in the field, etc.) - this depends a lot on what your product is. This should give you some decent idea's though.
a brief one-on-one or small group coaching in your field
some kind of small physical gift mailed to them. Like a yoga mat with your brand on it
webinar access
shout out on the website/social media
chance to pre-test future release

Hope this helps!

 

[biophase]

Regarding asking your friends/family members to buy your items and give you feedback then you refunding the money and retrieving the items...what is the best way to ask them to do this? It might be a weird question, but I have friends who are for a lack of better word 'anti-capitalist'. I was thinking something along the line of "Hey bud, I'm launching a new product on Amazon with a modification that makes it better than the others online. Please help me out by purchasing and give me feedback to help me establish credibility. I will refund you and get the widget back once it's all done." Any suggestions or opinions?

If you feel weird asking them, I probably wouldn't then. You need to find different friends who are happy to help you do anything that you want to do.

 

[Gravy South]

I've received and reviewed my sample, and am now ready to order the first batch and give this a shot.

Initially, I'm only having 100 samples sent in from China to Canada. What is the best method to have this shipped? My manufacturer would like to ship by express but I don't know if this seems too expensive? Reaching out to those of you with experience to provide insight.

Unit Cost: 3.50 USD x 100 = 350 USD
Shipping by express = 248 USD

Total cost is 598, which means my new unit cost is now around $6

Then I need to factor in shipping to Amazon US. I will be selling this for $19.99 (but cheaper initially to raise sales and awareness).

I'd just like to know if the shipping cost is reasonable for 100 units. My item is about palm-size.

Cheers.

Not wanting to hijack this amazing thread, but may I know how heavy is your shipment?

I ran into similar problems recently as manufacturer quoted me some hefty prices on the shipment, so I went to search for Chinese forwarders, as they do have heavy discounts with the couriers, and in the end I found the cheapest price is around $6.5 USD per kg to the UK. Hope this helps.

 

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[Laughingman21]

@biophase - did you start out with branding on the stock you're selling or did you initially sell unbranded items and then add branding at a later date?

 

[aprabhak]

Not wanting to hijack this amazing thread, but may I know how heavy is your shipment?

I ran into similar problems recently as manufacturer quoted me some hefty prices on the shipment, so I went to search for Chinese forwarders, as they do have heavy discounts with the couriers, and in the end I found the cheapest price is around $6.5 USD per kg to the UK. Hope this helps.

325g per unit. So looking at 32.5 Kg for 100 units.
packed in OPP bags, so packaging is almost negligible. Let's say total weight is 35 Kg. Although I doubt I need to bring in Chinese forwarders for such small quantities. If this takes off, I will look at larger orders in the future.

As per @biophase advice, I was able to find out the shipping cost for double the quantity (70 Kg), and it comes to $452, which is almost double. Unit price is only 1 cent less if I go for 200 vs. 100 units.

The supplier always mentions express shipping by air, I'm wondering if there are any other cheaper options which may be suitable for this order size?

Thanks guys

 

[letter9]

biophase what can you recommend for travel ecommerce?
I building/marketing niche travel site now. How would you promote 'Golden Bridge Tour' company.
Thank you!

 

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[HB909]

Biophase, thanks for doing this.
There is one question I haven`t seen so far, knowing what you know today. Would you have done it again?

 

[biophase]

@biophase - did you start out with branding on the stock you're selling or did you initially sell unbranded items and then add branding at a later date?

I started out dropshipping, then stocking, then branding my own products.

 

[biophase]

biophase what can you recommend for travel ecommerce?
I building/marketing niche travel site now. How would you promote 'Golden Bridge Tour' company.
Thank you!

That's a tough one. I'm also in the travel industry doing tours (https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...cket-list-entrepreneurs-african-safari.61963/). The PPC costs are very high and conversion rates are low for me with such a high price point.

I would make your site the go to site for Golden Bridge Tours. Get alot of information and content on your tour and place. I would target Tripadvisor. You can have your own page if it's a one day tour I believe. Then I would get as many reviews from customers as possible.

 

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[biophase]

325g per unit. So looking at 32.5 Kg for 100 units.
packed in OPP bags, so packaging is almost negligible. Let's say total weight is 35 Kg. Although I doubt I need to bring in Chinese forwarders for such small quantities. If this takes off, I will look at larger orders in the future.

As per @biophase advice, I was able to find out the shipping cost for double the quantity (70 Kg), and it comes to $452, which is almost double. Unit price is only 1 cent less if I go for 200 vs. 100 units.

The supplier always mentions express shipping by air, I'm wondering if there are any other cheaper options which may be suitable for this order size?

Thanks guys

That's pretty light. I think air would be cheapest as you have one box basically on a big ship if you go by sea. So basically what you just found out is your price per unit landed if you buy 200 units. The next thing you need to find out is at what point shipping by sea makes sense. Maybe it is at 300 or 400 units. If you can make money now at 200 units shipped by air. You will make alot more when you order 1000 units by sea.

 

[biophase]

Biophase, thanks for doing this.
There is one question I haven`t seen so far, knowing what you know today. Would you have done it again?

Done what? There is alot of things I could have done in 8 years.

 

[aprabhak]

That's pretty light. I think air would be cheapest as you have one box basically on a big ship if you go by sea. So basically what you just found out is your price per unit landed if you buy 200 units. The next thing you need to find out is at what point shipping by sea makes sense. Maybe it is at 300 or 400 units. If you can make money now at 200 units shipped by air. You will make alot more when you order 1000 units by sea.

Your advice has been a huge help. Thanks so much.

 

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[HB909]

Done what? There is alot of things I could have done in 8 years.

Would you have done the eCommerce route knowing what you know today? Do you regret doing it?

 

[iAmTrade]

I am starting a eCommerce business and your threads/posts have been very helpful @biophase

I have found that there is practically only one known brand/image for a specific industry, their pricing is quite high and the quality isn't entirely worth the price. Starting out, my quality may not be great but I am sure it can be on par to compete with the product AND I can even offer the product cheaper compared the competitor.

Its one of those old-markets where the guy on top is just there doing the same thing over and over, not really improving except by design a bit but that may be the only thing left to compete with.

I will dropship, to start, my margins will be great I believe but, there is great brand recognition for the competitor. And it is the brand that I would love to be on par with, and then hopefully even bypass, though it would be incredibly hard, should be fun trying.

My question is- what do I want to offer?

Quality and high price point/on par with the competition?
Quality and just price it cheaper than the competition to get the word out, then raise the price to accommodate demand/recognition?

I want to offer something that would set me up well in the long run (the 2nd option above?)

My other issue is product images...Standard images for the product lay upon a white background, it seems dull imo. It is just how everyone does things- any ideas as to how I can get quality images of the product without having to pay soo much for a graphic design/models/etc?

And to bring this to closer perspective, it is in the clothing industry... any thoughts on this industry? Do's/dont's or tips/ideas that would be at all helpful?

Would you happen to have any specific readings/sites I can look into if you wouldn't mind sharing with me, though my promise means nothing, I will always keep what is said to me through private message between us.

Thank you for your time and consideration in helping myself. I know you don't gain anything from this aside from x but it does mean a lot to someone like myself.

Thank you once again.

 

[PureA]

Bio,

Would you advise against putting your amazon link in the bio of Instagram?

My concern is people will just click out of curiosity without intention to purchase.

This could negatively effect conversion rate and thus ranking, correct?

 

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[biophase]

[QUOTE="iAmTrade, post: 500362, member: 32534"
I will dropship, to start, my margins will be great I believe but, there is great brand recognition for the competitor. And it is the brand that I would love to be on par with, and then hopefully even bypass, though it would be incredibly hard, should be fun trying.

My question is- what do I want to offer?

Quality and high price point/on par with the competition?
Quality and just price it cheaper than the competition to get the word out, then raise the price to accommodate demand/recognition?

I want to offer something that would set me up well in the long run (the 2nd option above?)

My other issue is product images...Standard images for the product lay upon a white background, it seems dull imo. It is just how everyone does things- any ideas as to how I can get quality images of the product without having to pay soo much for a graphic design/models/etc?

And to bring this to closer perspective, it is in the clothing industry... any thoughts on this industry? Do's/dont's or tips/ideas that would be at all helpful?

Would you happen to have any specific readings/sites I can look into if you wouldn't mind sharing with me, though my promise means nothing, I will always keep what is said to me through private message between us.

Thank you for your time and consideration in helping myself. I know you don't gain anything from this aside from x but it does mean a lot to someone like myself.

Thank you once again.[/QUOTE]

You should probably stay the same price as your competition or a few dollars lower. You should learn to take your own photos. Get some of the clothing and get outdoors and take photos and photoshop them. This will differentiate your website from your competitor. I don't know much about the clothing industry. I would imagine it is pretty competitive. You should know what keywords to target. Are the clothes for a specific sport or something?

 

[biophase]

Bio,

Would you advise against putting your amazon link in the bio of Instagram?

My concern is people will just click out of curiosity without intention to purchase.

This could negatively effect conversion rate and thus ranking, correct?

I have my instagram account going directly to my amazon listing. I just did a check on it before I typed this and I have a 20% conversion rate. So either nobody is going from instagram, or it's converting very well.

 

[LightHouse]

I have my instagram account going directly to my amazon listing. I just did a check on it before I typed this and I have a 20% conversion rate. So either nobody is going from instagram, or it's converting very well.

20% of views clicking the link or buying? If buying, how are you getting that data? I know amazon was in talks about showing outside traffic vs inside traffic in seller central but i'd bet that's still a ways out.

 

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[biophase]

20% of views clicking the link or buying? If buying, how are you getting that data? I know amazon was in talks about showing outside traffic vs inside traffic in seller central but i'd bet that's still a ways out.

20% conversion rate for people buying total. Can't distinguish where the traffic cones from. Just purchases divided by sessions.

 

[pgtownsyou]

So if I'm launching my brand's products on Amazon today, should I stay away from the big review groups? Any chance that a penalty is coming for sellers who have went that route?

 

[biophase]

So if I'm launching my brand's products on Amazon today, should I stay away from the big review groups? Any chance that a penalty is coming for sellers who have went that route?

I would stay away. I would still use them to get sales but not have them do reviews.

 

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[GPM]

I am also interested in knowing a bit more about review groups. I am looking at some items on Amazon and they can have close to 1000 reviews, every single one of them has a disclaimer saying that they are giving an honest review in return for receiving a discount on the product.

I find it hard to know if the product actually sells well, or if it has all been "sold" to these review groups.

 

[biophase]

I find it hard to know if the product actually sells well, or if it has all been "sold" to these review groups.

You shouldn't be using review counts or Amazon rankings to pick what you are going to sell on Amazon. You should choose something that you can improve upon and are somewhat knowledgable at. If I based all my products on what sold alot I'd have a really mismatched brand and would have missed out on a ton of products.

 

[RisingStars]

Hello biophase,

I have 3 questions and would be really happy if you took the time to answer.
1) Do you think a "killer" product description is necessary on amazon? I say the most important stuff and what my product package contains.
Everything is nice formated and bold headlines in my short text.
It looks better then my competitions, thats for sure.

Should I even more learn good copywriting? In my experience I've never read the amazon description when I bought something for myself.
Am I right that basically only the photos really matter?
If you do take time to write a beautiful product description where did you learn your copywriting skills?

2) I've watched a video about selling on amazon and the speaker had a (in my opinion) really nice way to kickstart his product:
1: Get your product in FBA and let 10-25 friends buy it and write a review.
2: Use Facebook ads and get a leadpage + squeezpage to make a 1$ giveaway in exchange for a product review and give away as many products as you would consider enaugh.
Note: I've not yet created the leadpage but basically the ad would say 1$ giveaway for X product. He targeted a big group of ppl and after 1 hour he had around 30 sales. People click on the ad and enter their email on the squeezepage. After that they get a coupon code to their email adress to buy the product for 1$. Later the buyers will get a reminder mail to write the review.
3: Use amazon ppc.

What do you think of this way to get reviews? Are you familiar with step 2 or did you maybe even used this method yourself?
I am thinking about leaving the fb ad on after the giveaway only with the real price in and retargeted to a more specific potential buyer circle.
What do you think about that?

3) Do you know if amazon allows if I put a little note in my product box saying: "We hope you are happy with our product. We would love your honest review. If anything is wrong please contact us, we are happy to help." - or similar.

Thanks a lot for giving back,

Leonard

 

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[biophase]

Hello biophase,

I have 3 questions and would be really happy if you took the time to answer.
1) Do you think a "killer" product description is necessary on amazon? I say the most important stuff and what my product package contains.
Everything is nice formated and bold headlines in my short text.
It looks better then my competitions, thats for sure.

Should I even more learn good copywriting? In my experience I've never read the amazon description when I bought something for myself.
Am I right that basically only the photos really matter?
If you do take time to write a beautiful product description where did you learn your copywriting skills?

2) I've watched a video about selling on amazon and the speaker had a (in my opinion) really nice way to kickstart his product:
1: Get your product in FBA and let 10-25 friends buy it and write a review.
2: Use Facebook ads and get a leadpage + squeezpage to make a 1$ giveaway in exchange for a product review and give away as many products as you would consider enaugh.
Note: I've not yet created the leadpage but basically the ad would say 1$ giveaway for X product. He targeted a big group of ppl and after 1 hour he had around 30 sales. People click on the ad and enter their email on the squeezepage. After that they get a coupon code to their email adress to buy the product for 1$. Later the buyers will get a reminder mail to write the review.
3: Use amazon ppc.

What do you think of this way to get reviews? Are you familiar with step 2 or did you maybe even used this method yourself?
I am thinking about leaving the fb ad on after the giveaway only with the real price in and retargeted to a more specific potential buyer circle.
What do you think about that?

3) Do you know if amazon allows if I put a little note in my product box saying: "We hope you are happy with our product. We would love your honest review. If anything is wrong please contact us, we are happy to help." - or similar.

Thanks a lot for giving back,

Leonard

Sorry it's late so my answers may be short.

1) What is more important is your bullet points and photos. The product descripion is so low on Amazon's page.

2) I think this is a better way than joining a review group. I'm doing a giveaway right now to my instagram followers. I have never used a squeeze page but I may do this next page. It's hard to give out codes on instagram.

3) They do allow that.

 

[RisingStars]

Sorry it's late so my answers may be short.

1) What is more important is your bullet points and photos. The product descripion is so low on Amazon's page.

2) I think this is a better way than joining a review group. I'm doing a giveaway right now to my instagram followers. I have never used a squeeze page but I may do this next page. It's hard to give out codes on instagram.

3) They do allow that.

Thank you. Short but concise answers. I love it.