Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

[Temujin]

I have a dropshipping store, I'm currently getting around $50-$100 a day in revenue, through Facebook advertising mainly on Instagram. I'm sitting around 20% Profit Margins, how do I scale above those means? Do I just ramp up my ad spend? What are my next steps?

 

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[Sagemoney]

Was just quoted 90 dollars for a sample piece.

That seems a bit pricey should I attempt to haggle and get it for free or just eat it?( I'd rather not)

 

[MoneyDoc]

Was just quoted 90 dollars for a sample piece.

That seems a bit pricey should I attempt to haggle and get it for free or just eat it?( I'd rather not)

Including freight? Or is this just for the product cost?

 

[Sagemoney]

Including freight? Or is this just for the product cost?

With shipping

 

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[MoneyDoc]

With shipping

That's normal for a sample.

Also, don't haggle with factories on sample costs (assuming they're a real factory). In their eyes, you'll look like you're not serious at all. If you haven't already, I really suggest reading @Walter Hay's importing book. He talks about negotiating etiquette and cultural differences, which is something very important when it comes to dealing with Chinese suppliers.

 

[Sagemoney]

That's normal for a sample.

Also, don't haggle with factories on sample costs (assuming they're a real factory). In their eyes, you'll look like you're not serious at all. If you haven't already, I really suggest reading @Walter Hay's importing book. He talks about negotiating etiquette and cultural differences, which is something very important when it comes to dealing with Chinese suppliers.

Yup, I already finished the book and was going to mention it in my initial post. I figured every situation is different but now I know its a definite NO.

Thanks for the quick replies as well.

 

[Sagemoney]

Anyone ever had the supplier double the price for a lower MOQ?


MOQ is 500. I requested a trial order of 50(per Walter's method)

They came back with 10 per piece before shipping.

 

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[Daniel.]

I'm going to pull the trigger in the next week or two, the product has held on extremely well through testing.

The product cost will be $5.1/piece landed.
I have the intentions of listing the product at $29.99
Amazon FBA Fees: $5.78

Question:

- Since my goal here is to build a brand, should I create a website now or I should consider that once I've sold a few products?

 

[MoneyDoc]

I'm going to pull the trigger in the next week or two, the product has held on extremely well through testing.

The product cost will be $5.1/piece landed.
I have the intentions of listing the product at $29.99
Amazon FBA Fees: $5.78

Question:

- Since my goal here is to build a brand, should I create a website now or I should consider that once I've sold a few products?

What I like to do is build the website AFTER I've gotten sales on amazon. Think about it, will someone be more likely to buy your product on amazon or your own ecommerce site when you're just launching with no brand awareness?

 

[jcvlds]

What I like to do is build the website AFTER I've gotten sales on amazon. Think about it, will someone be more likely to buy your product on amazon or your own ecommerce site when you're just launching with no brand awareness?

I’ve thought about this as well... but I sometimes look up brands or products I am thinking of buying from Amazon on google to see their website (if available) or other reviews.. would you say it’s valuable to have it from the start to “pass” this check that customers may make? Or not game-changing enough to warrant having it that early?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[Daniel.]

What I like to do is build the website AFTER I've gotten sales on amazon. Think about it, will someone be more likely to buy your product on amazon or your own ecommerce site when you're just launching with no brand awareness?

My concern is more of the downtime, ha. Once I place the order, there will be some downtime due to the manufacturing then shipping, so I was thinking of building a site while I wait, but I will have that on hold now.

Question:

Do you think it's a good idea to provide a "thank you" note to each box? I can design something fairly quick.

Example:

 

[becks22]

@Daniel. I got cheap index sized thank you notes pre-printed from VistaPrint for about $10. I left the back blank. On my orders I send to FBA, I write 'Thank you' on the back. For my orders directly, I write a note on the back with their name on it to show personalization. Takes like 30 seconds but well worth it.

 

[Daniel.]

@Daniel. I got cheap index sized thank you notes pre-printed from VistaPrint for about $10. I left the back blank. On my orders I send to FBA, I write 'Thank you' on the back. For my orders directly, I write a note on the back with their name on it to show personalization. Takes like 30 seconds but well worth it.

Nice! I was planning on printing through VistaPrint as well, I've used them for years and always satisfied.

I like the idea of leaving the back blank for personalization, thanks.

Another Question:

This is my first shipment so I am not too familiar with how the process works. We agreed to have it shipped via sea to my nearest port. After I will need customs clearance when it lands in Los Angeles.

How do I approach this?

 

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[Walter Hay]

Anyone ever had the supplier double the price for a lower MOQ?

MOQ is 500. I requested a trial order of 50(per Walter's method)

They came back with 10 per piece before shipping.

As a general rule, I would regard doubling the price for an order smaller than the MOQ as a ripoff. I would offer them a handling fee instead. See my book, Chapter 30. MINIMUM ORDER
QUANTITIES (MOQS), HAGGLING, AND DISCOUNTS FOR BIG ORDERS

In some case there will be a genuine reason why a small order should cost substantially more per unit. Such things as genuinely costly set up expenses or the need to buy in a large quantity of parts or raw materials should be taken into account.

Whatever you do, ask them politely why the unit cost is so high, and then add: "I am willing to pay a reasonable handling fee."

Walter

 

[TrueCreator97]

@biophase Thank you for this mammoth of a thread and for your contributions to this forum. I am extremely grateful.

I had a question about your process for achieving the pure white backgrounds for your product listings that are required on amazon. I've tried using several software's (photoshop, gimp, online converters) but my product has a very unique shape and none of them seem to get the job done. Is it better to outsource it or are there any other programs you would recommend?

Thanks

 

[IGP]

@biophase Thank you for this mammoth of a thread and for your contributions to this forum. I am extremely grateful.

I had a question about your process for achieving the pure white backgrounds for your product listings that are required on amazon. I've tried using several software's (photoshop, gimp, online converters) but my product has a very unique shape and none of them seem to get the job done. Is it better to outsource it or are there any other programs you would recommend?

Thanks

You can outsource to: www.productphotography.com - I haven't used them, but they come recommended from several members.

Or use a light box and take a high quality picture (it will still look grey), then use photoshop or gimp to change the level of the background from grey to white using the adjust levels > white eye dropper tool.

 

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[biophase]

@biophase Thank you for this mammoth of a thread and for your contributions to this forum. I am extremely grateful.

I had a question about your process for achieving the pure white backgrounds for your product listings that are required on amazon. I've tried using several software's (photoshop, gimp, online converters) but my product has a very unique shape and none of them seem to get the job done. Is it better to outsource it or are there any other programs you would recommend?

Thanks

If you can take a decent photo on an almost white background, use gimp and the levels functions to get the background completely white.

 

[biophase]

You can outsource to: www.productphotography.com - I haven't used them, but they come recommended from several members.

Or use a light box and take a high quality picture (it will still look grey), then use photoshop or gimp to change the level of the background from grey to white using the adjust levels > white eye dropper tool.

I've sent them 6 items to be photographed as a test order. If they do decent I'll start to outsource all my products to them.

 

[LateStarter]

@biophase Thank you for this mammoth of a thread and for your contributions to this forum. I am extremely grateful.

I had a question about your process for achieving the pure white backgrounds for your product listings that are required on amazon. I've tried using several software's (photoshop, gimp, online converters) but my product has a very unique shape and none of them seem to get the job done. Is it better to outsource it or are there any other programs you would recommend?

Thanks

I'm just using the background eraser tool from Photoshop then adding a white layer underneath. It does a pretty good job particularly if you start with a large image, edit it, and then down size it.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

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[JAJT]

I've also had very good luck with www.productphoto.com in the past.

Fast turn-around, good pricing, good work, etc...

 

[TrueCreator97]

Thanks for your responses everyone. I will definitely give these suggestions a shot!

 

[ivan i]

Hey biophase!
Because you know the road I am about to take so well, are you able to provide some tips for starting an ecommerce business? I've spent the last few nights looking for products that:

1. Fit my personal interests and necessities.
2. Are able to be bought relatively cheap and branded.

I've been taking a look at various types of products, but I've always thought to myself that the one item missing in my house is usually chargers. After looking through Amazon's best seller rank, the #1 selling chargers right now are wireless chargers for roughly $20 CAD. Do you think I would be able to compete in this type of niche, or should I find something so unique where there is no competition at all? Perhaps that could take a while.

 

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[Departed]

I was thinking about doing a product similar to this (I have some ideas on how to change/improve it drastically):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KBAEZP4/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

What do you guys think? One thing I am very unsure about is demand. It is not something that you MUST have and I did not think I would need something like this until I recently was searching for my keys only to find them in my wardrobe...I thought that I need a place to put my keys, wallet, my phone (maybe even charge it) a place for a small battery pack in a neat way. To be honest, if I had not been thinking about product ideas I would have not searched for a solution for the problem (which I think is a big tell regarding necessity/pain point)

How should I go about finding out if there is enough demand for something like in my market?

 

[biophase]

I was thinking about doing a product similar to this (I have some ideas on how to change/improve it drastically):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KBAEZP4/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

What do you guys think? One thing I am very unsure about is demand. It is not something that you MUST have and I did not think I would need something like this until I recently was searching for my keys only to find them in my wardrobe...I thought that I need a place to put my keys, wallet, my phone (maybe even charge it) a place for a small battery pack in a neat way. To be honest, if I had not been thinking about product ideas I would have not searched for a solution for the problem (which I think is a big tell regarding necessity/pain point)

How should I go about finding out if there is enough demand for something like in my market?

I don’t like it. Seems like there are a bunch out there and numbers probably won’t work that well. I see a bunch in the $20’s. Hard to build a brand around this.

 

[MHP368]

@Daniel. I got cheap index sized thank you notes pre-printed from VistaPrint for about $10. I left the back blank. On my orders I send to FBA, I write 'Thank you' on the back. For my orders directly, I write a note on the back with their name on it to show personalization. Takes like 30 seconds but well worth it.

do you package these with the product before sending to fba? , I had a terrible time getting reviews using costly monthly subscription services that automated emails out but I was thinking snail mail cards would have a greater effect, what your doing seems a lot simpler

 

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[becks22]

do you package these with the product before sending to fba? , I had a terrible time getting reviews using costly monthly subscription services that automated emails out but I was thinking snail mail cards would have a greater effect, what your doing seems a lot simpler

Yes I do. I slide them in on the front side of my ziploc baggie I use for my FBA products. The card basically asks for reviews and for them to contact me through Amazon if they have any questions or comments. I'm still new to Amazon so I don't have any ROI statistics yet that I can provide.

I am only selling on Amazon right now but am setting up my own store through Shopify soon. I will order more cards that will basically say the same thing minus the Amazon specific required language.

 

[heysander]

I'm going to pull the trigger in the next week or two, the product has held on extremely well through testing.

The product cost will be $5.1/piece landed.
I have the intentions of listing the product at $29.99
Amazon FBA Fees: $5.78

Question:

- Since my goal here is to build a brand, should I create a website now or I should consider that once I've sold a few products?

Depends on your angle...
1. A website can also act as a go-to platform which create interaction with your customers. We chose to put the website and social-media links on the label of our products, which create interaction with customers and the brand. This gives inside of how customers use/experience the product we sell.
2. Do you also want to sell the product to resellers via distributors or do business directly with (e-commerce) stores? In our case we did a lot of b2b acquisition and used the website as a kind of business card. It gives your brand and your business professional touch. We picked a brand we liked and copied the site setup. It feels a lot bigger then we actually are ;-)

 

[trebel]

What Platform do you use for your ecommerce stores? Or are these created by yourself?

 

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[biophase]

What Platform do you use for your ecommerce stores? Or are these created by yourself?

I'm using Shopify.

 

[David4431]

Hi @biophase - first of all, I want to thank you for all the value you have provided this forum and for people like me who are just starting out. I've been really inspired by your ecommerce journey and am trying to build my own ecommerce / Amazon business using what you've done before as guidance.

I am running into a problem which I was hoping you could provide your thoughts on.

My situation is the I agreed to a production order price quote with my manufacturer a few weeks ago. This price quote includes the mold fee that I would need to pay for. I am currently now trying to get them to make a sample for me where they would use the new mold. They said that I would need to pay a couple hundred dollars for the mold fee and I am OK with this. The problem is that since the original quote already includes this mold fee, I would essentially be paying twice for this mold fee if I have to pay for it upfront now to get the sample made and again later when I pay for the production order.

I asked them to deduct the price of the mold fee from the production order since I'm essentially prepaying for it. What they came back with is that they will refund the mold fee after I've placed x number of units. "x" is a very large number of units and could take a couple of years to reach in the best case scenario. I don't even know if they will honor it at that point.

The other option they offered is that they can make the sample by hand (not using a new mold) and they won't charge the mold fee. The problem with this is that I think this defeats the whole purpose of ordering a sample if I can't see the updated final product with the new molded components in place.

What this manufacturer is trying to do does not seem right to me. I feel like they are taking an opportunity to charge me a few hundred dollars just because they can.

Am I looking at this correctly? Or is it that there's a lot of work involved in changing out the mold and their extra fee is justified? Have you dealt with something like this before and what you advise that I do? Or should I get a sample manually made not using a mold? I feel like we are pretty close to making a deal work so part of me doesn't want to jeopardize the deal after months of hard work and think that I should just agree to their terms and not expect to ever see that money back again. Any help is much appreciated.

PS - If I had joined INSIDERS just a few months sooner, I would have definitely signed up for your coaching. I think it would have been so valuable.