Eskil's Progress Thread: Starting a Supplement Business from Scratch

[journey24]

I was hoping to outsource order fulfillment to Amazon directly off my site......without listing anything for sale on Amazon.com. My gut tells me they don't allow this.

amazon calls it "multi-channel" fulfillment - they will charge more for order handling (normally its $1 if its an amazon order and you are on FBA), but you don't get hit by the referral fees because the sale wasn't made on amazon

order handling fees:
http://services.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon/pricing.htm

referral fees:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?&nodeId=1161240

 

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[Mbc]

Nice work Eskil. Question on Amazon Fulfillment....can you use this service but not list products for sale on Amazon.com? I've been reading up on their site about the service but haven't found a concrete answer.

I was hoping to outsource order fulfillment to Amazon directly off my site......without listing anything for sale on Amazon.com. My gut tells me they don't allow this.

I'm curious why you wouldn't want your product listed on Amazon anyway?
How can you be sure that you're not losing a sale from Amazon? I mean how do you know that a customer who would've bought it on Amazon would now find your product on your website or wherever it is?

I get you're giving Amazon a commission but it's still more sales isn't it?

 

[TJPB]

I'm curious why you wouldn't want your product listed on Amazon anyway?
How can you be sure that you're not losing a sale from Amazon? I mean how do you know that a customer who would've bought it on Amazon would now find your product on your website or wherever it is?

I get you're giving Amazon a commission but it's still more sales isn't it?

Our product is our brand. Selling on amazondotcom takes on an element of their brand. It dilutes our exclusivity and brand recognition.....as well as the value. Those are sales I don't mind losing now.

It's great for those looking to blow out product irregardless of brand.

I want our customers to live and breathe our brand. Part of that process is providing an awesome eCommerce experience that is all branded-up.

This is just my take related to my business. Everyone will see it differently.

Could I have used the word "brand" any more above? Probably

 

[Gymjunkie]

Our product is our brand. Selling on amazondotcom takes on an element of their brand. It dilutes our exclusivity and brand recognition.....as well as the value. Those are sales I don't mind losing now.

It's great for those looking to blow out product irregardless of brand.

I want our customers to live and breathe our brand. Part of that process is providing an awesome eCommerce experience that is all branded-up.

This is just my take related to my business. Everyone will see it differently.

Could I have used the word "brand" any more above? Probably

Selling on Amazon doesn't take away anything from your brand. It's just a distribution channel. When you buy a book, do you buy Amazon book or book on some topic by certain author?

I agree that no one should be dependent on Amazon or any distribution channel, but I think you should sell at least one of your products there and get it discovered by the market there. Then you can upsell them the other products you have on your website. It will generate word of mouth too etc.

 

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[wreckingball]

Great thread!
I'm also interested in starting a Supplement business, however legislation in Europe is a bit different and will have to search for it. I already have several formulas designed for different products. I am going to ask for a quote to American/European/Chinesee manufacturers in a near future, since I have a few projects to work on, and I'm currently slowlaning the hellish 9-5 (more like 12 to 21) earning 3.8€ hour. If this doesn't make me want to change tracks to the fast lane, then nothing else will.

Thanks for sharing, and I hope that you're sucessful with the supplements and your invention.
I will come back later with questions

 

[Roberteking78]

How about an update. Oh, and marketing is everything.

 

[eqttrdr]

any updates on the supplement product?

 

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[MakeItHappen]

Did you stop selling your product entirely? You don't have any stock on amazon and same with your onlineshop which btw looks pretty good imo.
I know you are busy with another project right now but amazon + fba is pretty passive and hands off so i am just wondering if there are any reasons why you stopped selling your product.

 

[Gymjunkie]

Did you stop selling your product entirely? You don't have any stock on amazon and same with your onlineshop which btw looks pretty good imo.
I know you are busy with another project right now but amazon + fba is pretty passive and hands off so i am just wondering if there are any reasons why you stopped selling your product.

I think this project should be a priority. Scale it up and then leave it spending some hours a week on it. This seems such an opportunity for Fastlane but it looks like it's not being used to full extent..

 

[ddall]

Bumping for an update? Was the product abandoned...? Not worth the effort...? Ventures with better ROI to pursue?

 

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[Determined2012]

Hey @Eskil any update yet?

 

[Eskil]

Thanks for checking in, and sorry for not keeping this updated recently. Even though I sold out all my stock a few months ago, and haven't been selling since, I consider my experiment a success. I do have 100% intention to re-stock and even branch it out into a few more products under my brand eventually. This is far from over.

 

[1milclub]

My new 250 cc bottles, white caps, and shrink bands arrived ...

Pardon my ignorance if I missed it in the thread, but why did you get the empty bottles? Shouldn't the manufacturer get the products in the (sealed) bottles, and all you have to do is stick on labels?

Edit: never mind this question, I got an answer.

 

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[Greg Bastin]

Hey, great thread. Hope you've gotten a re-order in. It seems like you've got a good business so I would try to push it.

I've started my own supplement company and am working hard to get the word out. What have been some of your best strategies for getting traffic/noticed? My product is for sale on my website and on amazon prime but not many people know about it. I've sent samples to influencers in the health and fitness industry and will post some great testimonials soon.

 

[eqttrdr]

I've sent samples to influencers in the health and fitness industry and will post some great testimonials soon.

how did you find these people you sent to and where did you get their correct contact info?

thanks

 

[Greg Bastin]

Most people have a contact page on their website. If that didn't work I used Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.... I spent a little time to get to know each person and offered a genuine compliment on why I choose/like them. Then I offer something to help them without needing anything in return.

 

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[Eskil]

What have been some of your best strategies for getting traffic/noticed?

I haven't gotten around to re-order still (right now I need to give the StayblCam all my time and effort). But to answer your question; For traffic I used a combination of paid traffic (Adwords + Bing), plus a bit of social media, and a press release.

 

[Guest12120]

@Eskil
Did you send PPC traffic to your Amazon listings or to your landing page?
Did you also sell your product outside of Amazon?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Eskil]

Did you send PPC traffic to your Amazon listings or to your landing page?
Did you also sell your product outside of Amazon?

No I only sent paid traffic to my own landing page. The downside to sending ppc traffic to Amazon listings is that you will have no way of tracking performance and ROI (since Amazon doesn't provide you with any data). So although you can do it, and you might get increased sales - you wouldn't know which ads/keywords/creatives are making those sales and which ones are losing you money.

 

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[TedM]

Eskil - out of curiousity (and not having read the whole thread...) - why didn't you get someone in to manage this for you while you concentrate on the stayblcam?

 

[Eskil]

I could have I guess, but just didn't.

 

[TedM]

I could have I guess, but just didn't.

Fair enough. I guess the StayblCam requires 100% focus & I'm sure you are right to be unwavering on that.

 

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[Eskil]

UPDATE!

I have actually ordered another couple hundred bottles of this product now and been given a 3-4 week delivery time. Most will go straight to Amazon FBA. This time I'm having labels printed at a third party because I don't wanna deal with it.

But... I'm modifying the label slightly to encourage people to get their next bottle free (just pay s&h), so that I can bring them into my subscription funnel.

My cost has also gone up slightly, but that's ok since I know from last year what people are willing to pay for it and my margin is still good. Since the StayblCam needs and deserves all of my intention - my goal with this supplement business is to turn it into a passive income generator on the side that requires very little of my time. Will be looking at hiring a person to delegate most of the work to (customer relations, marketing, etc).

 

[Guest12120]

Good to see you're back in the supplement biz. Good luck in round 2

 

[Eskil]

Was supposed to have my shipment by now but looks like another 2 week delay from the supplier, and now they're saying their printer can't do my 3 x 7 labels, but will have to reduce it to 2.5 height if I want to go with them (because their tooling is set at that). So.. looks like I have to take care of the label printing elsewhere.. Oh well, moving along

 

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[youngtrep]

Was supposed to have my shipment by now but looks like another 2 week delay from the supplier, and now they're saying their printer can't do my 3 x 7 labels, but will have to reduce it to 2.5 height if I want to go with them (because their tooling is set at that). So.. looks like I have to take care of the label printing elsewhere.. Oh well, moving along

My manufacturer uses these guys for their label printing http://www.lightninglabels.com/. The cost is about 40 cents per label for a 3x7" and I have had no issues with them. They will also send you samples.

 

[Eskil]

My manufacturer uses these guys for their label printing http://www.lightninglabels.com/. The cost is about 40 cents per label for a 3x7" and I have had no issues with them. They will also send you samples.

Yeah I've received samples from them before and almost used them last year.
However, now that I go through their online quote - looks like 3x7 labels are quite a bit more than $0.40. Which material and laminate have you used with them to get that low of a cost?

 

[MoneyDoc]

Yeah I've received samples from them before and almost used them last year.
However, now that I go through their online quote - looks like 3x7 labels are quite a bit more than $0.40. Which material and laminate have you used with them to get that low of a cost?

Hey buddy.

Have you had any experience with supplements in the Canadian market? I've been thinking for a long time to bring in a supplement.

 

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[Eskil]

Have you had any experience with supplements in the Canadian market? I've been thinking for a long time to bring in a supplement.

No I started primarily just with the US market, but wouldn't mind trying Canada. Feel free to send me a pm.

 

[MoneyDoc]

No I started primarily just with the US market, but wouldn't mind trying Canada. Feel free to send me a pm.

Sent you a pm bro.