Hello folks,
I've been trying to push a niche e-commerce website but I believe my biggest pain point to make it happen has been shipping costs. I offer fresh cuban pastry (among other things) and target specific communities across the USs where cubans do not have easy access to them and, in my opinion, there is an opportunity.
The site hasn't take off despite some decent advertising spent and social media work.
I believe my biggest enemy are shipping costs. I am targeting only States that are adjacent to Florida where 2-Day shipping is standard for most companies, but to ship 5Lbs I need to pay around $9. As I am starting up, I get almost no discount from any shipper. To cope with it I need to shrink my margins to almost nothing to make my product somehow attractive.
How do others do it? How can other sellers deal with such high overhead? I am considering the idea of absorbing most of it and taking a loss in order to get volume and be in a better position to negotiate with the shippers but it hardly sounds like a good idea.
Has anyone being in a similar position and figured out how to dig yourself out of the hole?
Thanks in advance!
I've been trying to push a niche e-commerce website but I believe my biggest pain point to make it happen has been shipping costs. I offer fresh cuban pastry (among other things) and target specific communities across the USs where cubans do not have easy access to them and, in my opinion, there is an opportunity.
The site hasn't take off despite some decent advertising spent and social media work.
I believe my biggest enemy are shipping costs. I am targeting only States that are adjacent to Florida where 2-Day shipping is standard for most companies, but to ship 5Lbs I need to pay around $9. As I am starting up, I get almost no discount from any shipper. To cope with it I need to shrink my margins to almost nothing to make my product somehow attractive.
How do others do it? How can other sellers deal with such high overhead? I am considering the idea of absorbing most of it and taking a loss in order to get volume and be in a better position to negotiate with the shippers but it hardly sounds like a good idea.
Has anyone being in a similar position and figured out how to dig yourself out of the hole?
Thanks in advance!
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