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Stumbled onto a product people want but isn't available, how to move forward?

Charnell

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Generally, I keep my endeavors online & digital, never really venturing into the physical realm.

Long story short, posted on Pinterest a stock image of a product that can't be found anywhere online that people are going crazy about. I'm thinking it was handmade. There are Reddit threads asking where to buy it and people forming search parties trying to find them online. Doing a reverse image search shows threads from as far back as 2012 with people looking to buy the product. I'm getting hundreds of website visitors a day from that pin.

It's a plant pot that has a cool design.
EDIT: It's not simply a pot that can be made on a spinning wheel and designed a certain way. It is shaped like an animal so it would have to be molded (I'm guessing).

It could be made using ceramic, glass, or plastic. I just don't know how to get started with the process. Reading threads around here over the years it's not as simple as sending the picture to manufacturers in China, getting a sample, then ordering 50 of them.
 
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broswoodwork

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Generally, I keep my endeavors online & digital, never really venturing into the physical realm.

Long story short, posted on Pinterest a stock image of a product that can't be found anywhere online that people are going crazy about. I'm thinking it was handmade. There are Reddit threads asking where to buy it and people forming search parties trying to find them online. Doing a reverse image search shows threads from as far back as 2012 with people looking to buy the product. I'm getting hundreds of website visitors a day from that pin.

It's a simple plant pot that has a cool design. It could be made using ceramic, glass, or plastic. I just don't know how to get started with the process. Reading threads around here over the years it's not as simple as sending the picture to manufacturers in China, getting a sample, then ordering 50 of them.
Would poured concrete work as a material?
View: https://youtu.be/NC5Rt0KRUWY
 

Jeff Noel

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Generally, I keep my endeavors online & digital, never really venturing into the physical realm.

Long story short, posted on Pinterest a stock image of a product that can't be found anywhere online that people are going crazy about. I'm thinking it was handmade. There are Reddit threads asking where to buy it and people forming search parties trying to find them online. Doing a reverse image search shows threads from as far back as 2012 with people looking to buy the product. I'm getting hundreds of website visitors a day from that pin.

It's a simple plant pot that has a cool design. It could be made using ceramic, glass, or plastic. I just don't know how to get started with the process. Reading threads around here over the years it's not as simple as sending the picture to manufacturers in China, getting a sample, then ordering 50 of them.
If you're even remotely thinking about getting a supplier, even if it's not in China, I would suggest you to buy @Walter Hay ebooks (in the marketplace of this forum). They're pure gold.

Edit: Also, if you find a manufacturer and you send them the pictures, they might be able to make a mold and send you a sample (although it'll probably cost you $2-300 for the first sample).

I would also highly recommend finding a manufacturer or supplier that is located elsewhere than China. Nothing wrong with China, but you could land an exclusivity deal, have better communication with them and a culture similar to yours. China is a HUGE culture clash compared to what we're used to in North America and Europe.
 

rollerskates

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Why can't you reverse engineer it and make it yourself? That's assuming the original maker doesn't own the IP right to the design.
 
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alexkuzmov

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Generally, I keep my endeavors online & digital, never really venturing into the physical realm.

Long story short, posted on Pinterest a stock image of a product that can't be found anywhere online that people are going crazy about. I'm thinking it was handmade. There are Reddit threads asking where to buy it and people forming search parties trying to find them online. Doing a reverse image search shows threads from as far back as 2012 with people looking to buy the product. I'm getting hundreds of website visitors a day from that pin.

It's a simple plant pot that has a cool design. It could be made using ceramic, glass, or plastic. I just don't know how to get started with the process. Reading threads around here over the years it's not as simple as sending the picture to manufacturers in China, getting a sample, then ordering 50 of them.
A couple of things which come to mind:

1. Look for someone who runs a pottery class in your city, get in contact with them. Get some advice from them, more contacts. Or maybe they can make it for you.
2. Look for someone who can make the pot from a 3D model. Create a 3D model, or pay someone to create it.
3. Find the next best thing. Look for a pot on the market which closely resembles the one in question.
 

Charnell

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Would poured concrete work as a material?
View: https://youtu.be/NC5Rt0KRUWY
Any material I'm guessing as long as it can be glazed.

If you're even remotely thinking about getting a supplier, even if it's not in China, I would suggest you to buy @Walter Hay ebooks (in the marketplace of this forum). They're pure gold.

To be 100% honest, I've never even wanted to get into this space. I'll have to check them out anyway. If it was easy (lol) I would just show someone who's capable the proof of people wanting to buy it and also my traffic results.

29824
^ Pinterest traffic explosion from that one pin

Why can't you reverse engineer it and make it yourself? That's assuming the original maker doesn't own the IP right to the design.
I totally can, I'm just not a CAD man.
A couple of things which come to mind:

1. Look for someone who runs a pottery class in your city, get in contact with them. Get some advice from them, more contacts. Or maybe they can make it for you.
2. Look for someone who can make the pot from a 3D model. Create a 3D model, or pay someone to create it.
3. Find the next best thing. Look for a pot on the market which closely resembles the one in question.
In regards to #3, that's what I'm doing now as a result of the unexpected surge in traffic. Just a simple affiliate link that getting great CTR & conversions.

Honestly, if when I find a way to make this happen I'll replace that link with an email opt-in for an update when it launches.
 
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Charnell

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Why would you need CAD?
Oh sorry, when you said reverse engineer and make it yourself I figured you meant to create the 3D mockup. It's not a simple round pot that could be made on a spinning wheel, it's shaped like an animal so it has legs, a face, etc.
 

rollerskates

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Oh sorry, when you said reverse engineer and make it yourself I figured you meant to create the 3D mockup. It's not a simple round pot that could be made on a spinning wheel, it's shaped like an animal so it has legs, a face, etc.

Nah, I'd grab a lump of clay and start smooshing it around to figure out the fastest way to make it.

ETA: If it is an animal shape then very likely it is an original creation of another person and it would probably be better not to copy it.
 
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broswoodwork

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3d print the prototype (maybe @jpanarra can help with resources here) and make a few, or many, smooth-on silicone mold for poured concrete; then, mix, pour, stain (I assume they're not intricately painted) and clearcoat.

Should be a fairly quick process once you have the molds ready for use, because most of the actual work (curing and stain/ clearcoat drying) is happening while you're off doing other stuff.
 

NMdad

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Are there similar glazed items--like in a completely different niche, maybe even B2B? If you can identify some, then you can find out how & who makes those.
 

Kid

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Traffic means nothing.
Read up this forum on how to make validation page (credit card in hand)
collect emails on presale, hire sculptor.
Sell.
 
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amp0193

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Define the question better.

Not sure how to get started.... with what exactly?

Manufacturing? Importing? E-Commerce?

If you just want to figure out how to make the thing, call up someone locally who think might be able to make the thing and ask them. If they can't do it they'll say "I can't do it, but an XXXX kind of person could probably do it" Then you call up an XXXX person and ask them the same thing. Repeat until you find the right person that can do it.

We do this monthly to solve various problems in our business. Paint issues... google and phone calls. Welding issues... google and phone calls. Whatever the problem of the week is, we just go figure it out.

Last month I got an MBA in spring manufacturing by going to a spring factory and saying "here's our unit, help me fix our problem". This month it's magnets. So I brought an engineer to our warehouse and he said "do x, y, z with this xxx kind of magnet". If I can't figure out an electrical problem, I give a unit to an electrical engineer and they pick it apart and figure out what the issue is.

Find people who know things that you don't know anything about and talk to them.
 

Kid

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Just realized that you @Charnell were 2 years earlier on this forum then me. So i guess you know the "validate before build" mantra. Lol
But i digress.

There is a topic on this forum by a sculptor that wants to go fastlane (here). OP - @Abrodos might have some practical insights about the thing you are after.
 
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Lyinx

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Abrodos

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Thank you @Kid for mentioning me!

I could help with that! I actually make these kinds of commissions more often than my actual sculptures. Some things you might want to take into consideration:

Does the shape have small, complicated parts that protrude from it? Like, let's say, a deer with antlers. Or is it mostly a compact shape like a sphere or cylinder?
That will affect how the mold has to be made and which materials it has to be cast in.

Also it's important to trace the origin of the pinterest image to an author. Is it just a design? Is it a physical product that has been sold?
If you can trace the actual photo maybe you could actually buy remaining stock from the original seller and resell it. Keep in mind that many of those designs are sold by artists that are trying to live from their art, and many don't know much about marketing and positioning. You could still get a good margin by ordering a lot of pieces from the original artist.

How much do you want to sell the pots for? Can you charge extra for it being a cool, artsy product? High margins will help you alot in making it profitable, as there can be some unexpected expenses during the process (shipping, some material tests, etc).

Have you considered raising money through crowdfunding?
Making the sculpture, silicone molds and first 40-50 casts can get quite expensive (between 1500-2000$), and this could be a way to avoid the initial investment being such a burden to you.

Could the sculpting part be avoided by molding some existing shape?
There's that mexican flower pot company called amor vegetal that make pots by molding toy animals, pineapples and stuff. The sculpture part is one of the most time consuming (and hence most expensive) parts of the process. If it can be circumvented it helps a lot in the price.
If the shape is geometrical and clean, then modelling it in Blender, sketchup or another program, 3D printing it and then making silicone molds by hand can be the best option.

Anyway, if you want to talk about it, ask me any stuff, PM me or send me an e-mail! my address is david_abrodos@hotmail.com .
 

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