University Bundles

[Twiizlar]

I have just started working on my next idea. The website is www.universitybundles.com . After months of inaction I have finally decided to start to take action a couple hours ago and it feels so good! Hopefully i can keep this pace up!

The website is basically a place where someone can go to buy all of their college move-in essentials. From TVs, fridges, school supplies, lamps, etc. I will have multiple bundles with different items. TV and fridge will be add-on items that can be bought or rented.

I still have a lot of work to do. Just started this a couple hours ago. With college move-in for Fall 2015 semester is quickly approaching I dont have much time.

Any tips/suggestions are welcome! Will update daily. Thanks.

 

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[Guest24480]

I like the idea, but I don't know about school supplies. People will almost always just go to Walmart or Target for cheap 99 cent notebooks. I like the TV and mini fridge approach though.

Anyways, it reminds me of this site where you can rent TV's for a semester. I think bundling that with a fridge would be a great approach.

I would set your site up with a rental model as well because flat out buying a TV and fridge is a huge investment, especially for a broke college student. Plus, this would cater to people with roommates who may not live with the same people the next year. That way, they could split the cost of the rental with their roommates and would have to worry about figuring out who takes what when it comes time to part ways and find new roommates.

Edit: I looked closer at your site and see that you are considering the rental approach. This was just my two cents

 

[Kingmaker]

I bought my mini fridge on Craigslist and the guy had like 30 of them in the backyard. According to him it's a good hustle as they are fairly easy to fix and people who buy from him give their old fridges to him for free. He fixes them and resells. Hope that's relevant somehow haha

 

[Kingsta]

Think someone was already doing this, saw it on the forum a while back...can't find it at the moment but will edit if i do!

Good luck with your venture though!

 

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[Twiizlar]

Think someone was already doing this, saw it on the forum a while back...can't find it at the moment but will edit if i do!

Good luck with your venture though!

Really? I guess I must of overlooked it. If you can find it let me know. It will help a ton!

 

[Twiizlar]

While I have the main front page done, I still have to figure out the exact "bundles" and creating an order page and a pricing page. Might take me a week or two. Should I just make the order now button link to a page that says we arnt ready yet and collect emails? Or should I wait until I get everything done so I don't lost potential customers.

On a financial side idk if I can do this. Renting out tv and fridge will lead to a lot of upfront cost with little short term gain. Being a broke college student I barely had enough to pay for hosting lol. Maybe once I get orders I can work with bank loans? Maybe even look for investments?

These bundles will have a lot of things in them. The dorm essentials will have stuff like (linen, lamps, shower shoes/caddy, more that I can't think of now), entertainment bundle will have tv, sound system, and maybe some video games. I will be renting out microwaves and fridges as an add-on. Shipping these things seems like a nightmare. Shipping a fridge across the country? Sounds like a lot.

 

[Ronnie]

Think someone was already doing this, saw it on the forum a while back...can't find it at the moment but will edit if i do!

Good luck with your venture though!

Really? I guess I must of overlooked it. If you can find it let me know. It will help a ton!

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...e-orders-with-free-marketing-in-a-week.51725/

There's the thread and the guys doing this.

They failed.

Not because it wasn't a good idea, but because their process sucked.

Quick google search will show they screwed up shipping orders, not finding the right supplier and a host of other problems. All fixable. A lot of people got hosed in the UK from them.

But, ask yourself. How can you be better than them, then do it!!

 

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[Twiizlar]

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...e-orders-with-free-marketing-in-a-week.51725/

There's the thread and the guys doing this.

They failed.

Not because it wasn't a good idea, but because their process sucked.

Quick google search will show they screwed up shipping orders, not finding the right supplier and a host of other problems. All fixable. A lot of people got hosed in the UK from them.

But, ask yourself. How can you be better than them, then do it!!

Thanks for finding the thread. Their marketing strategies are the exact ones i was going to do. I guess this validates my idea. Gives me more motivation to work on my business!

 

[Twiizlar]

Day Two:

Organized all of my "bundles" into a excel thread. Looked up price per unit and where to buy from. Some are from China, others from amazon, others from the dollar store lol. This took longer than expected. I attached a screen shot of my bundles. How does it look. Are the bundles good?

Next i will organize all this info into a pricing table. Most likely will do this tomorrow unless i find some free time later.

 

[Twiizlar]

Looks like I found some extra time tonight. Attached is the pricing table I had made. I just need some help with it. Does anyone know how to line up the tables vertically instead of horizontally. Since the tables are different sizes it would look better that way. Also how do i get rid of all the extra stuff on the right side?

 

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[Twiizlar]

Well im off to sleep. Created social media accounts one all 3 major platforms. Made the pricing tables look better but they still need to be worked on. Tomorrow I am looking to create an order form. Once that is done i have my MVP!

Still need a logo lol

 

[Twiizlar]

I have hit a road block. I need to create a payment/order form. The cheapest one i can find is ninjaform. It is free but to include paypal checkout integration it costs $50 and i dont even have that much lol.

Anyone know any solutions?

 

[Kingsta]

You can take paypal payments for free on your site and they just take out a fee as far as I'm aware.

Also an 8GB flash drive? I think this should be at least 16gb..since they're only a couple of dollars (straight from a wholesaler they will be dirt cheap). I know this because i'm a university student and none of my friends use an 8GB flash drive, its a minimum of 16GB.

 

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[D11FYY]

Well im off to sleep. Created social media accounts one all 3 major platforms. Made the pricing tables look better but they still need to be worked on. Tomorrow I am looking to create an order form. Once that is done i have my MVP!

Still need a logo lol

Not Great but at least its free lol

 

[coffees4closers]

I would personally lose the testimonials but that's just me

Also in my opinion I would focus more on the appliance/electronic side of things where the bulk of the expenses would come from. Most college kids (if they're anything like me) couldn't care less about their slippers or bedsheets which they either have or can easily pick up

But focusing on semester rentals of tvs/desks/computers/fridges/gaming consoles, etc.. in neat little bundles could be interesting. Similar to the campustvs link but you would have a broader range of merch and could position yourself as the one-stop shop for dorm needs that you're looking to be

I would just leave the slippers and bathrobes to the little up and coming start-ups like walmart or whatever their name was lol

I would definitely also look at stealing their cost-sharing between roomies model as well

 

[Twiizlar]

You can take paypal payments for free on your site and they just take out a fee as far as I'm aware.

Also an 8GB flash drive? I think this should be at least 16gb..since they're only a couple of dollars (straight from a wholesaler they will be dirt cheap). I know this because i'm a university student and none of my friends use an 8GB flash drive, its a minimum of 16GB.

The difference between 2gb and 8gb is 10 cents. The difference between 8gb and 16gb is 70 cents. But if 16gb is the norm i will buy the 16gb ones!

Thanks for the advice

Not Great but at least its free lol

Thanks man! This looks great. Ill starting putting it up on my website and social media pages! This is the second time you have helped me with a free logo! Once i make it with this business i will remember you!

 

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[Twiizlar]

I would personally lose the testimonials but that's just me

Also in my opinion I would focus more on the appliance/electronic side of things where the bulk of the expenses would come from. Most college kids (if they're anything like me) couldn't care less about their slippers or bedsheets which they either have or can easily pick up

But focusing on semester rentals of tvs/desks/computers/fridges/gaming consoles, etc.. in neat little bundles could be interesting. Similar to the campustvs link but you would have a broader range of merch and could position yourself as the one-stop shop for dorm needs that you're looking to be

I would just leave the slippers and bathrobes to the little up and coming start-ups like walmart or whatever their name was lol

I would definitely also look at stealing their cost-sharing between roomies model as well

I know the testimonials look corny and fake(atleast to us fastlaners) but i feel like for the average customer it will provide social proof. No?

The slippers and bedsheets can just be add-on items. If people come to only buy those bundles it is ok because i am still profiting (not as much as others). Some will come and will purchase the electronics bundle and also buy others bundles so they can get everything at once.

I definitely should have an option where one can rent out a whole bundle (not just TV). Provides more options for the customers which will increase sales. I want to implement cost sharing but i might have to do that either later or next year. Will be a lot of more web development on my end. I dont have the money right now to hire a website developer nor do i have the skills. Will look into it though.

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[Twiizlar]

Day 3:

I have received a lot of help/feedback recently. Added a logo and create an "extras" video game bundle. Looking to add more things to "extras".

Main thing left to do is create a checkout page. There are no free options. The cheapest is using gravity forms with a stripe plugin. It is $39 but found a coupon that made it $29. I still dont have enough to afford that LOL. I tried to use the paypal credit feature but it didnt work for me. Decided to just overdraft it (and eat $35) but that didnt work either. Im short about $15 not sure how i am going to get it fast.

I also need to set up anchors so that when someone clicks on one of the pages it scrolls down to one of the sections on the front page. May need some time to figure this one out.

Edit: Nevermind. Found a creative solution for the checkout page. If you buy the developers package ($200) you can install on multiple sites. Now just got to find a developer that wants to help!

 

[D11FYY]

Day 3:

I have received a lot of help/feedback recently. Added a logo and create an "extras" video game bundle. Looking to add more things to "extras".

Main thing left to do is create a checkout page. There are no free options. The cheapest is using gravity forms with a stripe plugin. It is $39 but found a coupon that made it $29. I still dont have enough to afford that LOL. I tried to use the paypal credit feature but it didnt work for me. Decided to just overdraft it (and eat $35) but that didnt work either. Im short about $15 not sure how i am going to get it fast.

I also need to set up anchors so that when someone clicks on one of the pages it scrolls down to one of the sections on the front page. May need some time to figure this one out.

Edit: Nevermind. Found a creative solution for the checkout page. If you buy the developers package ($200) you can install on multiple sites. Now just got to find a developer that wants to help!

Make a batch of soup or some sandwiches/burritos for lunch go around selling them. Great profit margins in food and everyone gotta eat

edit : Im sure you mentioned your a student lol so hopefully on campus or people will think your trading your lunch off

 

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[Twiizlar]

Make a batch of soup or some sandwiches/burritos for lunch go around selling them. Great profit margins in food and everyone gotta eat

edit : Im sure you mentioned your a student lol so hopefully on campus or people will think your trading your lunch off

That wont work because everyone here has a meal plan. But what i can do is sell pizza/drinks to drunk college kids walking around between parties!

 

[Twiizlar]

My order page is almost done. Here are some screen shots. I didnt know this but i need a ssl certificate which is going to cost money lol. Thats the only way to make the "unsecure" message go off the credit card section.

 

[Twiizlar]

Man. I have had 2 other "ventures" but this one is the best so far. I have put more into this one already than the other two combined. These past 3 days i have put in about 35 hours and cant wait to wake up tomorrow to start working on this again!

Just wanted to give this forum some appreciation. If it wasnt for the guidance of MJ and the help of all the users i would be no where near where i am currently! Thanks!

 

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[Twiizlar]

I am super happy that i got anchor links down after being confused for a couple days. Once you click on one of the pages it goes to a part of the homepage and not a whole seperate page!

Also just bought an ssl certificate and got it approved for my website. There goes the rest of my funds! Now im stuck because i have to pay hostgator ($10) to install it for me and i have to buy a dedicated ip ($3 a month). Now i have to scrap up some money ughhhh.

 

[Twiizlar]

@D11FYY hey man i was wondering if you could do me a favor again lol. Can you split the logo in half so it fits in social media profile pics? So have the "University" above the "Bundles" which is also above the ".com" . If this will take too much time dont bother lol

Edit: The "How It Works" section looked a little bland so i added some pictures!

 

[Twiizlar]

Day 5:

Finished the checkout page. Got rid of those ugly page head lines. I configured shipping (harder than expected). I also changed the layout a little bit. I added section for each part of checkout (choose your bundle, personal info, and payment). I was trying to add a subtotal feature but while messing with css i crashed the website a couple times so i just gave up on it.

I also added a "view bundles" section on the homepage. I changed other small things on the homepage.

The main thing left to do is install my ssl certificate (already bought but i need $10 to have it installed on my website). Might be awhile lol.

I also have to create a "terms and conditions" sheet for rentals. I have to implement it into checkout. This might take awhile. I am looking to get this all done tomorrow.

I am also going to add a FAQ section. I feel like a lot of information is left out without it.

After all this I will be done with my website (for now) and can start marketing it. I cant wait for this part i have so many ideas! Looking to get this started by next week (Monday, April 27)

So far so good!

 

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[Twiizlar]

I am now creating a FAQ section. Anyone have any questions when they visit my website?

www.universitybundles.com

 

[SlowlaneJay]

Liking this progress thread. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing you get your first customer.

"University" above the "Bundles" which is also above the ".com"

 

[Twiizlar]

Liking this progress thread. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing you get your first customer.

Thanks man! Yeah I have been working tirelessly on the website. Just created a FAQ, privacy policy, and rental terms & conditions. Last step is to install my ssl certificate ($5 short on my papyal) before i can start marketing. Only thing holding me back. Again, thanks for the logo friend!

 

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[Twiizlar]

Day 6:

I am posting this kind of early because there is nothing more i can do. The only thing left to do is install my ssl certificate but i am $2 short. Most likely going to scrap/borrow $2 and take the bus to the nearest wells fargo. Really didnt want to do this because it waste like 3 hours but i have to get it done.

I have added a faq section. I have also added a privacy policy and Rental Terms & Conditions.

For marketing purposes i have joined a couple "class of 2019" facebook pages. Will join more as i expand my marketing efforts. I havnt posted anything yet i just want to get into the groups first (usually takes a couple hours). Do you guys think i should post on my personal profile as a current college student trying to help incoming freshman or should i post as my University Bundles facebook page?


Edit: Who am I kidding i will probably be back later !

 

[Kingsta]

Good luck, let us know when you get your first sale!