Retailing your own product

I think I may have finally come up with something that is marketable but am trying to think through all the angles before proceeding. So I may be something of a pest for a while. There have been a lot of patent and starting a business threads lately (there may be something to the idea that a recession brings out the entrepreneurs) but there are some areas that haven't been covered much. So I would be grateful for every one's experiences. First off is the sales aspect.

I am thinking of selling online through a website and taking credit cards. My wife is happy with the guy who did the website for her company so I would probably use him. This would be a $30-40 tool with a target demographic of professional & amateur mechanics, industrial maintenance men, restorers of old machinery, etc.. Once set-up, I do have some "smaller" similar ideas that do not justify the investment on their own but would compliment the first product.

A very big concern is that I wouldn't be able to answer a phone to take questions & orders as I work day shift and I don't see this turning into a full-time business for quite awhile. This worries me as I don't want to give any potential customer a reason to not buy from me. These are simple, straight forward tools but I imagine there would still be some with questions.

-So those who sell direct to customers, in this digital age how many phone calls/sales are you getting versus emails/on line ordering?

-As a customer, how much of a turn off is it to not get a immediate response to a phone call? I would probably be able to answer voice mail during breaks & immediately after work.

-Are there any companies out there that would handle the phone and online sales for a reasonable fee?

-How about security/encryption program recommendations? I would be handle this from home on a satellite service provider. Maybe also from a smart phone so I could answer emails/voice mails during my lunch breaks.

-Any general advice about selling through a website?

TIA, Jon

A lot of the sales part is pretty easy... just depends on what you use to sell and process credit cards and such. The hard part is getting known.

I built my own site, with opensource CMS and online store with opensource cart.... so the cost, time, and webhosting fees.

I have been running my stuff for about 7 years now... and have no phone, I do everything via email. Does it frustrate people? probably a little for some, and a lot for a few... On the flip side, Im up front that I have a day job, I have no home phone, just a cell provided by work, and I do EVERYTHING via email. From what Ive been able to tell, with the simplicity of the stuff I sell, if they just have to talk to you on the phone and is pissed because they cant call you, they are likely the type of customer that needs constant baby sitting... and when youre making 0.75 to 1.00 per part, and they want to talk for hours so you can one or two parts and make 0.75-2.00.... its sometimes nice to be able to say, "no I dont have a phone, I do everything by email"... they usually just stop looking for hand holding and just buy what the website recommends. I dont mean that to sound like I dont want to help the customer, because Im happy to write a novel answering their questions, even though it takes longer than to say it on the phone - because I can type away all night, and then send the answers the next morning.... I also found that if they are forced to spend the time putting the words into an email... they tend to get to the point faster, not make as much idle chit chat, and the added benefit, they have what I suggest in print so they can reference it again later, instead of calling again and saying, "I forgot what you told me.... what do I need again?"
I think the important thing is explaining to people on your site about how you have it setup, why you're doing it that way, and when they can reliably expect a reply.

Though I, myself am the opposite of many... Id rather email a vendor and know when to expect a reply, than to have to call in. Dunno why... some of it is so I have a record of what was said - both ways... but email is just easier for me.

So, all in all... no phone will bother a few. But really, I dont feel its a huge stumbling block.

With CCs, remember, youll pay about 3-4% for all youre CC sales, and depending on how youre setup, could be more on slower months... so be sure to keep that in mind in your pricing scheme.

People seem to really like reasonable or free shipping - I went to a flat rate of 6.25 up to 300.00 order, and over 300.00 free. People really like that... even more than my old philosophy of charging what it cost to ship... People dont like the "handling" part of shipping and handling... and I dont blame them. To me - if your business is based on mail order... you should have that built into your pricing. You know what it takes to pack each thing, what you dont know is what it will cost to ship... so build in the "handling" into the price... and be reasonable with shipping. I know nothing pisses me off when I get something that costs $0.45 that could have been mailed in an envelope with a 44 cent stamp, and am charged 12.95 for shipping and handling, and it comes UPS, in an envelope.


Security... that all depends on your setup. If youre using SSL connection or not... thats all about what you choose with your webhost, and what youre willing to pay. A SSL can be spendy, but there are other ways that arent quite as "pure" that also work and cost less. But it really ends up coming down to how you set stuff up and the requirements of your CC processor.

I hope you find something applicable in all my ramblings. And if I need to elaborate on anything, let me know.
Wade

Wade C said:

I built my own site, with opensource CMS and online store with opensource cart.... so the cost, time, and webhosting fees.

Click to expand...

Just a thought, what about an Ebay store. Should be good visibility right off the bat, no web hosting, use PayPal to run credit cards. You don't have to auction your parts, just set them all up for buy-it-now. Even if you knew you wanted to go solo with your own website, it might be a good way to get up and selling while you're working out the kinks of web hosting and e-commerce security. Some people may feel more secure buying from you, at first, through something like Ebay, they may feel less at risk of getting scammed. Just a thought. Good luck with your endeavor, we need as many entrepeneurs as we can get out there.

Wade-Thank you for the post. Exactly what I was looking for. I too prefer email & online ordering but I was not sure about the rest of the public.

El Mustachio-Five years ago, I would have started out on Ebay without a website but now days I am not a big fan of it or Paypal. It probably would still be a good way to get exposure for a new product though.

Wade covered almost everything.

I too started my own online company, but its only a few months old.
I have my own site and use ebay.
If you are selling something they can buy from a million other people then ebay is good, but you seem to have a unique product so a website is a must. It will give people confidence and make you look reputable, compared to someone on ebay. Also with a website, you can go into a lot more detail and get a lot more information across.


I hate ebay, but I use it for its exposure. I don't use the old auction style, I list it that it stays there until someone buys it, cost $0.50 an item. When you think what you are getting for that $0.50, you are getting alot. A ton of people search ebay, and on ebay you have the exact same chance as anyone else. With a website you are at the mercy of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), if your website itsn't optimized you don't have a chance in hell of getting found. Don't think of the $0.50 as an insertion fee, think of it as advertising, where else could you advertise for $0.50 a month, for the entire world to see.

Ebay won't let you have a link to your website, but if you make your ebay name the same as your company name, if someone searched it on google they will find your website. Also put a logo on your ebay page, so you look like a company and people will find your website.

As for the phone. If you cover every detail on your website, 95% of people won't have questions to ask. Make it easy for people to email you on your website, and if you respond in a timely manner they will have confidence in you. Do you think the sales lost by not having a phone could justify paying someone 40hrs a week to answer phones? I doubt it.
My brother works for a company that is a complete mailorder, but have a phone. He says that 99% of the people that call, just want to chit chat.

tip:
make it known that you sell and ship worldwide. With the dollar being down, US stuff is cheap for Europeans and the rest of the world. In the last month, probably half my sales have been international. On ebay, in the shipping section check the worldwide tab, so if someone on ebay germany searches, your item will now come up on their site. Your $0.50 just exposed you to the whole world now.

If your website looks good, and you make yourself look reputable, nobody will know if you are a one man company or have 50 employees. Thats the beauty of the internet.

If you decide to go at it, and do it yourself, Im happy to help.
If there was an appropriate place here, Id do it publicly on the forum so that it might help more people, but it would likely need an O/T and IF thought appropriate, knowing where to place the thread.

The CMS (Content Managing system) is a little confusing but after some basics, its really handy and powerful. And the shopping cart I use, is pretty easy to deal with, but its also not main stream plug n play... but all in all tons of support and help on their forum.

Happy to help if I can.

I too wont use pay pal. Thought I had a solution with Gpal, but had problems with them, and have discontinued the use of them, and switched to AlertPay. Which is very similar to paypal. A little more expensive than pay pal, but they are not anti-gun which I feel is important to the niche that Im in.

Wade

Marketing & Web Devevopment

I started out on the bay in 2005 with one product, never did set up a store, worked up to 10 items and just sold with templets. I was content with just running ads for a buck a month, it gave me great visability, something like 200 million members and high ranking with google.

We went online with the site 2007 and by 2008 website sales surpassed ebay sales. I still run ebay ads to this day .

Because of the site the doors began opening. In 2009 the editors at Woodsmith magazine ran a issue and sourced my products, again they found me on ebay. The mag hit the book stores in june of 09 and sales shot up 500%. ebay has done a great service for me.

Do to the lack of ebays final value fees by having a website. I can justify FREE world wide shipping. I pick up many smaller orders that my competition charges $15 to ship.I`ll take every bit I can get!!

I don`t get very many phone sales, however, I do get some, it`s part of the biz.They usually want a discount so I direct them back to the site and tell them to register and I`ll send them a discount coupon depending on how much they are gonna spend.

I answer probably 20 emails a week and it does take time but this is a good thing, I like conversing with my costumers and trying to meet their needs.There are some really intresting folks out there...MC

www.MachinistChest.com

Wade C said:

If you decide to go at it, and do it yourself, Im happy to help.
If there was an appropriate place here, Id do it publicly on the forum so that it might help more people, but it would likely need an O/T and IF thought appropriate, knowing where to place the thread.
......................
Wade

Click to expand...

Have at it Wade. This is the appropriate forum, and it's not OT at all.

Post you stuff in here if you like, or start your own thread.

Jon Bohlander said:

I think I may have finally come up with something that is marketable but am trying to think through all the angles before proceeding. So I may be something of a pest for a while. There have been a lot of patent and starting a business threads lately (there may be something to the idea that a recession brings out the entrepreneurs) but there are some areas that haven't been covered much. So I would be grateful for every one's experiences. First off is the sales aspect.

I am thinking of selling online through a website and taking credit cards. My wife is happy with the guy who did the website for her company so I would probably use him. This would be a $30-40 tool with a target demographic of professional & amateur mechanics, industrial maintenance men, restorers of old machinery, etc.. Once set-up, I do have some "smaller" similar ideas that do not justify the investment on their own but would compliment the first product.

A very big concern is that I wouldn't be able to answer a phone to take questions & orders as I work day shift and I don't see this turning into a full-time business for quite awhile. This worries me as I don't want to give any potential customer a reason to not buy from me. These are simple, straight forward tools but I imagine there would still be some with questions.

-So those who sell direct to customers, in this digital age how many phone calls/sales are you getting versus emails/on line ordering?

-As a customer, how much of a turn off is it to not get a immediate response to a phone call? I would probably be able to answer voice mail during breaks & immediately after work.

-Are there any companies out there that would handle the phone and online sales for a reasonable fee?

-How about security/encryption program recommendations? I would be handle this from home on a satellite service provider. Maybe also from a smart phone so I could answer emails/voice mails during my lunch breaks.

-Any general advice about selling through a website?

TIA, Jon

Click to expand...

When shopping online I find a comprehensive FAQ section really helps, if it is good enough it usually stops me from ringing the company.

I also run a business while having two other "full time" jobs. While I don't want to reveal official numbers, my "side" business (in the first year) did well enough to pay a decent salary. However, I roll the profits back in as it is more of a hobby business but I hope I can hire some employees to take it full-time soon. I work about 80-100 hours a week total so there are sacrifices.

How do I do it?

I use Zen Cart for my ecommerce website. For something easier consider magneto or volusion. Its the same thing but professionally managed and you pay monthly for it. My web hosting costs are literally $30 every quarter, pocket change. I use a shared hosting plan which is cheap but not recommended.

For order fulfillment, I use ShipWorks. It automatically downloads my orders. Then combined with Endicia, automatically prints invoices/packing lists/pick lists and a shipping label. My parts are small so, with the exception of international, they go via Small Flat Rate Box which doesn't need to be weighed or taped and the boxes are free. Can't beat that.

Book keeping is handled with a plug-in for ZenCart that downloads my orders and allows me to import them into QuickBooks.

There is a better application that will automatically post each transaction to quickbooks, keep inventory updated between quickbooks and zencart, and print labels, it costs about $800-$1000 depending on options.

I accept credit cards, checks, paypal and money orders. My credit card processor is actually paypal using their paypal website payments pro. Customers just see normal credit card entry fields and don't know its paypal. The site is secured through my host using SSL (easy upgrade). Also, my customers can checkout with paypal or paypal express (no need to make an account on my website). I make it as easy as possible to checkout. I login to paypal once a week and transfer the funds to my bank account. You can have it do this automatically but I like doing it by hand because it keeps my finger on the pulse. PayPal is one of the few payment processors that allows for easy credit card processing of international payments. You'll find that many others won't do this. Also, all they need is the card number, expiration, and CCVN, no billing address verification. Because my products aren't super high dollar, I'm not concerned with fraudulent purchases. I've actually never had one either.

I don't post my phone number on the website but I have an email contact form. Very few dislike this and when they send me a message, I always reply with my signature containing a contact number. Believe it or not they never call. Might just be my customer demographic but if they're shopping online its probably because they prefer it to going out or calling (i sure do)

Much like Wade, I prefer to send purchase orders via email. I can do it at night. Occasionally I'll have to talk to a customer or vendor during the day and I just make time for that.

As Rob stated,

" I login to paypal once a week and transfer the funds to my bank account"

Very important point made here. It`s a FIREWALL

I leave enough funds in a paypal account for operating expenses. In the event of a hack they dont get my nest egg.

MC

RobF, paypal can be setup to automatically transfer funds to your bank account? Do you know if this is a pro only feature?

rj newbould said:

Have at it Wade. This is the appropriate forum, and it's not OT at all.

Post you stuff in here if you like, or start your own thread.

Click to expand...

Ill try and get a thread started, and sort of go over the stuff I have familiarity with. (Etomite 1.1 and OpenCart 1.4.7)

I figure better I start a separate thread, so its a little easier to follow as I have time to add installments.

Im no expert, and havent even stayed in a Holiday Inn Express for a long long time, but Ill try and pass along what I have learned in hopes that it helps. I have learned so much here about machining, that it feels nice being able to give back.

Wade

I'm looking forward to it, Wade..

Yes, keep it coming guys. I am pretty good at making stuff, it's selling it that I need help with.

Little off topic:
For those selling on ebay, are you guys only using paypal or are you also using a 3rd Party Credit Card Merchant? If you are what % of people choose the 3rd Party Credit Card method?

Seems like I could save about 1% if people choose the 3rd party, and I am not the biggest fan of PayPal anyway.

Good stuff, guys. I appreciate it. This is the side of it that I don't have a good feel for. Or one of many sides.

My credit card processor is actually paypal using their paypal website payments pro. Customers just see normal credit card entry fields and don't know its paypal.

Click to expand...

PayPal is one of the few payment processors that allows for easy credit card processing of international payments. You'll find that many others won't do this.

Click to expand...

It looks like I need to reconsider my dismissal of Paypal.

Check out AlertPay, and see if they cover the countries you are anticipating selling to.

Thats who I have went to since the Gpal debacle.

Not saying they are the be all end all... just that they fit my needs... which were not very demanding internationally, but somewhat quirky.
Gun/2nd Amendment friendly, at least some what reasonable clearing fees (averaging around 4%), reasonable withdrawl fee to your bank account (0.50 per withdrawl)

Yes, pay pal is a bit cheaper (processing fees), and free withdrawls, but certainly not gun/2nd amendment friendly, and I have heard plenty of horror stories about them and experienced a couple with them. But honestly, my biggest sticking point is the gun friendly, even though I do not do any firearm related transactions.

Alertpay was easy to set up, took some time to verify, they seem to be very committed to security, and integration with OpenCart was easy.

Might be worth looking at. Maybe it will work for you.

Ill try and get something started here on monday, starting with the website, and then move to the online store info.

Wade

While there may be some companies that are a little cheaper, PayPal offers quite a few protections for the seller. You can easily ship through PayPal as well.

bigskinsfan said:

While there may be some companies that are a little cheaper, PayPal offers quite a few protections for the seller. You can easily ship through PayPal as well.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure. I pay for pro so if you cannot see it then its likely pro is required. The link is on the page where you withdrawl the money. Its fairly new as I just noticed it a week or two ago.

PayPal definitely has a bad rap and I'm not one to defend their actions. However, when you're THAT huge, you're bound to have some upset people. I have received two charge backs and they have a very automated method for uploading your proof of shipment making it easy for me to handle them.

My fees are only 2.5% because my volume is higher. International is more, somewhere along the lines of 3.5% or so.

Jon -- Setting up paypal is easy. Setting your ecommerce website up to access it is also easy. You enter a few key numbers in and cross your fingers . That is if you use Volusion, Magneto, or ZenCart (like me). As I've mentioned in other threads, a ZenCart pro can be hired for pocket change and save you a lot of time and hassle.