Journey to developing my own product

Update 3)
Just going some additional market research.

My competition sells for prices between $20 and $35 a piece. They also charge between $12 and $25 shipping! I just went to the post office, spoke with the nice lady there, and found out how to ship my leash Canada wide for $3.35, US wide for $5.15.

My next decision will be how I should go about pricing my product.
Should I price higher and have free shipping? (I think this would have less drop offs at the cart)
Should I price lower, charge the $12 that other people charge for shipping, and earn off the shipping charge? (Might get more clicks to my product, but not as many follow through)
Should I really drop the price, and charge $25 for shipping? I'm sure I would get a ton of interest - but I'm also sure most people will click off when they see the shipping.

Just wondering if any of you have drop shipping experience, what works better for you?

Thanks for this journey mate :)
It will be good source of inspiration when trying set on on ground in the nearest future.

One thing I;d love say is "You've made a good choice by picking the Ladies Favorite color" & I really love your product design.

So back to the Question... I do lots of buying stuffs online and to me High Shipping cost is a BIG turn off... If the product is Fair nd cost of shipping is way more expensive .... Users would hardly want to pick the product up... cos summing the total up could later result in more cost for buyers.

Since Canada wide for $3.35, US wide for $5.15. Why don't make a percentage a percentage increase like 5-10% in both cases. Product + Shipping...

With that , You could earn profit from both sides rather than putting pressure to just one side. :)
 
Update 4)
Well, this is a big update! I just sent out for the product to be made. In total I will have 400 pieces, 200 leashes (100 small, 100 large), 200 collars (100 small, 100 large).
I decided not to get a medium size for now, as the small collar extended to the max can fit a medium dog, and the large collar shrunk to the smallest can do the same. As for the leash, the medium is not much different than the large.

I have my website set up, but I decided not to sell directly off of my website. I think it will be much harder, and people will not trust it as much as if I sell on Etsy.

The run should be done in around 10 days, and should ship in a couple days. So hopefully in 2 weeks time I will have the product in hand.

Once I have the product in hand I will start taking pictures of it for Etsy.

The next big step will be to rank my Etsy product to one of the top when you search for dog products. I also want to try to contact pet stores around me to see if I can unload some of the leashes - almost at cost - to try and recoup some of the investment right away. I will try for vets, pet shops, groomers, and anything else I can think of.
 
Nice approach. If you can get it in the stores near you and they sell well then you really have a good business going forward.
 
The next big step will be to rank my Etsy product to one of the top when you search for dog products. I also want to try to contact pet stores around me to see if I can unload some of the leashes - almost at cost - to try and recoup some of the investment right away. I will try for vets, pet shops, groomers, and anything else I can think of.

Good stuff... don't sell too cheaply to the wholesale market as they could be a recurring revenue stream for you should it go over well.

Look at it as a possible long term profit center and make a reasonable margin on it when you market to them.

I don't know that industry but see if there are opportunities to put your product out on consignment to some or all of those as that would increase your opportunities as well as your profit margins as you could increase your pricing if they do not have to pay you net {10|net30|C.O.D.} for the product.

I do expect a link once you have the product in hand so my wife can spend some of our money.
 
UPDATE 5)
I just got the product in today, and got some pictures of it taken. I set up my etsy listing, and shop. I dont want to post a link here, but just look up the name on the image and you will find the website/etsy shop if you are interested.

@BassTrackerBoats I will send you a link after the marketplace purge is done, so it is not buried in the void ;) Ill also set up a coupon for you/any other BHW member to get the leash at cost.

I decided to launch with a lower price point than I originally was going for ($20 instead of $25) because I am hoping to get some sales/reviews to help my shop out. I also put the shipping at $3.30 to Canada or $5.50 to US, but in the listing itself I have a coupon code for free shipping. - Gives people who read free shipping, and makes them feel good about saving some money.

My next step will be to try and gt my etsy ranking up, so I am on the first page for a bunch of terms.

If you want a quick look, here are the images on the shop:

il_570xN.1121322061_3otm.jpg


il_570xN.1074734062_ooe6.jpg


il_570xN.1121322119_bhdz.jpg


il_570xN.1074734122_kk9a.jpg
 
Always interested in creating my own products, but I always stop at the idea of finding the right manufacturer because I'm unsure where to start. Congrats on taking that next step.
 
Looks great; I don't want a coupon though, we'll pay the going cost as I'm not looking to take advantage of your good nature.

If you want me to buy via Etsy to help you there we can do that as well.

Very impressed with what you are doing here.
 
Always interested in creating my own products, but I always stop at the idea of finding the right manufacturer because I'm unsure where to start. Congrats on taking that next step.

Thanks, This has been a long time coming, I have wanted to do this idea for the last 3 years. Finally worked up the courage to say screw it, and go for it. I went throuh 3 names, and a bunch of designes before I started this thread. Honestly, if it was not for the encouragement here I may not have done it. Although, I can also say without BHW I would have never made any money online, and might not have even gotten into a computer related field.

Good luck on your project, will check back soon.

Thanks, I will be sure to update with info on the process as it goes on.

Looks great; I don't want a coupon though, we'll pay the going cost as I'm not looking to take advantage of your good nature.

If you want me to buy via Etsy to help you there we can do that as well.

Very impressed with what you are doing here.

Your amazing man! Sent you a pm.
 
Very nice journey. Hope you are very successful with this one.
 
UPDATE 6)
Quick update today. I have my product listed on Etsy, and it is ranking for some terms, but is still nowhere when it comes to the real terms I would like to rank for. I have just launched an ad on Etsy as of yesterday, but so far 0 impressions on the ad. I got a shoutout on IG that will go live friday on a page with 100k+ follows, so I will see how that goes.

I did get my first sale, thanks to an amazing admin here.

Will update with ad stats on etsy, and how the shoutout goes.
 
There was plenty of time being taken to promote your product.
I advice you to use the ad.
Money make money.
So that your product more quickly in familiar markets
 
Hi man! Congratulations on your first sale :) I wish you all the best and I keep following you since I want to sell my own product too soon ;)
 
You've got a great journey going on here. But what about the other journey?
 
We received the product last week and I had Teedie, our little female brother, try it on today.

Terrible pic as I was holding the phone in one hand and the leash in another and I failed at multi-tasking.

4lZmzGD


It is very well made with excellent stitching, hardware, great color and a quality fabric. The pic does not do it justice at all.

The pricing was fair according to the head of the Department of Purchasing in my household.

A couple of things you may want to consider.

The thank you letter should be in color and probably in color of the leash and the collar. B&W is fine for Ansel Adams but not for sales literature and you are looking to sell with that thank you letter.

A link to the Etsy page AND your website, FB page, Instagram page and Pinterest page where you offer the product is important as that was not on the letter at all. You gotta' tell the buyer where to send their friends!

I would also do something along the lines of "Shoot us a pic of your dog to our Twitter/Facebook!" and maybe offer some incentive for that. You may not need to offer any incentive as people like to show off their dogs but you want people to get all social media with your products.

One other thing that you may want to roll out in the future is a harness as well as the collar as lots of people with smaller dogs prefer a harness as opposed to a collar. Don't ask me why as that comes from the head of the Department of Purchasing.

Great product and I hope to hear things taking off for you!
 
Back
Top