| Sep. 20 2008 at 5:51 PM |
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DipLady wrote:
Because we have 3 avenues of sales, craft/trade shows, retail stores we wholesale to, and, our website, I like to keep the cost of my products the same. We sell the mixes at the same prices via all 3 avenues of sales. If we are at a craft show and someone says "how do I get more", I direct them first to the nearest store selling our product and then to the website to either check what upcoming shows we will be at, or to order online. They know if they can get it at a store or a craft show, they will avoid the shipping, but, there are many that need things immediately or just want the ease and convenience of ordering online.
Hi DipLady, I also have 3 avenues of sales: garden walks, retail stores & website. But am I understanding you right that you charge let's say $3.50/package of dip at a craft/trade show, on the internet & to retailers? The retailer would have to at least double the cost so why would a customer go there to purchase? It seems that even with S&H, it would be more cost effective to buy on line than to go to a bricks & mortar for your product. What do your retailers think of this? I'm curious because pricing is always something I've grappled with. On my website the cost, with shipping, is always at least a little higher than what most retailers charge. My garden walks are in towns where I don't have a retailer. I charge what most retailers carrying WEDGIE in other places charge. Always interested in alternative ways of pricing. Ciao, Boomers Back in Business category in Home-Based 100 Competition Cookie -- Inventor of WEDGIE, the container gardener's favorite planting tool -- The Best Gardening Tool www.wedgie.biz
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| Sep. 22 2008 at 11:37 AM |
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Hey Cookie, how are you doing?
We do not sell the packs for the "sell" cost "to" retailers, they purchase at a reduced wholesale rate which in turn allows them to resell from their stores at the same rate that we offer the mixes via craft shows and on our website. This gives no one any competition over the other.
Hope this helps clear that up and helps you out!
The DipLady . . .
Pam's Pantry . . .
www.pamspantry.net
Vote for me in the StartupNation Home Based 100
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| Sep. 22 2008 at 2:03 PM |
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Cookie,
I went to your web site and I was wondering, why are you charging for shipping and handling? Why not just keep it simple and say your product costs $16.00 including FREE shipping and handling? Physiologically this is more appealing to a potential customer. In addition, I think you should also offer two for say, $30.00 including FREE shipping and handling. I will bet your shipping costs will not increase by much (if at all) when they buy two and you will receive the profit from selling two Wedgies without upsetting your dealers by under cutting them. This sounds like a product that would make a good gift and if you offered a two product deal, someone buying one might buy another for a friend at the same time. Just a thought…
Bert
Bert at Harvey Software, Inc.
Multi-Carrier Shipping Software and Supply Chain Solutions for Internet Retailers
Also a provider of free shipping information and resources at Harvey Software's Parcel Shipping Blog along with free tracking solutions at TrackingPage.com...
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| Sep. 23 2008 at 3:17 AM |
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Hi Dip Lady,
Ahhhh, I understand now. I price a little differently. The cost on my website is a bit higher than at retail stores or my garden walk booths once S&H is added on. I do that to keep my retailers happy. Whatever works!
And Bert, it's a thought but I'm afraid the price of WEDGIE would then seem too high.
I'm off to Oregon tomorrow to take my daughter to school. Will revisit the idea when I'm back.
Ciao,
Cookie -- Inventor of WEDGIE, the container gardener's favorite planting tool -- The Best Gardening Tool www.wedgie.biz
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| Sep. 23 2008 at 11:58 AM |
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Cookie,
I think your fear is totally unfounded but not uncommon among many Internet retailers.
Forget about the price of your product verses your resellers for a minute and let’s consider gas at $3.50 - $4.?? per gallon and going up. Just going to one of your retailers and back to my home could cost me well over $50.00 in gas alone! Looking at your dealer list, I think you are really limiting your market’s potential size. I also think adding shipping costs for a single item just complicates the buying decision. Keep the buying decision simple! I don’t always think free shipping is the best idea but in your case you should be using FREE shipping to close the deal rapidly. On top of that you should offer a special for volume purchases along with FREE shipping. This will increase the number of Wedgies they buy. If you do it right and your resellers will not care about your pricing since it is higher and your sales will increase because you have increased your market size and customer convenience. Not a bad thing, so what is there to fear?
On another note, I think you should seriously consider easier ways to buy Wedgies at your site, like adding the ability to use a merchant account like Google Checkout or one of the others out there. Merchant accounts are very cheap these days and they make it easy for people to make purchases. I know this is off the subject of this post but I like to see SuN members sell a ton of product and I think this too is limiting your market and sales significantly.
Make these two changes and I will bet your sales will go up even if your price is more than your resellers. I hope this helps and good luck selling Wedgies!
Bert
Bert at Harvey Software, Inc.
Multi-Carrier Shipping Software and Supply Chain Solutions for Internet Retailers
Also a provider of free shipping information and resources at Harvey Software's Parcel Shipping Blog along with free tracking solutions at TrackingPage.com...
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| Nov. 06 2008 at 9:36 PM |
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Wanted to thank everyone for your response one my topic of shipping charges.
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| Nov. 10 2008 at 3:56 PM |
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We are looking for the best way to utilize online tools to market our web site for our premier product. It is scheduled to go live December 1st 2008. Does anyone have any feedback or ideas on sites like www.ereleases.com or www.prweb.com ? All suggestions are welcome! Thank you!
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